Many factors and assets contribute to a successful retail or grocery store — a practical layout, strong aesthetic, clean surfaces, functional climate control, well-stocked shelves, etc. As you consider the importance of these moving parts, though, do not overlook the seemingly small things, such as the shopping baskets you offer your customers. Sure, the value of a single basket may pale in comparison to most of your other assets, but each basket has a bigger impact on your business than you might at first realize.

For one thing, many of your customers rely on baskets to do their shopping, eliminating the need to carry several objects with both hands. Without these baskets, your sales numbers would undoubtedly take a hit. Beyond the obvious, though, baskets also boost your marketing and brand recognition, providing a perfect, mobile surface to stamp your name and/or logo. You might even match the color of your baskets to your brand’s color scheme for added effect. And lastly, you can actively encourage sales and enhance the customer experience by strategically placing baskets near certain aisles and products.

Of course, all of these benefits that baskets offer fall flat if, 1) you don’t have enough of them for your customers, 2) they aren’t well-suited for the products you’re selling, or 3) they can’t withstand the regular wear and tear that comes with frequent use. In other words, when purchasing shopping baskets for your locations, it’s not enough to just go with the first or cheapest manufacturer you come across. If you do this, you’ll likely need to reinvest in more baskets before long. Instead, you want to ensure from the outset that you buy quality baskets that will stand the test of time and keep your customers satisfied.

So, which shopping baskets are the most durable? It’s a bit of a loaded question, so let’s break down the main factors that determine a basket’s durability.

What to Know About Shopping Basket Durability

Does Size Play into Durability?

Our culture often conflates size with strength — if something is small we tend to immediately assume it is frail, and if something is big we assume it’s sturdy. However, these assumptions are often proven wrong. That isn’t the say that a basket’s size doesn’t factor into durability at all — it means that size isn’t the only factor, and that, in some cases, bigger actually means less durable. How can this be?

Without getting too in the weeds of physics, simply note that density, or how compact a material is, matters more than mere size when it comes to determining durability. Consider that objects are denser when their mass is distributed over a smaller volume. In other words, if you use the same exact materials (and same amount of them) to construct small baskets and large baskets, the smaller ones will be denser and therefore stronger. With that brief lesson out of the way, it’s also worth noting that baskets of different sizes are typically not made from the same amount of materials. Otherwise, smaller baskets might be too heavy for comfortable use. 

Additionally, consider that bigger baskets tend to wear down faster than smaller baskets, for perhaps apparent reasons. Simply put, bigger baskets take up more space, which means customers are more likely to bump these baskets into walls, shelves, and other hard objects. And because bigger baskets can carry more objects and weight than their smaller counterparts, these collisions make more of an impact.

Materials Make the Difference

Perhaps now it is clear that a basket’s size doesn’t necessarily correspond to its durability — at least not directly. As briefly mentioned before, a basket’s composition is much more important here. Certain materials are simply more or less durable than others (bamboo baskets may be stronger than those made of cheap, thin wire, for instance). There are also a number of ways to make a certain material more durable via manufacturing processes. So, while plastic shopping baskets are quite common, they’re not all created equal — different types of plastics and other synthetic materials may be used to create baskets.

The question remains, then, what are the most durable materials for shopping baskets? Here at Good L Corp., all of our baskets are made from 100% recycled plastics, and include copolymers and elastomers which give them more flexibility and strength. When properly sourced and synthesized, these plastics make for the most durable shopping vessels for your customers.

The Durable Shopping Baskets we Offer

While all of our baskets offer superior durability, we don’t simply offer one type of basket. Different stores and shoppers have different needs, after all, and a single type of basket might not always be optimal. Our various durable shopping baskets include:

• Standard baskets
• Tall baskets
• Large baskets
• Big baskets
• Mini baskets
• Rolling shopping baskets

Additionally, we manufacture various kinds of shopping carts, also built from the highest-quality, most durable materials. So, no matter what your business and customers need, we can help. It’s not how big you are that matters — it’s what you’re made of.

Good L Corporation delivers innovative shopping cart and basket solutions for retailers on a global scale. From a fleet of new custom carts to launch your store opening, to replacement baskets that supplement your existing shop supply, Good L Corp can configure the right carryall strategy to boost your retail business. Let’s get started! Contact us today for a no-pressure sales quote.