Shopping basket stands: which type to buy and where to put them

What does a shopping basket stand cost, and what do you get?

Prices in this range are guide prices in pounds sterling, ex VAT, and they move with quantity. A static shopping basket holder starts from £10 ex VAT, bulk price. It is a steel frame, offered with a chrome, zinc or powder coated finish and in a colour of your choice, and it is listed at 470 by 330 by 340 mm.

The holder on wheels starts from the same guide price and adds 50 mm wheels, so one person can move a loaded stack instead of carrying baskets by the armful. Freight, duty, VAT and lead time are confirmed on your written quote, which is valid for 30 days.

Set against the baskets, the frame is the small part of the job. A 40 L hand basket starts from £3 ex VAT, bulk price, and a 50 L basket starts from £4 ex VAT, bulk price. Any quantity is welcome, from one holder for a single shop to a set for every store in a group.

Shopping basket stand on wheels, static holder, or a stack on the floor

There are three ways to present baskets at the door, and they are not equally good:

The wheeled holder earns its place where the floor is machine cleaned or the entrance layout changes with the trading season. The static holder is the right answer on a tiled lobby where nothing moves. A stack straight on the floor costs nothing on the day and more over a year, because the bottom baskets take the knocks from feet, trolley wheels and the door.

How many shopping basket stands, and where do they go?

Count doors and till runs, not square metres. The job of a holder is to put a basket in a customer's hand in the first few seconds and to take it back without anyone bending down.

• Every customer entrance. A basket a shopper has to walk back for is a basket that never gets picked up. Keep the stack in the first few metres, clear of the door swing and not hidden behind a promotional end.
• The end of the till run. Give people somewhere to set a basket down at waist height and it comes back unbroken rather than being dropped on the floor.
• Halfway down a long aisle. This one is for the shopper who came in for one item and now has an armful.
• The picking area at the back. Online order picking and shelf replenishment both use baskets, and a holder keeps them out of the gangway.

Height is the detail that gets missed. The top basket in the stack wants to sit where an adult can lift it one handed, which is the one thing a floor stack cannot do. In a small shop, one holder at the door and one at the tills covers the ground, and a wheeled holder is worth adding if the same baskets have to serve an outside display or a market stall at the weekend.

Which baskets fit a shopping basket stand?

Capacity in litres and the load rating tell you more than the outside dimensions, because handle designs vary. The 40 L and 50 L plastic baskets in this range are both rated to 25 kg, which is more than most customers will choose to carry: a 50 L basket of tins or bottles feels heavy long before the plastic is troubled by it.

Both holders are listed at 470 by 330 by 340 mm. That is the figure to check against the baskets you already own, because a frame sized for one footprint will not hold a wider or deeper body square. If you are replacing baskets and holders at the same time, put them on one enquiry and the fit is settled in one place.

Nesting depth decides how tall the loaded stack ends up. Measure the full stack you intend to leave on the holder rather than a single basket, then check it against the window line or the signage above the door. Folding mesh baskets are the exception, because they collapse flat and suit a stall or a department that clears away at closing time.

What to check before you buy a shopping basket stand

• Finish. Chrome, zinc and powder coating are all offered. Powder coat takes a knock and can be matched to a shop colour scheme, while zinc or chrome is the safer pick in a chilled lobby or anywhere the floor is wet for most of the day.
• Footprint. The listed 470 by 330 mm base has to sit clear of the door swing and the entrance matting, and still leave room for a customer to stand in front of it.
• Wheels and brakes. On the wheeled version, check that the 50 mm wheels clear your threshold strip, and ask for braked wheels if the holder has to stay exactly where it is put.
• Stability when loaded. A tall stack of 50 L baskets is bulky rather than heavy, but it catches a shoulder on the way past, so a wide base is worth having.
• Cleaning underneath. If a scrubber dryer or a sweeper works that floor, a holder on wheels saves the cleaner lifting the whole stack every night.
• Replacement parts. Castors and handle grips wear out long before a steel frame does, and both are listed in the spare parts range, so a damaged holder need not become a new order.
• Colour and branding. Baskets can be printed on the handle bar, and the colours and finishes available are confirmed on your written quote.

Ordering stands and baskets together

Everything in the shopping basket range is made to order at our partner factories, so the first step is a written quote rather than a checkout. Send the models, the quantity, the finish or colour and the delivery postcode, and the quote comes back with the unit price for that quantity, freight, duty and VAT, and the lead time. It is valid for 30 days.

Goods are inspected before dispatch, and photographs and video are sent to you, so you see the holders and baskets you are paying for rather than a catalogue picture. Delivery is anywhere in the UK and the details are confirmed on your written quote. If a refit is coming, price the baskets, the holders and the trolleys on one enquiry, because the freight on a single consignment usually reads better than on three separate ones. Guide prices for the rest of the catalogue are on the price guide.