Abstract: An online shopping optimization system takes a list of items a user wants to purchase by going to one more stores or vendors and identifies those local stores from which the user can make the purchases in an optimal manner in accordance with any criterion or criteria that the user desires. The vendors may have a physical presence that the user will visit to make the purchase. Alternatively, one or more of the vendors may be online vendors. In operation, a user enters a search query through a web browser. The search query includes an identification of two or more products that a buyer wishes to purchase, from, e.g., one or more local vendors by visiting their respective premises. The search query also includes one or more criteria that are to be optimizing when establishing a shopping list which includes the plurality of products.