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How to spend less time in grocery store lines

How to spend less time in grocery store lines

Picking the right line at the grocery store can make a world of difference.

It is a split-second decision that could end, ideally, with the patrons in front of you breezing through the checkout and you getting out of the grocery store stress-free, or it could be a nightmarish experience that leaves you frustrated by the impossibly slow pace of the people in front of you and with an intense grumbling in your stomach as you long to get home and whip together the array of delectable ingredients in your cart.

The line that will lead you to a quick escape, however, may surprise you.

Dan Meyer, a former high school math teacher and chief academic officer at Desmos, told the New York Times that the key to getting out of the store faster is getting behind a shopper with a full cart rather than a line with numerous people with fewer items.

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In his research he has found that on average it requires 41 seconds per shopper to say hi, pay, say goodbye, gather their things and leave the area, while it takes about three seconds to ring up an item.

Therefore, a line with one shopper with 50 items would take 191 seconds on average to clear the lane, while four shoppers with 10 items would take 204 seconds.

Meyer also suggested that customers should use a self-service checkout if they aren’t purchasing any trickier items, such as produce.

“You’ll lose the human contact but gain time,” he said.

Robert Samuel, the founder of Same Ole Line Dudes, a New York company that will stand in line for you, also told the Times that shoppers may also find shorter lines on the left as most people are right-handed and tend to gravitate to queues in that direction.

A.J. Marsden, a professor of human services and psychology at Beacon College, also offered a few other tips.

She said customers should avoid lines with chatty cashiers and those with older adults as their checkout process may take longer because they’re more likely to have issues, such as not understanding how a debit card works.

Samuel told the Times that there are a few ways customers can speed up their own check-out process, including:

  • Turning a product’s bar code towards a cashier

  • Splitting your groceries into two carts with a second person, so you can both use express lanes.

So next time you're at the grocery store, ignore your instinct and get out quicker.