19 Types of Shoppers You Meet at the Supermarket 🤣😂🤣

[NurseJackie]

This is great! I've seen them all. Which one/s are you?

[wryter2000]

1. The calorie counter

I read labels. But I don’t block the aisle with my cart while I do it

[NurseJackie]

4. The "price per ounce" shelf-labels are interesting too.

The other day at Target, I almost bought the large container of mini Milkbones. But ounce-for-ounce, two small boxes was cheaper than one large tub.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. I'm That Guy!

But, I'm less a shopper than a buyer.
I don't browse. In, get what I came for, out.
But, I do the price per ounce thing, for sure.

[wryter2000]

35. I do that, too

And if the labels aren't clear, I get out my calculator. But I'm always careful my cart isn't in anyone's way.

[Rorey]

62. I'm a human calculator

I've always paid close attention to prices, and I've always done the math to find the best buy. It's a carryover from my years of living in poverty, I guess.

[hlthe2b]

2. They left out the "shops first thing upon opening, makes a bee-line for the items needed

and sets a record in getting the hell out."

That's me. Especially since COVID-19. I DO take the few seconds needed to give store employees a thumbs up if they are masked and to thank them.

[Rorey]

6. LOL, I'm right there beside you when the store opens

But I don't race to get out so fast. I don't dally too much, but I like to scan for clearance items so I can stock up.

[NurseJackie]

8. Yes, please! I enjoy shopping early too.

No crowds, no kids, and everything is mostly restocked from the overnight crew.

[wryter2000]

39. That's why I'm always at Costco when it opens

Everything is restocked. Plus, parking is easier first thing in the morning, even on the weekends.

[LeftInTX]

22. I'm the "shop 30 minutes before closing" gal

Few crowds

[hlthe2b]

33. Same goal, just the flip side.

[Rorey]

63. I used to like shopping at night

Now I don't feel safe. I can't remember the last time I was out after dark.

[Demovictory9]

70. los angeles supermarkets close at 2am, some stay open 24 hours. i used to shop 1am, midnight.

[Rorey]

3. I'm the one trying to read the label

It's not for the calorie count. That's generally in big enough print to read. It's for the ingredients list.

I have learned to always park in generally the same place, so I'm no longer that person wandering around the parking lot trying to find my car.

[KT2000]

14. +100

[DBoon]

5. They forgot two

- The compulsive couponer, someone with a whole stack of coupons clipped from bulk mailers, who argues about using outdated or inapplicable coupons ("no it's only 20% off for the red version, NOT the green version)

- The one who can't figure out how to use a credit/debit card at checkout.

[NurseJackie]

11. Yes! Yes!

I'm patient with coupon-ers (in a weird way it's fun and impressive to see how much they end up saving) ... but I have zero tolerance for folks who can't use the credit card reader (or who don't have their ID when writing a check).

[FoxNewsSucks]

29. Sometimes those card readers are a pain in the ass.

The worst are people who wait until the cashier is completely done, announces the total, and THEN they start digging in their purse to get out the checkbook. It's been a long time since I wrote a check, but I had everything filled out except for the amount before the cashier was done.

[Clash City Rocker]

16. Two more they missed that drive me nuts

The person who gets in the express aisle with 25 items.

The person who spends ten minutes arguing with the cashier that an item’s price should be fifty cents less.

They always seem to be right in front of me in line.

[Rorey]

23. I'm guilty of that when I go to Walmart

The express aisle thing. They only have a couple of regular registers open, and the lines at those are a mile long. I don't go with a cart full of stuff, and I don't go when it's busy, but I often get a large quantity of canned cat food, so I might have 40 things. But 24 or 36 are the same thing and I just stand there and repeatedly click the gun on one so it doesn't take me long. I mean, not to brag, but I'm super fast.

Long ago I worked at Walmart for a short time as a union salt. I was a cashier, and the job was so freaking boring that I'd race myself to see how fast I could go.

It's the people who don't seem to have a clue about how to use the self-checkout that irritate the living daylights out of me. Sometimes I wonder if they go slow on purpose as some sort of power trip.

[Clash City Rocker]

52. Oh, if it's self-checkout, that's fine

Typically, at self-checkout, there’s a line to get into any of the self-checkout stations. So you’re good there.

No, what I’m talking about is when there isn’t a self-checkout station, just one lane that’s 10 items or less (usually 15 at most) and several others for people who are buying more. But someone often gets in the express lane with a full shopping cart because it’s faster, knowing they’re breaking the rules. If the cashier points out that it’s the express lane, they will act surprised, as if they’d never heard of the concept before.

[Rorey]

54. I don't know if it's at all Walmart stores

But the ones in my town are clearly trying to eliminate the position of cashier. I don't think I've seen more than four regular checkouts open in a couple of years. Both ends of the stores have self-checkouts that have about 8 registers. For me, it always makes more sense to go through the self-checkout instead of waiting a half hour in line. But I don't buy much there other than cat food, and because my cats are weird, they only like one kind. If they had a quantity button, it would save a lot of time, but I really can just stand there and pull the trigger on the gun 24 times very quickly. It's the people that pick up an item and act like they've never scanned anything before, and then pick up the next item and act, again, like they've never scanned anything before. They're just completely baffled.

