Being a stay at home mom creates a number of challenges in choosing where to shop. With two small boys, factors such as parking, willingness to help from store employees and even the maneurverability of the shopping carts can determine where and I can or can not shop.

Even today, most households require the woman to do most of the shopping for the family. Of course this may not always be fare, but its the reality we live in. Factors such as convenience and the other challenges mentioned above play a big role. As such, I must visit a beauty supply store later this morning. With its narrow aisles and lack of shopping carts, my time inside the store will be minimal.

I believe this is true for alot of stay at home moms with children. The inability to maneuver through a store may keep them from visiting the store all together or may limit their shopping to specific items only. This means less money will be spent and limited \”impulse buys\”. All in the attempt to avoid a public melt down by either mom or the kids.

Of the various factors, maybe the most important one is the shopping cart. For me to shop at a store and possibly linger versus simply getting the specific items I seek, the shopping cart needs to be wide enough to securely place a car seat or infant carrier inside without the feeling of the possibility that the cart may topple over.

The ideal shopping cart for a small business should be sturdy and lightnot bulky and heavy. It should be large enough to contain the items a shopper needs, but not so large that maneuvering through aisles becomes difficult and frustrating.

On several occassions, I have simply left a store due to frustration created by shopping carts being the wrong size for the shop I was in, or the wheels not working correctly or even aisles to cluttered for me the navigate through them to get to the items which I am most interested. I seem to avoid these stores in the future due to these bad experiences.

I understand that there is a fine line between having shopping carts the appropiate size in comparison to the needed aisle width to accomodate the type of products a store may carry. But I need a cart which is large enough for a five year old to sit in the basket along with whatever items I am purchasing. A good balance is needed for a store to provide a convenient place to shop.

To put so much emphasis on the shopping cart may seem silly, but it’s necessary. There is one particular store which I have had to avoid until my child was big enough to sit up on his own. The stores carts would not accomodate my infant carrier. For my small business, I would make sure to provide a shopping cart that was light weight, probably plastic, sturdy, free turning wheels, wide enough for an infant carrier to be secure and possibly allow for a second child inside. It would be the appropraite size based on the overall size of the store, the products sold at the store and the width of the aisles. This would ensure its ability to maneuver throughout the store and would allow for customers to linger and spend more time, hence spend more money.