Leaving Your Purchases at the Checkout

Let's be honest; most of us have done it. Embarrassing as it might be, most people have removed an item from their shopping cart while waiting in line at the checkout. It used to be merely changing your mind, or realizing you took the wrong item off the shelf. Today, it is a totally different phenomenon. In today's rocky recession climate, people are tightening their belts. Some are doing it out of necessity while others are adopting a more cautious attitude. Whatever the reason, more people these days are careful of what they purchase. They come to the store with a list of needs, not wants, accompanied by a specific budget. If the tally should move above their available funds, something comes out of the cart.

As yet, there are no hard statistics for this latest trend. However, more and more stores are reporting a growing number of un-purchased items at the cash register, either removed by shoppers as they wait in line or removed by the cashier at the shopper's request upon seeing their balance.

Shoppers have also begun arranging their purchases. Health care and other basic necessities are the first to go through. If there is enough money in the wallet, the frivolous items go through last.

It's not just a question of cash. Credit card purchases have also been affected. Credit card companies used to allow customers to exceed their credit limits by up to 10 percent. No longer! Purchases that exceed the credit limit even slightly are being denied. Consumers wishing to avoid that embarrassment simply remove some items to keep their balance lower.

Internet shopping has become victim to the same trend. Research estimates indicate that as much as 59 percent of online purchases are being dumped before checkout. Much of this is attributed to the costs that are tacked on as one proceeds through various steps, including taxes, handling fees, and shipping charges. Some internet companies are reducing the number of steps in a purchase, as well as posting the costs up front, in order to retain customers.

Hopefully, the days of changing one's mind will soon return.

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