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Supermarket Manager is a free online shop management game that runs in the browser with no download and no account. You are the only member of staff, and that is the whole design. Customers take items off the shelves and queue at the till, where they hand you a note and you build the change out of the drawer — real arithmetic, not a single button. Meanwhile the shelves are emptying, and a shopper who reaches for an empty shelf walks out before ever reaching you. Restocking takes three and a half seconds during which the till is shut and the queue keeps losing patience, so every shift is a run of small decisions about which cost to pay next. Reputation, not money, is what ends a shift: wrong change, an abandoned queue and a bare shelf all take a bite out of it. Eight shifts run from a three-shelf corner shop to a ten-shelf sale day with cents in the drawer.
How to play Supermarket Manager
- Customers shop the aisles first, then join the queue at the till. The card at the front of the queue is the one you are serving.
- Each card shows the basket total and the note the customer is paying with. The till line tells you the change owed.
- Tap denominations to lay change on the counter, then press Give change. It has to be exactly right — any combination that adds up is accepted.
- Wrong change costs reputation but the sale still goes through. It is a complaint, not a theft.
- Tap a shelf to restock it to full. That takes three and a half seconds, and the till is completely shut while you are out there.
- A shopper who reaches for an empty shelf leaves without buying, and takes some reputation with them — they never even reach your queue.
- Everyone in the queue is losing patience at the same time, and someone who gives up costs more reputation than any wrong change does.
- Take the shift target before closing time to unlock the next one. A shift with no mistakes and no walkouts is worth three stars.
Tips
- The till comes first, always. A queue of three losing patience costs far more than a shelf that is one item from empty.
- Restock in the gaps, not on a schedule. The moment the queue empties is the only free time you get, and there is usually one every twenty seconds.
- Restock the shelf that is empty, not the one that is low. An item at zero is turning shoppers away right now; an item at two is not.
- Learn the round numbers. Most baskets land on a five, so the change is usually a note back plus a couple of coins — you rarely need the small stuff until the later shifts put cents in the drawer.
- Build change from the top down. Largest note that fits, then work down: that is how the drawer is laid out and it is fewer taps than counting up.
- If someone is about to walk, serve them even with change you are unsure of. A complaint costs nine reputation, an abandoned queue costs twelve.
- New Trade regenerates the customers at the same difficulty; Restart Shift replays the identical run, which is what you want when a shift went wrong at a specific moment.
FAQ
Is Supermarket Manager free to play?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All eight shifts are included and unlock as you hit their targets.
Do I have to give the exact change?
Yes, but not in any particular combination. Any set of coins and notes that adds up to the amount owed is accepted — there is no requirement to use the fewest coins.
Why is the till greyed out?
Because you are out on the shop floor restocking. That is the central trade in the game: you are one person, and the three and a half seconds a shelf takes are three and a half seconds the queue spends waiting.
What loses reputation?
Three things: handing over the wrong change, letting a queueing customer give up, and a shopper finding the shelf they wanted empty. The last one happens before they reach you, which is why the shelves cannot be ignored entirely.
How is this different from Diner Rush?
Diner Rush is about the order things happen in at a restaurant. This is about a single body that has two jobs, one of which is arithmetic — nothing is upgraded, nothing is bought, and the pressure is entirely about where you are standing.
What happens if I get change wrong?
The customer leaves and the sale is still banked, but you lose nine reputation and it is recorded as a mistake. A shift with no mistakes and no walkouts is what three stars asks for.
Is the shift the same every time?
Restart Shift replays the identical customers and baskets, which is useful when a shift went wrong at a moment you want to try again. New Trade generates a different run at the same difficulty.
Does Supermarket Manager work on a phone?
Yes. The shelves reflow into a grid, the queue scrolls sideways and the keypad sits at the bottom under your thumbs. Enter gives change and Backspace clears the counter on a keyboard.