Wes Hosking
Herald Sun
August 02, 2012
SUPERMARKET rush hour starts at 5pm, when up to nine times more shoppers cram stores than earlier in the day.
New data also shows the best day to avoid the hordes is Tuesday.
The Woolworths figures show the peak shopping periods statewide – plus the little-known times when customers can shop in peace.
Saturday is the busiest day, especially between 5pm and 6pm when there are nine times more customers than before 9am.
Between noon and 2pm is the other daily peak.
The trend is similar on weekdays but customer traffic is far lower.
The rush lasts until 7pm as customers hit stores after school and work.
Woolworths spokesman Benedict Brook said many people wrongly thought mid-afternoons were the best time to go shopping.
“Although it is quieter you are probably better to go early to mid-morning or later at night – you will have a much quieter shop,” he said.
Tuesday is the quietest day overall but the least busy time in the week is Sunday before 9am.
“Sundays don’t get going very quickly,” he said.
“The carpark is going to be a bit quieter, you can get everything in one go and you will have an easier ride through the store.”
Self-serve checkouts, extended trading hours and click-and-collect online shopping were among initiatives to get customers in and out of stores more swiftly.
Extra staff were rostered and more checkouts open during peak times.
But getting shoppers to change is a different matter.
Queensland University of Technology lecturer Dr Gary Mortimer said most shoppers had set habits.
“Grocery shopping, particularly, follows a very habitual, very routine pattern,” he said.
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