Shopping forms a social ritual around the abundance of malls which are found in the urban areas. The towns of Isla de Margarita and Porlamar are where shoppers take advantage of the duty free. Visitors are usually taken by the local handicrafts produced by the indigenous craftspeople which include hand-woven baskets, hammocks and devil masks. In Lara both woodwork and blankets are popular buys, while adjacent Cojedes state is a producer of musical instruments including harps, small guitars and maracas.

Other popular purchases include jewellery and you can find these at Hansi which is a large craft department store in El Hatillo, just outside Caracas.