How to pick the quickest line at your supermarket
When it’s all said and done we will have spent hundreds of hours of life, just waiting in supermarket checkout lines. Here’s how you choose the quickest so you can spend less time standing around, and more time doing the things that are important to you.
1. Shorter isn’t always better
It’s only natural we’d assume the shortest line at the supermarket is going to be the quickest one, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes there’s a reason the line is shorter than the others, with other shoppers moving to the other lines to avoid a new cashier or a malfunctioning register. Studies have shown when it comes to supermarket lines, what’s less important is the size of the line and what’s more important is the speed with which items are beings processed.
2. Head for the left
When you’re shopping, right isn’t always right. In an interview with Daily Mail, human behaviour expert Raphael Rosen notes that because around 90 per cent of the population is right-handed, the supermarket lanes to the right of the store often become more congested due to shopper’s natural tendencies to head to that side. So if you’re struggling to figure out which line you should take, maybe it’s a good idea to adopt the southpaw mindset and head left.
3. The express line isn’t always the quickest
It’s time to abandon the idea that the express line is the quickest one. A study of checkout lines, found that have an extra person in that line adds an extra 48 seconds to your wait, while having an extra item only adds an extra 2.8 seconds. So rather than queuing behind eight people in the express line, it might be a better idea to wait behind the two people in the normal checkout who have full shopping trolleys. As we mentioned above, shorter isn’t always better, but you can actually save a lot of time depending on how many items you and your fellow shoppers are scanning.
4. Avoid the self-checkout lines
The simple fact of the matter is that normal people don’t have the skill of a cashier and when the shop is busy the self-serve checkouts can become real bottlenecks. If you’re looking to get in and out and you have a fair few groceries to scan, you’re better off avoiding the self-serve checkouts.
Do you agree with our advice? What are your methods for minimising your time at the supermarket and do you think they’re effective.
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Related links:
5 things to buy and 7 things to avoid at the supermarket
8 items you should stop paying for today
6 items you should never buy at a supermarket