Shopping in the UK

Shops in the UK are open without interruption from 9am to 5.30pm, from Monday to Saturday. In London many are open until late evening and even on Sundays, often run by Indians, especially food shops. In the Queensway area (tube of the same name or Bayswater), clothes shops are open until 9 or 10pm, Sundays included. In central London, the days of late opening hours are Thursadys until 8pm for the West End (including the street synonymous with shopping, Oxford Street, and the other great shopping thoroughfare, Regent Street), Wedsnesdays until 7pm for Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Kensington High Street. Post offices are open Monday-Friday from 9am to 5.30pm, and Saturday 9am-1pm. Major credit cards are generally accepted (with the exception of some small businesses), but there may be a minimum purchase requirement and shopkeepers may impose an extra charge.

VAT (Value Added Tax), similar to American sales tax, in Britain is applied on most goods bought and services (hotels, restaurants, car rentals and so on).
It can be refunded to overseas visitors, but there are exceptions. It cannot be refunded if you leave the UK for a final destination within the European Union. There is a scheme called Retail Export Scheme, allowing visitors to reclaim VAT only on goods purchased to be taken out of the country, not services.
Not all shops apply the Retail Export Scheme, and those which do may set a minimum purchase level and may charge an administration fee. To find out whether a store participates in the scheme, look for the Tax Free Shopping sign in its windows. You have to fill in a form at the time of purchase, and then present it to Customs at the final point of departure from the European Union, having your goods with you for inspection.
Visitors to the UK may reclaim the 17.5% VAT, minus the administration charge, on purchases over a minimum limit, generally £50-£100. Refunds can take up to three months to be processed.

Consumerism in London is in the superlative: the largest restaurant in Europe (Mezzo), the most famous department stores in the world (Harrod's), the biggest bookstore in Europe (Waterstone's in Piccadilly, which is open every day until 11pm).

BRITISH SUPERMARKETS AND THE GREY MARKET

Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Safeway are the four biggest superchains that dominate the world of the British supermarkets. In the UK, supermarkets not only sell food products more cheaply than elsewhere, but also a bit of everything else, from newspapers to petrol.

The consumers have sometimes in the past taken adavantage of the grey market, that is the supermarkets' attempt to go against the fixed price policy by selling designer products wholesale for less than the recommended price. Tesco, for instance, a great supermarket chain, has in the past sold Levi's 501 jeans at £ 20 less than official retailers. Another, Asda, has been acquired by the American company Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer. As a consequence, Asda was at one stage selling cosmetics at 25 % less than the standard price, and cutting the prices of its clothing range George by 15%. British customers are buying their fashion products less and less from high street shops and increasingly from these great supermarket stores.

For foods as well, supermarkets charge less, with Asda leading the way. The little food shops (which the English affectionately and melanchonically call “corner shops”) are slowly disappearing, unable to face the competition from these giants, which have taken them by the storm and prefer to expand outside urban centres. Only Indian shopkeepers resist, focusing on their offer of a convenient service, that of opening at all hours until late evening.

The joint venture between food retail chains and petrol sale companies mean that in the UK you can shop all day, in one of the many service areas cum supermarket open 24 hours a day. Some major supermarkets are open 24 hours a day on certain days of the week, for example Sainsbury's in Ladbroke Grove in London. Most large supermarkets are open on Sundays until 4pm.