I work weird hours, so I typically get down to shopping, when shopping is needed, by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The stores are busy, and the shelves are often empty. I don't go on consistent days each week, either, so there's no telling what I'll find when I get to a store. My parents, by contrast, are retired, and can go whenever they please. They swear by going to grocery stores as early as possible, because they're much more likely to find stuff on sale. not just that, but they're more likely to pick up things that are expiring, such as stuff from the deli. I have no problem with on-the-edge meat so long as I freeze it or cook it immediately, and I guess I picked it up from them. What's everyone else's experience? Do you shop as early as possible? Or do you find it makes any sort of difference to the deals you're likely to find?
I used to shop as soon as stores opened doors, for supermarkets this was around 7am-8am and the main advantage of doing this was about not having to stand up long time at the cashiers line, in addition, by the time of special deals, these tend to run out at noon, so the earlier you go the more likely you will get those deals. However this type of early shopping was mainly a stopover when commuting to go work many years ago. I'm actually working from home (and since at least the past two decades) so I go to the grocery stores at any hour when possible. A couple of weeks back I went to buy at 9 pm, before getting the store closing at 10.
Timing is everything. My parents are retired so they can go whenever they want to, but prefer afternoons as the shelves will be full and they start to reduce fresh produce. The worst time to go is Sunday when there are no deliveries and most stocks are low because of people who shop on Saturday. Monday morning is a bad time, because shelves will still be empty and also most stores have fewer staff working on Sundays. Also you need to know when a stores starts and ends their specials because that will affect stock levels and prices. Often once a special is on, they can be sold out by the end of the day.
My preferred time of shopping is after 8 pm. I live in a place where most places don't close until 9 or even 10 pm. I also work odd hours. I start working at 4 am every day. By midday I am too tired to do anything else but sleep for a while. And when I get up again, I don't always feel like taking care of the shopping or household chores. I leave it for as late as possible. The shelves here get restocked all day long, and fresh food produce is available every second day.
The mall here opens at 10 am so our target is to be there before the opening for 2 reasons. First is the parking, it is difficult to find a parking space after 10:30 am. Second consideration is the shops that are spic and span in the morning where the items, particularly clothing, are neatly arranged. In the afternoon and evening, those items are messed up and some clothes are not even folded properly.
I prefer shopping in the morning because there are less people but I'm fine with whatever time of day as long as I don't feel like I have to hurry too much. If I shop too late then I feel too rushed and if I hurry too much I might forget some items or I could also end up picking up things I would have never bought otherwise. Aside from that I don't really mind unless I'm aiming to take advantage of a certain promo on a specific time.
I too prefer to go shopping very early on a Saturday morning. Not too early though, because I like to get in extra sleep when I'm not working. The stores are usually not crawling with people until around mid day, and the shelves are still fully stocked. The fresh produce is at its best, too. Otherwise if I'm too lazy, I prefer to go Friday evening. I think most people are too tired from the working week, some of them might be going out for the night, so I find there's not that many of them. The only down side is that the shelves may not be as full.
I think it's better to shop in the morning because the lines are not long at all and there are less crowds, so you won't have to wait long in line and you can walk freely because the space isn't cluttered with people. I hate having to push my body aside as I am walking because the space is narrow when the mall is full.
I avoid stores when everyone else is in there. I go as soon as the store opens whether it is a clothes store or a food store. It is easier to make your selections and get out of the cashier line when it is early in the day. For Thanksgiving shopping last year the store opened at 6:30Am and I was there at 6:30am.
I like to shop early as soon as the stores open. I do this when I shop at Costco every time. There is never a good time/quiet time to go to Costco but I find if you can get there right when it opens, it's easier to find parking and the check out lines are decent. You can manoeuvre your cart easily through the aisles. I have noticed that if you go to the grocery store early in the morning they haven't had a chance to put out all the meats/produce yet and you have to go back later.
