Here I might show some extreme unawareness, but that's kind of why I'm here.
Did they have money? If so, what were the prices of certain goods compared to the West? Were their advertisements? I've read that they often had shortages of basic goods and that there weren't nearly as many consumer goods as in the West; is that true? Was the packaging on products very different from the West (i.e. was it very plain compared to the flashy, bright colors of Western product packaging)? Did they ever ration food? What were their stores like? Could they even be called stores?
Soviet citizens were paid money. Wages were low, but rent and energy costs were even lower. Health care was free and the prices in the stores were also low. Shortages of consumer goods varied in time and place. During the Stalin years, shortages were acute, particularly during the first Five Year Plan (1928 to 1933) and World War II. After World War II, there were still shortages of consumer goods, but the West tended to exaggerate these shortages. Also, Moscow and Leningrad were better supplied than smaller and more remote settlements.
Advertising was almost non existent, packaging was drab and functional. The state would make a limited array of goods. For example, there was two types of tooth paste, plain and mint flavored. It came in one size. The idea of having an entire shelf with twenty different brands of tooth paste, in six flavors and three different sizes of tubes, was totally alien to the Soviet consumer.
In many ways, shopping was like pre-1950 America. The residential districts would have small shops that would concentrate on one item. like a butcher shop, or a bread store. Super markets were rare, to non-existent. The Russian consumer tended to walk to the store near their apartment, or take public transportation to find things, further away. The stores tended to be over staffed. Store workers would stand behind counters, between the consumer and the shelves of goods. That was common in pre-1950 America and Western Europe, but was pretty much replaced by self-service shopping, in the west, after 1950.
All of the big cities in the Soviet Union had a "Glavnyi Universainyi Magazin" or Main Universal Store. This was known by the initials G.U.M. and in Moscow, it was right on Red Square, near the Kremlin. The Moscow G.U.M. was usually well stocked and was almost always packed with consumers. Not just from Moscow, but from the out lying districts. During the Brezhnev era, air fare on Aeroflot was so low, housewives that lived in Siberian cities would go to Moscow several times a year, just to buy delicacies, like fresh oranges, that were hard to find in their home towns. There was a rival organization, "Tsentrainiy Universainyi Magazin" or Central Universal Store that was said to be just as opulent and well stocked as the G.U.M.s were. However the Ts.U.M. in Moscow was not on Red Square. It was located near the Bolshoi Theater. Ts.U.M. stores were not as well documented as the G.U.M. was. There is also a misconception, that only members of the Communist Party could shop at these fancy department stores. Any Soviet Citizen could shop there, provided they were willing to put up the crowds (think Black Friday everyday) and had the money to pay for the merchandise.
Source: http://www.gum.ru/en/history/
The Russian Century: A Photographic History of Russia's 100 Years" by Brian Moynaham
Price comparison of American and Soviet food by after-rent-taxes monthly income
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cXwxtlRV94Q/Uc-_VqV59VI/AAAAAAAADlM/vXRm3xGxoIc/s640/Scan10317.JPG
Comparison of income level of various professions based on percent of average monthly income
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kRLvxmaMUlQ/Uc-_WW02SEI/AAAAAAAADlY/4aj99Bh4d9I/s640/Scan10316.JPG
Moscow, 1954, on the shelves of Home Appliances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNL4li5Io8M
consumer goods of the USSR Exhibition 11.08.1987
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be_Kdb2Sp1o
USSR: labels, packaging, advertising Soviet times
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Ot5skXoB8
Advertising in the Soviet Union Electric shaver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4we4YqYJW30
Advertising in the USSR, electric frying pan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilro7F2HsB8
Advertising in the Soviet Union, lipstick
