Shopping with your significant other can now turn into entertainment time with your mobile device. Imagine it’s Sunday, the football game is on TV and you’re stuck in the detergent aisle standing watch over your groceries. Look to your left and right. Waive to the other guys guarding their grocery carts. Get the picture?
I thought of this when I was standing watch in the cereal aisle. Big Captain Crunch fan. But the Mets were playing and I was missing the game. Remembering I had the MLB app, I quickly tuned in but then was told to get moving so I could watch over the groceries in the canned veggie aisle. I needed to get out of the app and restart it in the next aisle. There had to be a better way. Remembering my trusty background as a guy that specializes in mounting accessories, I quickly got to work.
Now truth be told, there are a lot of other reasons for needing to mount your device on your shopping cart and some terrific apps to support them:
- Grocery list apps. I can personally attest to Shop Shop. Silly name for an app but is free and simple. It maintains your shopping list and does it well. Easy to input items and easy to cross them off as you make your way around the store. There are lots of apps that can do this including ZipList and Grocery IQ which I read is very good but I like to use Shop Shop.
- Your local grocery store app. Here in Northern New Jersey, the main guys in groceries is a chain called Shop Rite. I was always told that Walmart did not want to hire union workers so avoided entering the grocery business in New Jersey, so Shop Rite is just about the only game in town. They have their own app which lists sales and specials that can be accessed in store.Apps to keep the kids busy.
Be sure you have a secure mount for this purpose as your new iPad spinning out of control onto the floor is painful to think about. Facing your tablet towards your child in the seat can be a great way to keep him occupied.
You need a mount that will fit the small handlebar of a shopping cart and it turns out that the diameter is somewhat close to that of a bicycle. You also want a mount that is easy to install and remove. I like using the strap mounts that are available for handlebars. Easy to install and then adjust for various diameter bars. Also, the ability to swivel into portrait or landscape is also a handy feature. Get one that features an expandable cradle so that you can easily insert your phone with or without a case or skin. An expandable cradle also means you don’t have to buy a new mount when you upgrade your phone or tablet.
The mount that is in the photo that accompanies this article? That’s the Handlebar Tablet Strap Mount. An expandable cradle accompanies this which opens to fit tablets ranging in size from an iPad Mini to a full size tablet. There’s a strap mount that fits practically any diameter shopping cart handle. Easy to install and remove.
A similar mount but for a phone is the Arkon Bike or Motorcycle Phone Holder Strap Mount. Same strap situation as the tablet mount but with a smaller cradle that fits phones up to 3.4 inches diameter. That’s wide enough for most phones with or without a case or skin.
Check your email, scan your shopping list, or – that’s right – watch the baseball game.