Stranger than fiction: 'shop till you drop' wastes your life away

Given the extraordinary measures supermarkets took to ensure that their dirty knickers were not seen in public after their beef was sold dressed as horse, it is interesting to reflect just how quick or how slow it is to get around a supermarket in an average shop. Research – done before shoppers sensibly avoided the purchase of most processed frozen beef ready meals or burgers – revealed that if you shop at Lidl it only takes an average of 49 minutes to get around, 20 minutes faster than runner-up Sainsbury's. 
 
I often wonder how the shopfloor design of supermarkets is influenced by profit motives – and judging by the tempting hurdles you pass on entry, it must be the main focus – rather than to enable you can get around easily, as the familiarity of your surroundings sometimes decreases the amount of time you spend in the store. 
 
Six months ago my local supermarket decided to redesign the shop floor completely and like thousands of shoppers, I wandered the floor lonely as a cloud searching for household goods and finding pet food, and discovering the fresh vegetables were now a clothes rack. Shoppers were not happy that week. It even baffled staff. One assistant spent 10 minutes locating the sea salt I wanted.
 
These small things are important. I can't recall the store ever actually consulting its regular shoppers about the changes. Come to think of it last time I was there I had to help two small old ladies who were trying to reach tins of soup off the top shelf, several feet above their grasp. Supermarkets do a lot of things but they sometimes fail to explore sensible solutions to everyday problems.
 
I experimented. I am rather a staid shopper with specific tastes so I tend to buy most of the same things. I did a week's shopping in Aldi in 24 minutes, and Lidl in 28, while when I shopped at Morrisons, Tesco and Asda, it always took an age. 
 
Research by Taylor McKenzie, analysts, confirmed my experience. An average shop in Morrisons took 1 hour 11 minutes, while Tesco and Asda came in at a disappointing 1 hour 18 minutes. The researchers sent shoppers to stores in Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and London in search of 50 daily items. Shopping at some supermarkets will cut the time you spend in a supermarket by two months over a lifetime.
 
So, if you want to spend more time on the important things in life you cherish, you know where to shop. Food for thought, eh? Life is too short sometimes.
Dick Skellington 2 May 2013

The views expressed in this post, as in all posts on Society Matters, are the views of the author, not The Open University.

Cartoon by Catherine Pain