Better Shopping Carts Means Better Shopping

I am a stay at home mom of two small boys. Like a lot of stay-at-home moms, I am limited to what stores are \”accessable to me\” by a number of things. Things like the width of store aisles, the ease of parking, helpfulness of employees, and the size and maneuverability of the available shopping carts are all a factor in where I can and can’t go.

In a majority of American households, the women do the necessary shopping for the house. Whether this is fair or not is irrelevantit is a fact. Frequently, women are required to bring their children along to do the necessary shopping. Things which I mentioned above play a larger role to consumers than one might thing. For example, I have an appointment at a nearby beauty supply store later this morning, and I am already dreading it. The aisles are narrow and cramped, and there are not shopping carts available. The amount of time I spend inside the store is going to be minimal, at best.

I believe this is true for alot of stay at home moms with children. The inability to maneuver through a store may keep them from visiting the store all together or may limit their shopping to specific items only. This means less money will be spent and limited \”impulse buys\”. All in the attempt to avoid a public melt down by either mom or the kids.

One of the most important factors, as silly as it may seem, when I choose a store to shop at and linger at, is the size and maneuverability of the shopping carts. The front of the cart needs to be wide enough to place a carseat without feeling like the cart would topple at any moment, and the handle of the cart couldn’t be too much lower than the basket, otherwise the car seat/ infant carrier would be balanced rather precariously on the front without actually \”clipping in\”, making it secure.

The ideal shopping cart for a small business should be light and sturdy, not heavy and bulky. It should be large enough for the items provided by the store yet easily maneuvered through the aisles without difficulty and creating frustration.

There have been a number of times I have left a store out of sheer frustration and not being able to maneuver smoothly through the aisles. The shopping cart for the small businesses in question were either too large, had difficult to move wheels, or the aisles were too cramped to get around to where I needed. My frustration level would go up as I would try to navigate, and generally I end up leaving sooner, rather than later, and make every effort in the future to avoid that particular store.

I understand that there is a fine line between having shopping carts the appropiate size in comparison to the needed aisle width to accomodate the type of products a store may carry. But I need a cart which is large enough for a five year old to sit in the basket along with whatever items I am purchasing. A good balance is needed for a store to provide a convenient place to shop.

Some may think it’s silly to put so much emphasis on where to shop based on their shopping carts, but it’s the truth. These factors all weigh in on which stores I will visit. There is a particular retailer I had to avoid until my son could sit up on his own since finding out that their carts would not allow me to safely secure my infant carrier to the front. However mundane it may seem, shopping carts do have an impact of the stores clientele. For me, the best shopping cart would be lightweight, possibly made from plastic, sturdy yet free turning wheels, wide enough to safely secure an infant carrier along with the needed space inside the basket for possibly another child, yet light enough as to not feel bulky while navigating through the store. The overall size needs to be proportunate to the aisle width and the products being sold. Such thought into the shopping carts may result in shoppers spending more time inside the store, hence spending more money.