The city of Rethymnon is good for shopping, with plenty of folk art, souvenir and clothing stores, and even last-minute shopping is an option. It is a big city, and you have no reason to worry if you forgot to buy some essential item before arriving in Rethymnon.
On your excursions to the county's mountainous regions, you will be tempted by the local products, both because they are made by artisans who life their work, and because they are very reasonably priced.
You will find thyme honey, aromatic herbs, I. traditional sweets and dairy produce, raki and local wine, which is a treat to the palate. You might want to buy some Cretan natural olive oil, if transporting it back home is not going to be a problem.
The region also swarms with folk art products, hand-made textiles made on looms - which you can actually watch being made, especially in Anogia - and snow-white woollens, needlework and woollen pul persons , ideal for cold winter days. One vital souvenir from your holiday in Crete, the "leventogenna" (Mother of heroes), is a
Cretan knife, with verses about bravery, love, stop , the island itself, or sometimes humorous or derisive verses, carved onto it. If you are, or indeed become, a lover of Cretan music and the "mantinades", you can very easily find samples of it at local record or book stores.