Many factors contribute to the success of a grocery or retail store. They are strong aesthetics, well-stocked shelves, clean surfaces and functional shopping trolleys. Though shopping baskets look as if they are of least importance, they create a big impact on retail business. Your store’s benefits may fall flat if:

1. You don’t have enough shopping baskets for every customer.
2. The shopping basket is not serving the right function.
3. The shopping baskets cannot withstand the wear and tear with regular use.

Therefore, it is important to choose the shopping baskets wisely. One should never invest in the cheap ones but analyse the baskets that are of high quality and can withstand the test of time to keep the customers satisfied. Let us discuss how to select the best shopping basket for your store.

Factors that Determine a Shopping Basket & Trolley’s Durability

When choosing the shopping baskets, it is necessary to have in-depth knowledge about the products you sell and the product quantity that your customers generally buy. The factors to consider include:

Basket Size

The basket size depends on the items sold in the retail store, the customer’s shopping habits, and the amount of space available in the store. You must understand that large baskets are sturdier as they are made with more material. They can withstand external impacts better than smaller baskets.

Choice of Material

It is a well-known fact that certain materials are naturally less durable than others. For example, bamboo has a better life than thin wire baskets. Plastic is the more commonly used material to make shopping baskets. They are of different types and materials, so all are not equal. A few of them are made of recycled plastic and contain elastomers and copolymers to increase their strength and flexibility. When designed properly, plastic shopping baskets are the most durable material that efficiently serves every retail and grocery store.

Functionality

The features of a shopping basket play a great role in determining its durability. For example, some baskets may contain one or two handles to increase the comfort for customers to grasp and walk around the shop gathering items. A few shopping trolleys are fixed with wheels to serve as a hybrid between a cart and a basket. These hybrid shopping baskets are better than traditional baskets because:

1. The wheels can roll and carry things around the store without crashing into other items.
2. Rolling baskets are deeper and taller than the standard baskets. This gives better comfort for customers as they can hold more items and move around without putting extra strain.
3. Baskets with wheels are made with materials that provide better functionalities.

Storage Considerations

Storing the shopping baskets when they are not in use is important to keep them in good shape. The shopping baskets tend to get scratched and scuffed when not stored properly. If your store is small, you have an additional responsibility to safeguard your baskets from rain, wind, outdoor threats, and sunlight.

Also Read : Guide to Stainless Steel Trolleys & Their Benefits

Tips to Pick the Right Basket for Your Store

A generic basket is not an optimal choice for every shop or store. It is essential to pick the right shopping basket that fits the needs of a retail shop. Let us see how.

Supermarkets

Supermarkets need a shopping basket between 54L to 91L. They can have wheels and handles or vary in shape (they could be horizontal/vertical ). The advantages of using such medium-sized shopping baskets are:

• It allows the customers to purchase more items without making them feel that they have picked a lot.
• They are easily stackable.
• They take up little storage space despite the large capacity they can carry.

Rolling baskets provide less load to the customer, and therefore they spend more time shopping, which increases the sales.

Toy, Sports, DIY & Garden Stores

The recommended shopping cart capacity for these stores is 54L to 91L, and baskets with wheels and increased capacity are the best options. With a wide and flat bottom, it becomes easy for customers to place their bulky products in them. When there are four wheels with double ball bearings, they effectively reduce the weight of the load and allow large items to be transported easily.

Pharmacies, Drug Stores & Perfumeries

These stores require shopping baskets between 10L to 12L as the items sold by them are small. It is better to have baskets with a closed bottom with metal handles so that even the smallest items are transported safely without falling off the cart.

Convenience Stores

The shopping baskets ideal for convenience stores is 20L to 32L with rolling wheels or handles.

Shopping Baskets Help Increase Sales. How?

Once customers enter a retail store, they depend on the shopping baskets to shop. Trolleys’ biggest advantage is that they eliminate the need for customers to carry the shopped stuff around the store. Customers move to the billing counter if there is no shopping basket around as they cannot hold too many things in their hands. Thus, shopping baskets play a major role in sales. Let us see how to boost sales with the help of shopping trolleys.

1. Never place shopping baskets at the entrance as customers tend to ignore them. The nature of any customer is to move around the store, explore the options and then grab the product. Therefore, it is always better to place the shopping carts further inside the store.
2. Allocate employees to offer baskets to the customers who are entering the store. This simple gesture will create a positive image of your store and customers will feel valued. Eventually, they stay for a longer time and shop more.
3. Another hack is to scatter the shopping baskets in various places around the store. With a shopping basket in hand and within reach at various points of the store, customers tend to shop for products that are not on their list. This is because they do not face any difficulty carrying items in hand. Placing the shopping baskets in the aisles of every floor will avoid customer turnover.
   When customers have their hands full, they will be unable to scoop or make any uneasy movement. Thus, placing the shopping baskets at convenient locations will be easy for the customers to grab the baskets.
4. Shopping trolleys can be used for brand recognition by stamping the name and logo of the store. To create a more personalized effect, the colour of the baskets can match the colour scheme of the logo.

Wrap Up
Thus, by going through everything mentioned above, a durable shopping basket properly stored and built with high-quality plastic is a safe choice for any store. You can follow the simple tips to increase your store sales by precisely organizing the shopping baskets and by understanding the customers’ mindset. Donracks makes the most functional and sturdy shopping trolleys in Chennai that are aesthetically designed to meet client specifications at a reasonable price.