Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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All you can carry supermarket

Flat fee, one trolley.
  (+11, -3)(+11, -3)
(+11, -3)
  [vote for,
against]

This is not a good idea so I'll keep it brief.

You pay £50 to go in. You get a trolley. Fill it up and go.

Goods are packaged in oversize boxes to achieve a constant value/volume ratio. Customers will not believe this, and will always be seeking the non-existent bargain.

Mathematicians, geometers, crystallographers and topologists will be at an advantage in finding the optimal packing for a set of unequal cuboids.

Special offers such as "free ketchup when you buy a family pack of burgers" can be accommodated by packaging the goods in such a way that the ketchup bottle (but nothing else) fits snugly into a recess in the burger pack.

Thank you and good evening.

MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 08 2008

supermarket game show, same idea http://en.wikipedia...i/Supermarket_Sweep
baked in the US [dentworth, Mar 10 2008]

12 Toilet rolls, £3.95 http://www.sainsbur...id=1689949376102853
[hippo, Mar 10 2008]

Supermarket Tetris Supermarket_20Tetris
[hippo, Mar 10 2008]


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Annotation:







       <heads for the spirits>   

       <tosses in a pack of lager...>   

       <...and a bar of chocolate>
po, Mar 08 2008
  

       ...tiny caviar in a giant box...
phoenix, Mar 09 2008
  

       Aren't we trying to find a way to *reduce* packaging? Maybe just put a big bin outside the market to put those big boxes in for re-use or recycling.
KineticKill, Mar 09 2008
  

       Beware origami shoplifters, who surreptitiously re-fold the packaging.
pertinax, Mar 09 2008
  

       Ah but you never said how high one could stack the trolley and you need to dis-allow duct tape.   

       Let us take as a unit of cost/volume the 12-pack of toilet rolls. The volume of this is about 20 litres and it costs about £4. Therefore the packaging of everything in the store needs to be done on the basis that £1 of value takes up 5l of space in your trolley. So, [po]'s £25 bottle of single malt will occupy a volume of 125l, or a cube 0.5m long on all sides...
hippo, Mar 10 2008
  

       I don't think that would deter [P]o.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 10 2008
  

       The toilet rolls could be compressed, to enhance their value density. That's probably not a bad idea in itself.   

       EDIT: you pay 4 quid for 12 rolls? I pay the equivalent of 2 quid for 24. Are bog rolls heavily taxed in the UK or something?
Texticle, Mar 10 2008
  

       [Texticle] Yes, they are (see link)
hippo, Mar 10 2008
  

       On the other hand, these are proper English loo rolls, which can be used in an emergency for bandaging an amputated arm or swaddling a lamb born in the windswept fields of Hilldaleshire. Not to be confused with the unilamellar gossamer which Americans wad into an immense ball in order to provide adequate wipage.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 10 2008
  

       Forget the constant value/volume ratio factor - I like the idea for a normal supermarket (perhaps without the high-end goods). The carts would have lids that must close.   

       Let us Tetris champions use our skills to our advantage.
globaltourniquet, Mar 10 2008
  

       [global] Ah yes, Tetris in the supermarket - that reminds me of an old, old idea... (see link)
hippo, Mar 10 2008
  


 

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