Before you head off to the supermarket, a word in your ear – you’ve been shopping in supermarkets all wrong.
Yes. You.
How? According to etiquette guru William Hanson’s book, Just Good Manners, you’ve been shopping at the wrong times, gathering items in the wrong order, and making U-turns with your trolley, to name but a few faux pas. But don’t fret, because he gracefully outlines how to shop with courtesy in the tome.
The king of courtesy says: ‘On the hunt for bargains, consumers have spectacular lapses in common sense, leaving staff and other customers short-changed in the currency of civility.
‘Many find themselves on retail autopilot, performing actions and making choices that are so ingrained and routine that they rarely pause to think about them and the consequences.’
The most civil time to shop
William says that for ‘reduced anxiety’, shop ‘between 8am and 10am on a Monday morning, if shopping in a big city’, adding: ‘For those outside of a metropolis, evenings are usually the quietest.’
The correct route
‘Most British supermarkets have an unwritten flow,’ says William. ‘You should start your shop in the aisles nearest to the entrance, which is often where the fresh produce is.’
The trolley U-turn
Do not perform U-turns with your trolley, warns William, otherwise ‘you will face the silent, passive-aggressive wrath of Brits’. He adds: ‘Far better to return to the start of the supermarket and begin again.’
Don’t block aisles while you scroll
William warns: ‘Block any aisles while scrolling social media on your phone at your peril.’
Acknowledge the staff
‘All shop staff you pass should be acknowledged. Ideally with a verbal greeting, but at the very least make eye contact and give a half-smile,’ says William. ‘No need for a Cheshire-cat grin, just some recognition that they are a human being, too.’
Don’t chat in the aisle, two abreast
William scolds people who clog up the aisles with their trolleys, nattering away.
He says: ‘A pair of trollies parked two abreast make it next to impossible for anyone to successfully traverse that aisle.’
He suggests arranging to meet friends you bump into afterwards in the coffee shop.
Eating food before you pay
Is it ok to eat the food you’ve selected before you pay? Absolutely not. William says: ‘Crumbs from the white baton loaf you’ve been feeding yourself or your child will fall on the floor, attract vermin, look unsightly, and give the impression you think you are in some way above the rules.’
The till divider
At the supermarket belt by the till, ‘if you do not place a “next customer please” divider at the end of your wares, the shopper behind you will be imagining your slow and painful death’, remarks the Merlin of manners in the book.
For more from Mr Hanson visit his TikTok and Instagram profiles.
Just Good Manners – A Quintessential Guide to Courtesy, Charm, Grace and Decorum (Penguin Random House), is out now. It is billed as ‘a witty and authoritative guide to British etiquette’.
