The Shopping Cart Question
Several months ago, I was reading an economist asking “why are shopping carts larger?” Apparently, it’s been empirically noted that shopping carts (I think just in the U.S. – my data on international shopping carts is not so good) have grown progressively larger in the last twenty years, and no one’s established a good reason why. Here’s one idea:
Americans, as we know, suffer from a severe affluence problem. (After, isn’t it said that in America even the poor have color TV?) As goods become cheaper and cheaper, more and more of them feed the vast consumer society. Specifically, the single-family houses of the average American have grown steadily larger and larger, and their larger and larger cars have more and more space. As I understand it, the retail pattern used to be that one went to the market (supermarket, what have you) at least once a week for necessities, many if not most of which would spoil if kept to long. In the dense railroad cities, (or traditional European ones, for that matter,) this was even more frequent as carrying capacities were severely limited by what one person could carry back to where they lived. In contrast, the average American today has a really big house (by standards of necessity,) a really big car, and is buying goods that may or not be necessary for the immediate week, and will almost certainly keep for a good long while combining the magic of preservatives and refrigeration. Thus, following the Marxian dictum that what you do is determined by what you can do, you get the phenomenon of hoarding.
Economies of scale usually dictate that larger purchases have lower unit costs, and this is only exacerbated by the likes of CostCo and Sam’s Club. Add that to the desire to maximize leisure time by spending as little time as possible in the market, and you get very large, yet very infrequent purchases. Instead of the daily baguette and produce, the technology-rich American buys vast quantities of long-shelf-life items once in a comparatively rare while. They carry this voluminous plunder in their huge car back to their huge house and store it somewhere out of the way until they consume it or entirely forget about it. The average purchase becomes larger, the transport becomes larger, the storage becomes larger – ergo the shopping cart becomes larger.
I even see this in my own (ostensibly enlightened) behavior: I shop completely differently walking down to the local supermarket than when driving the seven miles to the kosher superstore in North Dallas. (Please, don’t ask.) Quantities become larger, space is at less of a premium – in short the whole strategy is different.
And I use a larger shopping cart.
Compare: The Sam's Club Effect
Americans, as we know, suffer from a severe affluence problem. (After, isn’t it said that in America even the poor have color TV?) As goods become cheaper and cheaper, more and more of them feed the vast consumer society. Specifically, the single-family houses of the average American have grown steadily larger and larger, and their larger and larger cars have more and more space. As I understand it, the retail pattern used to be that one went to the market (supermarket, what have you) at least once a week for necessities, many if not most of which would spoil if kept to long. In the dense railroad cities, (or traditional European ones, for that matter,) this was even more frequent as carrying capacities were severely limited by what one person could carry back to where they lived. In contrast, the average American today has a really big house (by standards of necessity,) a really big car, and is buying goods that may or not be necessary for the immediate week, and will almost certainly keep for a good long while combining the magic of preservatives and refrigeration. Thus, following the Marxian dictum that what you do is determined by what you can do, you get the phenomenon of hoarding.
Economies of scale usually dictate that larger purchases have lower unit costs, and this is only exacerbated by the likes of CostCo and Sam’s Club. Add that to the desire to maximize leisure time by spending as little time as possible in the market, and you get very large, yet very infrequent purchases. Instead of the daily baguette and produce, the technology-rich American buys vast quantities of long-shelf-life items once in a comparatively rare while. They carry this voluminous plunder in their huge car back to their huge house and store it somewhere out of the way until they consume it or entirely forget about it. The average purchase becomes larger, the transport becomes larger, the storage becomes larger – ergo the shopping cart becomes larger.
I even see this in my own (ostensibly enlightened) behavior: I shop completely differently walking down to the local supermarket than when driving the seven miles to the kosher superstore in North Dallas. (Please, don’t ask.) Quantities become larger, space is at less of a premium – in short the whole strategy is different.
And I use a larger shopping cart.
Compare: The Sam's Club Effect
posted by KP | 3.11.07
3 Comments:
I don't necessarily see this as bad. Summarizing your entire comment without the negative social commentary, we have larger baskets because we have improved our technology such that food keeps longer. Buying in bulk is cheaper. What does this mean? We can buy our staple foods (i.e. pastas, canned food, frozen foods, dog food, etc.) in one large purchase. We spend less time in the car, less time at the supermarket, more time with each other reading, and with friends playing board games :)
Note another phenomenon: Even though our carts keep getting bigger, the presence of hand boxes (those little boxes that you carry around when you only need a couple of items) are still present and still used. While we do make larger more infrequent purchases, we still run to the market for the small necessities (i.e. milk, eggs, that quick dessert or alcoholic beverage needed for the party, etc.) Many times, we don't even use a cart. We run in, get what we need (holding the items in our hand) and get out.
One last thing to consider. Those lavish items and consumer goods that are the indication of too much wealth and consumer greed aren't placed in shopping carts. (Do you see shopping carts at Best Buy or Department stores? If you do... does anyone use them?) Shopping carts are only used for the small necessities and buying those in bulk (enough toilet paper to last 6 months... and toilet paper isn't forgotten) is a good idea.
When I shop at Sam's I always overbuy, most of the things spoil, because we can't eat it fast enough.
I shop at Whole Foods or Central Market. (and some small ethnic shops) I buy just enough food for a dinner or two. I end up saving. It is so much more expensive to shop there, but I save, my family eats better, and we eat what we crave.
Asel
In Michigan, there is a trend towards smaller shopping carts, ones that are a third of the size of regular carts. I know not when this began, but in the last year I've seen many more people using these smaller carts, and I tend to do the same now. It's surprising how it limits one's consumption and results in more thoughtfulness while shopping...and ultimately less waste. Car trunks have equally grown to accommodate the larger carts, whilst hybrid vehicles have retained a conservative space for non-living passengers. As for Sam's Club, I'm able to save quite a bit by purchasing nonperishable items in bulk. Ironically, the deals on toilet paper and paper towel are much better in the local grocery store, and my recent purchases at Sam's have been tech items: cell phone, digital camera, flash drive...the prices could not be beat. What I'd like to see Ken address is Black Friday. Who would get up before 4 a.m. to get "the good deals," and what does this say about our society? Also, did anyone see if this new push for earlier hours resulted in more purchases?
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