Nokta Games put Supermarket Simulator into Early Access on 20 February 2024 and shipped the 1.0 build on 19 June 2025. You order stock on the shop computer, price every product against a market rate that moves daily, stack the shelves by hand and scan each item at the till until you can afford staff. Twenty six licences sit between you and the full catalogue of over 150 products.
Starting Supermarket Simulator can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Supermarket Simulator is a simulation game built around Ordering stock on the store computer and Pricing against the daily market rate. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Owner operator | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Cashier | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Restocker | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Security guard | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Online order courier | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Cashier. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Online order courier as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Ordering stock on the store computer
Everything you sell is ordered from the computer in the back room, arrives as stacked boxes and has to be carried out and shelved by hand. Boxes left in the aisles block customers and cost you sales, so the storage room upgrade pays for itself quickly.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Ordering stock on the store computer works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Shop floor
The sales area you expand tier by tier as profits allow. Aisle spacing matters as much as shelf count, because blocked paths stop customers reaching the product they came for.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Shelves: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The basic ambient stock fixture. Each shelf holds a limited number of product slots, so the layout you choose decides which lines you can keep permanently in stock.
Step 4: Understand Pricing against the daily market rate
Each product shows a market price, and you set your own retail price against it. Community pricing tests keep landing on roughly 10 percent over market as the point where extra margin still beats the sales you lose.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Checkout counters
The till line at the front. One counter is fine while you are scanning solo, and a second is the difference between a rush hour and a walkout.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Ordering stock on the store computer
Everything you sell is ordered from the computer in the back room, arrives as stacked boxes and has to be carried out and shelved by hand. Boxes left in the aisles block customers and cost you sales, so the storage room upgrade pays for itself quickly.
Pricing against the daily market rate
Each product shows a market price, and you set your own retail price against it. Community pricing tests keep landing on roughly 10 percent over market as the point where extra margin still beats the sales you lose.
Store Points and store levels
Store Points come from customers buying products, from restocking and from keeping the place clean, and they push your store level up. Store level is the gate on new licences and expansions, so a busy tidy shop unlocks content faster than a rich empty one.
Licences that unlock product groups
Each of the 26 licences costs cash and needs a minimum store level, and it unlocks a group of related products rather than a single item. Buying one you cannot afford to keep stocked just eats capital.
Hiring cashiers and restockers
Cashiers work a till so you stop scanning, and restockers pull boxes from the storage racks onto shelves. Both take a flat daily wage, which a busy shift covers several times over.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Pricing well above market on every product
Margin per sale goes up briefly, then complaints and walkouts drag daily revenue below where it started.
2. Buying licences you cannot keep stocked
Each unlock costs cash and needs shelf or fridge space, and an empty display earns nothing while the money is gone.
3. Leaving boxes on the shop floor
They block the paths customers use to reach products, so sales drop for a reason the end of day summary never spells out.
4. Hiring staff too early
Wages are charged daily whether the store is busy or not, and a small shop makes more money with you working the till.
5. Ignoring cleaning and trash
Store Points come partly from keeping the place tidy, and a dirty store slows the level progression that gates every licence.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Ordering stock on the store computer and Pricing against the daily market rate
- Choose Cashier as starting build
- Clear Shop floor main content
- Acquire Shelves or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Checkout counters
- Set most products at roughly 10 percent over the market rate. Player pricing tests keep landing there because the margin on what sells outweighs the handful of customers who refuse, while a 20 percent markup produces enough complaints to cost you both sales and Store Points.
- Open the pricing tab every in game morning. Market rates move daily, and a price you set last week can quietly drop below your own purchase cost without any warning on the shop floor.
Tips for New Players
- Set most products at roughly 10 percent over the market rate. Player pricing tests keep landing there because the margin on what sells outweighs the handful of customers who refuse, while a 20 percent markup produces enough complaints to cost you both sales and Store Points.
- Open the pricing tab every in game morning. Market rates move daily, and a price you set last week can quietly drop below your own purchase cost without any warning on the shop floor.
- Buy the storage room before you buy more shelves. Boxes stacked in the aisles physically block customers, and a restocker with nowhere to pull from is a wage with no output.
- Hire a cashier before a restocker. Scanning is the task that pins you in one spot during the busiest part of the day, while restocking can be done between waves at your own pace.
- Plan the fridge and freezer footprint before buying the licence that needs them. Chilled and frozen units eat far more floor space per product slot than a plain shelf, and unsold stock in the back earns nothing.
- Read the customer thought bubbles instead of guessing. They tell you directly whether a price is being rejected or a product is missing, which is faster feedback than watching the end of day report.
- Keep one aisle of cheap staples permanently full. Customers who cannot find anything they wanted cost you Store Points as well as the sale, so breadth of stock protects your level progression.
- Install the anti theft antenna at the same time as you hire a security guard. The guard depends on the detector to catch shoplifters, so hiring one without the other is a wage for nothing.
- Take online orders during quiet periods only. The delivery run pulls you out of the store entirely, and a queue that builds while you are on the scooter costs more than the order pays.
- Expand the floor last. Shelves, a second checkout and staff all return money faster than square metres, and an oversized store with thin stock simply spreads your customers out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I play Supermarket Simulator with friends?
Yes. The store supports online co op, so one player can run the till while another restocks and takes deliveries. Progress stays on the host's save.
How many licences are there?
There are 26 product licences, unlocking more than 150 products between them. Each one costs cash and requires a minimum store level, so progression is gated by both money and Store Points.
What price should I set?
Around 10 percent over the shown market price works for most products. Go under market while you are still building customer count, and reprice upward once your store level is banked.
Why do customers leave without buying?
Usually one of three things: the product they wanted is out of stock, your price is far enough over market that they refuse, or the queue at the checkout is too long. All three are visible in the thought bubbles above their heads.
Is there an ending?
No. Supermarket Simulator left Early Access on 19 June 2025 as an open ended management game, so the goal is store level, catalogue breadth and daily profit rather than a final mission.
More Supermarket Simulator Guides
- Supermarket Simulator Supermarket Simulator Overview
- Supermarket Simulator Best Builds
- Supermarket Simulator Tier List
- Supermarket Simulator Walkthrough
- Supermarket Simulator Tips & Tricks
- Supermarket Simulator Weapons Guide
- Supermarket Simulator Combat Guide
- Supermarket Simulator Boss Guide
- Supermarket Simulator Maps & Locations
- Supermarket Simulator Crafting Guide
- Supermarket Simulator Classes & Characters
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