Our King Soopers store is getting to be pretty much the same way. Sixteen self-checkouts and only two or three regular checkouts.

[Rorey]

61. I forgot to tell you - Welcome to DU!

I agree with you. We're in an ever-changing world. The best thing to do is to make adjustments and move forward.

I felt this way about the food service industry at the beginning of the pandemic shutdowns in this country. At the time, I said anyone who works in that area should be seriously considering making career changes because a lot of those jobs won't be coming back for a long time, if they come back at all. Waiting for "normal" to return is not the right plan. People need to deal with the situation as it is, not put everything on hold in the hope that things will return to the way they were.

[Rorey]

65. I honestly can't be a judge of how they're doing in my town

I've picked up food a couple of times and had it delivered once during this whole pandemic. We just don't have anyplace all that impressive in my city.

[uppityperson]

55. Coupon collecting is a fun hobby, and useful

[smirkymonkey]

67. Oh yes, the "Expressholes"!

Always one in ever line, isn't there?

[grumpyduck]

24. Along with that is the shopper

who waits until everything (usually a full cart) is scanned to start digging out the cash, credit card, or checkbook.

I don't get fast food all that often, but the customer that always got me was the one who waited until they got to the front of the line to start deciding what they want. And sometimes it was a family of four or five.

[Clash City Rocker]

7. #1, and sometimes #7

#3 when my wife asks me to get something I’m not used to getting (usually something baking-related).

My lists are kept on my phone, though, not a piece of paper. If I don’t make a list, I buy the store.

[pidge]

9. The purse full of coupon people in front of me at checkout.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

19. You mean the kind that makes checkers cry in the breakroom?

People don't understand that checkers have a time limit to check people out and a set number of people that they need to serve. It is calculated by number of people in the store and time of day.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

10. I've seen and served them all.

The kind I couldn't stand was the Entitled Shopper. The kind that thinks everyone in a store works there.

[NurseJackie]

13. Don't wear a red shirt at Target. (Ask me how I know.)

🎯

[Lady Freedom Returns]

25. I can guess.

And don't go to a different store in uniform.

The uniform is totally different color but you suddenly work there.

[Chellee]

40. ☝🏻 Truth.

That's happened to me when I decided to shop on my way home from work. I try not to do that.

Also, regarding your 'entitled shopper,' how's this: I have left work for lunch. I have extremely limited time to get this accomplished. I'm eating, when someone walks up to my table to ask me a plumbing question. I told them that I worked in floor coverings and gave them the phone number of the plumbing department.

I don't work at that store anymore, but I still can't even believe that woman had the nerve to do that. Leave people alone when they're trying to eat lunch. Seriously. WTF

[Lady Freedom Returns]

69. Yup. When I went to the Fuel Center from the main store...

People thought they could do refunds there. Had to tell people several times a day for 2, count it 2, months, some multiple times, we couldn't. They had to go in store to return in store purchases.

2! All because I use to work in store.

[Rorey]

26. LOL, Yes! I've learned that lesson!

Fortunately I don't really like wearing red, but I do have a couple of red shirts that I wear around the 4th of July. But not to Target.

[DBoon]

31. Don't wear a Hawaiian shirt at Trader Joe's

unless you want to be mistaken for the manager

[hlthe2b]

38. As I am partial to wearing vests to hold all my stuff at the dog park, I typically will run in

as soon as they open wearing it. I can't tell you how many seem to decide that I must work there. No, it looks nothing like a uniform vest, but... Yet another good reason to go early in the morning as few people to be confused...

[KT2000]

12. Then there is my friend who

has to unload all of an item on the shelf so she can get to the one in the back. After she has done this throughout the store she decides to put half of them back. I only shop with her when I am feeling very very well.

[ecstatic]

58. I do that but not in that extreme

I'll go back 1 or 2 items.

[KT2000]

68. You could be shopping buddies!!

Picking out suitable corn at the store just about killed me and then she saw there was a higher limit than she thought. OMG - another half hour!!

[DanieRains]

15. Forgot The Farter

Sorry.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

28. I can stand them a lot better than Entitled Shoppers.

Entitled Shopper

[Niagara]

36. That's called crop dusting.

Another nice perk of wearing a mask at the store.

[Mosby]

18. Shopper feedback.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

20. He's voicing want store employees have wanted to say for so long!

[Rorey]

30. That was hilarious!!!

[rsdsharp]

43. I actually did a version of that once.

I was working as a salesman at a high end jewelry store. At the same time I was pulling a weekend overnight shift at a radio station. At Christmas time the store was open twelve hours a day, and since the store made 50% of its sales during December, the last two weeks before Christmas everybody worked all day, everyday.

