With the peak of the summer bargain sales season approaching, Harvey Nichols, a department store headquartered in Knightsbridge, London, is working with doctors to urge customers to carry shopping bags in a way that won't harm their health.

According to Harvey Nichols, carrying a lot of shopping bags can restrict blood flow, causing numbness in the fingers and arms, and can unnaturally stretch muscles, leading to pain in the shoulders and back. These problems can be prevented by holding bags closer to the wrist, rather than hanging them within 15cm of the elbow, and the department store will be providing wristbands to shoppers and advising them to hang their bags between their wrist and the wristband.