I usually would go grocery shopping at around midnight or 1am in the morning since most of our grocery stores are open 24 hours, such as Wal-Mart, Topps, Super K, Giant Eagle, and others. Granted some sections of the store are closed down, such as the deli and the hot prepared foods, but I seldom go to those stations in the first place and it's probably a good thing that I'm not wasting money on the hot prepared food anyhow. I've tried a few times stopping into the grocery stores in the morning just before work, to grab some stuff like coffee creamers and coffee beans to bring into work, and wound up getting stuck in the checkout lines for like 20 minutes or longer, since they would only have one cashier who was taking their good old time and of course there was a line of people in front of me with their buggies filled to the top.
As its makes no difference whatsoever when I choose to shop in terms of deals or discounts - as where I live none of the stores offer anything like that - I generally prefer to do the majority of my shopping and especially grocery shopping first thing in the morning at around 8am on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday - as not only does it mean that I can get back home before the heat of the day becomes too oppressive - but its also way quicker as there is hardly anyone in the store and more importantly there is a lot more choice and everything is a whole lot fresher too.
I would probably do this, but the majority of the stores near me aren't open that late at all. The latest is a Shoppers Drugmart, and it still closes at 11. I'm often meeting my wife around or after that time once she's done work to walk her home, so it's not a great time for shopping, unfortunately. I worked at Wal-Mart a while ago on a reno job, and I used to watch the restockers do their work while I was doing mine. I can't imagine how annoying it must be to work as a restocker and still have to take customer questions. Most of the restockers I spoke to got those jobs because they don't like customers, and just want to work in silence. (I can commiserate, too. Once I got put on a day shift the customers drove me crazy.)
Hah! I hear you on dealing with customers, I can't stand them either while I am trying to shop. Speaking of Wal-Mart, in addition to stocking at night, they also regularly clean and wax their floors too during these times, and I can tell you from personal experience, when they block off large sections of the store with signs and cones telling you that the floor is slippery - don't try to cross it! I've wiped out a number of times because I was too impatient to walk around it all to get where I was going - that wax they put on the floors is no joke. You probably could have pushed me and I would have slid across it like I was on the slickest ice pond there was. Of course, I fell flat on my back each time, throwing my keys and wallet and phone in different directions, and looked like a total idiot getting up and trying to regain my composure.
The crazy thing is shopping in the morning or the early hours is ideal for anybody. That is when essentially everything is fresh for the pickings. When I tend to go to the store later on in the day to purchase some produce. They always tend to look slightly bad and considering people have their hands all over them. I would rather be the first one in the morning to pick out the best items.
I wish I had the option to shop in the mornings again, to be honest. I shop for groceries on Friday evenings lately, since it’s the only convenient time for me. Seems like the stock is always super depleted. Plus plenty of other people around here have the same idea, so it can get pretty hectic. But at least that way I can do mostly as I please on the weekends. Can’t complain too much about that!
Back when I worked the midnight shift, I would hit the grocery store on my way home from work, and everything was pristine and fully stocked, because back then, stores closed at night. It was great avoiding the crowds, zipping through the aisles and getting what I needed before many were even on the road. Many stores still close at night, so obviously I go to those during the day, but when I go to the ones that don't, in the middle of the night, when my insomnia is kicking in, many of the aisles are clogged with huge pallets of goods that workers are stocking on the shelves. And often, the only registers open are the self-serve ones, which always give me fits. I think I had one self-checkout experience without an issue where I had to wait for a clerk. During one shopping trip, I waited 15 minutes for someone to come help me, and since no one arrived (alarms were blaring, signaling a customer needed assistance), I left the groceries there, including frozen goods, and walked out. I don't think stores should be open during the overnight hours if they can't serve their customers. I also love getting the manager's specials on the meat and other goods, and as @Theo mentioned, they aren't often available first thing in the morning. Nowadays, I tend to do my shopping around 1:00 pm, but I recently discovered if I go just a few hours earlier, the parking lots and stores are much less crowded, and the clerks are often less frazzled, and are more polite.
