Have I mentioned that grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do? I think it has to do with the fact that it combines two of my most adored activities - shopping and food. Makes sense, right? And just as you won't catch me shopping for clothes in any old dinky little shop, neither will I hit a grocery store simply because it's local or convenient. I'm all about quality, cleanliness, ease-of-use, and selection when it comes to shopping for food.
And lately - fun.
Fun grocery shopping? How is that possible, you might be asking? Well a) I bring my 3-year-old (I know, but she's fun to be with!) and b) I've started shopping mostly at Stop & Shop because they have these cool new handheld scanners that I like using.
HUH?
Ok, so if you want to join the fun, look for the Scan It! area when you enter the store - it looks like this:
Scan your Stop & Shop card and a scanner will light up. Remove it from the base and start shopping. Scan your items as you place them in your basket (who doesn't love to scan stuff??). There are scales with easy-to-locate codes which allow shoppers to weigh and scan their produce. Another fun feature is that every few minutes you'll hear a cha-ching! noise which is an alert to a sale price on an item you might want. I have definitely been taking advantage of these mini-sales. Users can see how much they've spent and how much they've saved. You can bag as you go, so you save even more time.
So to recap - you scan and bag your own stuff. Then you go to one of the self-checkout lanes, scan the barcode that awaits there, scan any coupons you might have (if you're not on the S&S mailing list, I suggest you get on it since they send coupons all the time and really, 10% off my weekly $150 grocery bill does make a difference), pay and you're outta there.
You could actually accomplish your grocery shopping without ever talking to a soul. This might make you weird and anti-social, but it's totally do-able. And according to my research, it saves shoppers an average of about 10 minutes in the store. On the other hand, it is said that shoppers using the Scan It! system tend to spend a few dollars more on their order. But here's what I think - while that small device is constantly nudging me to buy this or that on sale, I'm not surrendering to its charm unless it's an item already on my list or something I buy anyhow. So if I'm spending a few dollars more it's to save in the long run.
At least that's what I tell myself.
And like I said, it's fun, right?
To see if your local store has rolled out the Scan It! program, click here.
Hi!!! My first time to visit. I've scanned grocery items and yes it's fun. It's like playing, really, although i haven't tried doing this with a toddler. My boy would probably take the scanner from me.
I work @ home too and so does my husband who got laid off 3 mos ago. We have 2 business start-ups going on simultaneously... and another project.
Looking forward to getting to know you better!
Posted by: ***jeannie*** | June 30, 2009 at 11:40 AM