How to Have a Productive Shopping Trip

Do you want to have a productive shopping trip every time you head out to the supermarket, grocery, farmer’s market, department store, or mall?

Are you looking for some practical tips to help you make the most out of your shopping outing?

Productive shopping trips are a smart way to not only save time, but money.

Productive shopping means you don’t buy things you don’t need, nor do you spend more time in a store than is necessary.

That sounds like a win-win situation, now doesn’t it?

In this post, you’ll find several pointers to help you have a productive shopping trip.

Review the following tips to see how you can make the most out of your shopping excursions!

Make a list.

One of the easiest ways to make sure you buy what you need is to make a list.

Grocery lists are common, but what about making a list for clothing, accessories, hardware and other items?

If you have never done so before, give it a try!

You’ll hone in on what you really need from the store versus what you think you need.

When it comes to clothes shopping, for example, you might write down something like the following:

  • Five pairs of dress socks
  • One white button down shirt
  • One pair of brown pants
  • One black handbag

It’s as easy as that!

Give yourself a time limit.

If you’re worried about spending too much time at the store browsing, set a time limit for yourself.

Set an alarm on your cell phone or watch and get to shopping. If you’re feeling especially time-conscious, you could also set a time limit for picking up each item.

Likewise, instead of planning to shop the whole afternoon, make a plan to shop for an hour or so and then call it quits.

Stick to one or two stores.

Nowadays most stores, even if they are not department stores, have loads of different goods from clothing, to hardware, to notions and so on.

Chances are you’ll find what you need when you take a minute to think about which stores would serve you best.

You can also narrow down which establishment would be your best bet depending on your shopping needs.

If you know you’d like to pick up a special bottle of wine for an anniversary, you’d probably want to visit a specialty wine store versus say a small convenience mart.

Be a conscious shopper.

There’s a lot of things competing for your attention at stores nowadays: music, lights, moving displays, demonstrations and so on.

Do you know what attracts your attention? Think about this the next time you shop.

You may find it helpful to refer to your shopping list or just keeping your shopping goals at the front of your mind.

For example, you might say, “I’m here at the store to buy some AA batteries, an extension cord, and a snow shovel and that’s it.”

Save browsing for another day.

Do you enjoy browsing or window shopping?

Instead of combining shopping and browsing into one trip, make an appointment with yourself to do so some window shopping on another, less hectic or busy day.

This way you’ll be able to take your time to stroll, and enjoy viewing different wares.

You won’t feel pressured into buying something because you have to leave the store in less than ten minutes.

Besides, when you window shop you’ll have more time to think about what you’ve seen, whether you already own an item or whether you really need to buy something.

How about you? Which of the above tips will you use to help you shop more productively? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!

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About the Author

Rashelle

Rashelle Isip is a New York City-based productivity consultant who helps successful entrepreneurs and business owners manage their time and energy so they can reduce stress, work less, and make more money in their businesses. She has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, NBC News, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Atlantic. Get her free guide, 5 Unexpected Things You Need to Organize a Work Notebook, by clicking here.

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