Christmas Eve was a Sunday. That meant that not only was I at the end of two straight weeks of twelve hour days, after we closed at 9 PM on Saturday, I had driven to the radio station, slept on a couch for a couple of hours, worked on the air from midnight to 6 AM, drive home, showered and changed, wolfed some food, and was back at the store at 9 AM.

We were mobbed with last minute shoppers, trying to get last minute gifts before we (thankfully) closed at 5 PM. At 2:30, I asked a man if I could help him. He said, “Oh, I’m just trying to get some ideas.” I snapped. I said, “It’s 2:30 Christmas Eve afternoon, and we close at 5, if not earlier, and you’re just trying to ‘get ideas?’ Good luck, I don’t care if you buy anything or not.”

He looked at me with his mouth open, bobbed his head up and down, and said, “I’ll take a $200 gift certificate.”

[FuzzyRabbit]

45. Me too!

I worked retail for many years, and many, many, many times I wanted to say everything this guy said. There is a reason why most retail workers hate working retail. Sometimes customers can be incredibly clueless and/or rude.

[NurseJackie]

50. That's great!

[happybird]

21. I'm a "don't need a cart" and "where tf did I park?" shopper

You’d think by now I’d realize I DO need a dang cart. But, nope.
My favorite is when I grab a handbasket and then try to lug around laundry detergent, a 12 pack of tp, and 20 other items in it.

[TreasonousBastard]

51. Me too. I don't plan on buying much, but there's always something else.

[FoxNewsSucks]

27. Checklist

I also try to get out quickly, but not before checking the clearance area. I nearly always find something good and unexpected.

[Niagara]

32. This is hilarious.

I'm guilty of the following:

1. Check list. I need a check list so that I don't forget anything. Sometimes things get added to the list while at the store.
4. I count carbs.
7. I generally park in the same area so I don't lose the vehicle. I've also never forgot the vehicle at home.
10. I always check vegetables and whatnot for freshness, but I don't annoy the workers.

[niyad]

34. Interesting that only one of the 19 was a woman.

I am none of those. I know my store (oftentimes better than the employees).

[unblock]

37. Lol I am more of those than I am not!

[NurseJackie]

41. The ones who place their clipped but unused coupons DIRECTLY ON the item that it's for.

Whenever I've seen them left behind by a coupon clipper, it's a coupon that's close to expiring... so I assume the coupon clipper hopes that someone can use it right away.

[Sympthsical]

42. Done the car thing more than once

Safeway is a 15 min walk away. I've forgotten I walked and clicked around the lot for up to five minutes with a slow realization fear that my car has been stolen.

Dumbest incident: Biked to Safeway. Locked bike up. Walked home.

Yep.

[tanyev]

44. There's a sub-category of shopper blockers.

The “I’m just going to leave my cart at the end of the aisle while I pop in further to grab a couple things” blocker. It’s not too bad if they place their cart carefully in line with the end cap, but I have seen plenty of carts seemingly abandoned in the middle of the intersection, blocking entrance and exit of the aisle.

[NurseJackie]

46. Or the two neighbors (or church friends) who stop to chat and chat and chat...

... blocking both sides of the aisle.

[luvs2sing]

47. I'm a combo of #1 and #7.

Hubster is a combo of #3 and #9.

[Polly Hennessey]

48. I'm the "oh, my gosh, I forgot something. I'll be right back."

And the cabbage lady. Invariably, I can’t find something, so I will ask. Guess what, I am standing right in front of it. 😊

[NurseJackie]

49. Seems like I'm the one who gets the one/s with the mangled and unreadable barcodes.

[ecstatic]

56. Where do I begin? I'm the checklist, expiration date checker (which is sort of like

the "is it fresh" person and can be misconstrued as calorie checking). I'm also very indecisive at times because I'm picky, and lately I've morphed into the "lost car" customer as well. So embarrassing.

[vercetti2021]

57. I'm 2, 7, and 12

But I might have to add another one. The assholes who stop in the middle of an aisle to talk to somebody that they haven't talked to in like a month and they end up having a full fucking hour conversation in the middle of the aisle block and all the shelves.

[Demovictory9]

60. #2..i dont get a cart then staff begin offering to get me one

As my pile gets higher

[smirkymonkey]

66. I am either the "indecisive shopper" or the "where can I find this?" shopper

However I have been ordering online and having groceries delivered since Covid started, so maybe I will become more organized and decisive for time's sake once I start shopping in the store again.

[Tracer]

71. Have you met this kind of shopper?

My grocery store does over the phone orders and outside pickup (Covid precautions for those who are very cautious).

So who fulfills the orders? Looks to me like a bunch of high-schoolers who need an after school job.

Unfortunately, they stand in the aisle looking hopelessly lost, searching for an item on their list. And at the same time, leaving their cart in the middle of the aisle.

Maybe they will get better at it. Maybe not.

[NurseJackie]

72. I've seen the online shoppers at Target... they seem to know exactly where everything is.

I try not to bother them, but they are a great source of information when searching for something specific. Hopefully the ones at your store will get better (and become more situationally aware.)