What time of day is the best to go shopping? When is it least crowded?

I don't tend to go to Tesco at any set time, but as the store I use is in the city centre, I always avoid visiting between 12-2 pm, so I don't encounter the lunchtime rush. This store is open 24 hours though, so it really doesn't matter when I want to go.

 

I think in the middle of the night. Most people I know who shop in the wee hours of the morning or anytime after 11 pm don't have any trouble with shopping. It is one of the things that people need to be aware of when they are shopping. Of course it may not be the safest time to shop. You may also prefer to be in bed! lol

 

I usually go at night or early in the day when most are at work or in for the night. I find it relaxing to go to Walmart around 10 am when people are working is the best time. Night can be less crowded too depending on the day of the week.

 

My mom and I was discussing this not to long ago about how we like to go shopping early in the morning or when the stores are opening. It is so peaceful to do your shopping early in the day because it is less crowded. Sometimes I find some good deals especially if they have had enough time to stock and change prices and mark items down.

 

When I go shopping at Wal-Mart, I like to go either in the morning or late at night. During the morning there's less people and more check out lines open. I like going late at night as well because there aren't many people out shopping, but the only con is, there aren't that many check out lines open. Overall I think it depends on the day of the week, and whether or not a holiday is coming up to determine the best time to shop.

 

The best time to go if you don't want to deal with the crowds, is at night. This is the best time to go as far as I'm concerned it is peaceful and no lines.

 

I used to almost always do my grocery shopping, as well as shopping for other household stuff, late at night/in the wee hours of the morning. It's not just Wal-Marts that are open 24/7 - Super K's are also often open 24/7 and to make things even better, since fewer people shop at K-Mart's to begin with these days, they are especially dead, lol. Even some of our local Giant Eagle grocery stores are open 24/7. When we had Topp's grocery stores around here, they were open 24 hours as well.

Pretty much any time from like 11pm through 2am is a great time to shop, imo, lol. After 10pm, most stores that aren't open 24 hours close, so you don't have to deal with the traffic from those customers on the road. I try to go no later than 2am though because I don't want to get caught up with the bar crowds coming home, and the subsequent cops on the roads looking for them. One time I almost got nailed by a drunk driver, when I went to Wal-Mart at around 3am. I was sitting at a red light and a car behind me came barreling down the road at a really high speed in my lane then turned at the last moment and made a hard right, jumping the curb - swerving all over the place.

The only real inconvenience, aside from some of the sections of the store being closed down, such as the deli department or hot prepared foods, is that they often wax their floors at night - so you may have to walk around that. I would definitely not advise trying to cut across those freshly waxed sections of the floor though, there is a reason they are roped off or designated with warning signs, lol. I've wiped out a number of times trying to do that.

 

For me, the best time to go grocery shopping is early morning when the store just opens. I like to go in the morning because the meat and produce are still fresh. When I go to the malls, I also prefer the mornings. The displays are still neatly arranged, whereas at the end of the day some will be in disarray already. If I can't make it in the mornings, I go near closing time. I don't like to go the malls when it is too crowded and finding a parking spot just takes too much time.

 

The best time to buy from grocery stores, at least in my experience, is early morning, mid afternoon, and late at night. I suspect it's because lots more people are on break or have time during these time frames. Late at night is when you'll see the least amount of people, probably, but it's a bit depressing at that time since they are about to close, in my opinion. My favorite time to shop is early morning when I can but late at night is also good if you aren't going for fresh ingredients like fish or produce.

 

Best time to shop would vary from place to place. In a small town for example, you'd only want to buy something late if you are certain the prices will drop at that time [and that's rare].

Since most people are stressed up in the afternoons and evenings shopping at that time would mean spending more if you use shopping as a way to cope with the stress. That's why I prefer shopping in the morning.

 

As I don't think there is a one size fits all answer to this question - for me - as our stores only open from 8am - 8pm the best time to shop - is either first thing in the morning or at lunchtime as that is when the stores are at their quietest.

I do however generally prefer first thing in the morning, just after opening on a weekday - as not only does it enable me to get all my groceries back home before the heat of the day sets in - but its way quicker and there is a whole lot more choice and everything is fresher too.

 

During the week is always better, especially during the afternoon. After 5 PM it always gets more crowded, and on weekends as well. However, as I work from 8 to 5 every day on weekdays, I will face the crowd and go at 5 or 6 PM on weekdays. Some supermarkets don't get as crowded as others and you don't spend that much time in line if you know where to go.

 

I don't go often but I went once on a Saturday mid-day and it was torture. There were so many people and it was so crowded. Children were running around the store with no parents and knocking shelves over.
Lets just say that's the first and last time I go on a weekend. I find that many other stores such as Target aren't as bad.

 

I like to shop in the early morning. No one is there before work hours, unless they work odd hours. I suppose later in the evening would work too.

 

I go to my local Wal-Mart at 6AM when it opens and I find it to be quiet and mostly empty at that hour. It's ridiculously packed at midnight when they are right about to close, so I guess all those night owls are too tired to come in the morning.

 

I tend to go mid day if possible, and also on a weekday I find the stores are not very crowded at that time since most people are at work. I hate waiting in line, so it is one of the things that I enjoy. I like it when I don't have to dodge other shoppers. I don't think it makes any difference in terms of getting deals...but I find the store environment pleasant at that time so it just makes sense for me to go then.

 

Whenever I would go shopping, particularly on occasions, I would come to the store at least 30 minutes before opening. That gives me the privilege of choosing a parking slot especially in malls where parking is always a problem. With the stores, it is not yet crowded in the morning since the peak hours of shopping is from lunch time until evening. It's sometimes frustrating to queue in the cashier for payment when the store is so crowded.

 

I noticed that morning time is the best time to go to avoid crowds. If it's past morning, crowds are definitely going to be there no doubt. Walmart always has people filling it up haha. Morning is as good as I seen it get for uncrowded time. I am a person who doesn't mind the crowds too much. My family tries to avoid the crowds though.

 

I prefer to shop in the morning or when the store is about to close, since there are less people and the attendants are not as busy, so they are available when I need to ask them something. The lines are also not that long during those times.

 

Early morning on week days seems to be the least busiest time of the day in stores in my area. Unfortunately, my work schedule does not allow me to shop those days, so I try to shop mid-day on week days. The busiest times of day to shop are in the evenings around 5:00 pm, because that is when many people are stopping at the grocery store after work, and weekends are always busy. Many stores mark down meat, dairy products, and bread products mid-week, so for this reason I will try to shop on Wednesdays if I can in order to score some of the marked-down items. I have saved up to 75% off of items like cheese, yogurt, loaves of bread, and meat by shopping the discounted items mid-week. Some grocery stores have a general area in each department where the mark downs are located each week.