Get in, get out, save money! Tips for shopping at Superstore

It's no secret that I do 99% of my grocery shopping at Superstore and love it.  Why do I love Superstore?

• First and foremost, their prices are very competitive
• They have a wide selection of products. (ie. food, personal care, clothing, housewares)
• They have quality store brand products
•  Their awesome reward points system 

Superstore sometimes gets a bad rap for it's long lines, crazy shoppers, and sometimes confusing layout.  But don't let these minor points deter you!  There are many treasures and deals to find if you can work around these negative points.  With these tips you will be cruising through Superstore finding what you need fast and saving money!

1. Get in on the PC Points!
I know what your thinking "Great another card to cram into my wallet. *eye roll*", "Why bother when I'll never get enough points to qualify for any rewards?".  If you can stick with me on this one I promise it will be beneficial to you!  First off, you don't need a card!  You can have a card if you like but I prefer to download the PC Points app.  No card in my wallet and I always have it with me, because who leaves the house without their phone? 

What do you get with your PC Points!  Free groceries, that's what!  For every 10,000 points you get $10 in free groceries.  Now I know 10,000 points seems like a lot and that it would take a long time to earn them.  Quite often I will find products that give me 700 points for buying 1 of them.  For example, if orange juice is 500 points and you buy 2, you get 1,000 points.

Points are assigned to various products in the store and are posted in the flyer.  You don't earn points of your overall purchase (which is a bit of a bummed) but you do receive your own personalized offers.  Each week on the app you receive PC Points deals that are based on your past purchases.  If you buy a lot of peppers you will often find peppers have a points value attached to them.  They also throw in a few new products each week, which I enjoy because sometimes it's a product that I wanted to try and the points give me the incentive to do so.  You can also earn points on gas if you fill up at a Superstore gas station

2. Check your PC Points offers and flyer before heading to the store.
I like to check my PC Points offers and the flyer when I'm making my meal plan.  This was I can shop the sales and take advantage of as many points as possible.  Each week the flyer will have some sort of extra deal included in it.  When you spend a certain amount of money (usually $100-$250 before taxes and deposits) in store you earn the deal.  This varies from a $25 gift card for the store to 20,000 PC Points.  That's $20 in free products!!  If I don't like the deal for the week I will often try to stretch what we already in the house to see if the next deal is something I want to take advantage of.

3. Make a list and add items in order you encounter them in the store.
Maybe I'm just a creature of habit but I always shop Superstore in the same order.  Making your list to correspond to your path will save you time and headache.  No more running back and forth across the store because you skipped over an item.  This will take a few trips to get just right as you perfect your path through the store.  Knowing the layout of the store will also help if you remember half way through your trip that you forgot an item on your list and need to find it fast.

4. Shop weekday mornings!
I know this isn't possible for everyone, but if you can, hit Superstore first thing in the morning during the week!  I love to shop at this time because there are very few people in the store.  Usually I'm lucky if I see 5-6 customers in the entire store, which means great parking spots, no cluttered isles and walking right up to the till to pay.  The fresh produce is usually being put out at this time as well so you get the freshest of the fresh.  The only down side is the rotisserie chickens don't come out until noon!  I guess you can't have everything though...

If you absolutely can't make it to Superstore during this heavenly hour, Superstore has recently announced a guarantee that all tills will be open from 10:00am - 3:00pm every Saturday & Sunday!.  Now this won't cut down on the number of people in the parking lot or isles, but at least you won't have to stand in line at the tills for an hour!

5. Buy the Green Bins!
$15 per bin may seem like a lot of money for a bucket to put your groceries in.  I promise this is an investment you will never regret!  These bins are surprisingly large and can fit a ton of items since they are much sturdier than a plastic or fabric bag.  Plus you won't have to pay 5 cents per plastic bag.  We have 3 bins and I have no problem fitting $250 worth of groceries into them, minus big items like milk and kitty litter.  Now this is the part that is going to blow your mind!  These bins hook onto the bottom of the cart giving you extra room for your groceries!  My Mom and I discovered this while shopping one day when we saw a woman hook them on.  Not only does this give you more room for food, but if you're hopping with kids, it allows you to get up to 3 kids into the cart (two in the seats and a bucket seat in the top) and still be able to fit all your groceries!  I personally wouldn't want to shop with 3 kids but sometimes it has to be done!  *NOTE: I'm aware that you aren't supposed to put bucket seats in the carts but sometimes it's the only way to get the shopping done.  Just make sure that seat is secure and won't tip or fall out and you should be fine!

Packing your own groceries is definitely one of the things that used to drive me nuts about Superstore, especially with Roman.  How am I supposed to fill bags, keep Roman entertained, and not hold the line up?  Maybe I just over think this whole business but I swear I can feel peoples eyes beating down on me as I scramble to pack up my groceries and get out of the way.  Tell me I'm not alone?  Green bins to the rescue!  They make loading your groceries back into the cart extremely easy, and I can usually have 85% of my groceries loaded by the time the cashier is done scanning them. 

I realize I haven't divulged any top secret information here but hopefully these tips will make your Superstore experience a little more enjoyable.  Who knows, maybe I'll see you at 7:00am in the vegetable isle!