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Shopping can be a fun experience or a complete nightmare for some people and that doesn't change the world over, but here are a few important points you should be aware of when shopping in Australia. Supermarkets are not the same as they are in the UK for example, they are much more basic and sometimes lack the variety. The main food supermarkets in Australia are: Woolworths (yes it is a food shop here, and they also sell petrol) or sometimes it is called Safeway, Coles, Bi-Lo or Aldi. There are others and if you want specialised goods you may need to buy at individual specialist shops. Buy your meat and veggies/fruit from a butcher and greengrocer. It is usually cheaper, except when the supermarkets have specials. Watch out for these in the local press or when shopping, they are usually really good value. Paying for your shopping is also an experience in itself. You can pay by credit card or EFTPOS which is the Australian Equivalent of Debit Card transaction. You will be asked a series of questions when you pay, but don't be put off. If you are using a credit card then it is the same as the UK, although many have converted to pin insted of . If you are using EFTPOS they only operated a chip and pin system. The important thing is to remember you pin number always! Once the card has been swiped you will be asked whether it is a saving, credit or a cheque account. Although strange, your savings account is more likely to be the equivalent of your current account in the UK. You choose the account type and then you will be passed the key pad to enter your 4 digit pin number. Once this has been accepted you will be given your receipt and you do not need to sign anything. You may be asked other things like do you want cash (cash back in the UK), which is available through most stores not just supermarkets in Australia. The other thing you may be asked for is Flybys, which is basically a loyalty card rather like the Nectar card in the UK. You may be asked if you are looking at an item and don't want to pay for it yet to "stick it on lay-by". This is a sort of a reservation system, where you pay a deposit and they hold it back for you for when you are ready to pay the complete balance. You can also have something on lay-by if the item isn't in stock and again with a deposit you reserve it. The length of time you can have something on Lay-by will be at the discretion of the shop. There are a variety of household and department stores. Below is a list of shops and their nearest equivalent in the UK :
Most goods and services are subject to 10% GST(Goods and Services Tax) which is the equivalent of the UK's VAT. So make sure that GST has been added when getting a price, although most shops will show the price with GST. Hang on to your receipts for everything, including charity donations. You may need then to file your tax return - see section on Banking and Finance
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