Another American invention being brought to us via Coles. The list of dependencies for having it work is non-trivial. How will ‘we’ respond?
Our local has reduced human checkouts to 2 and added more self checkouts even while those 2 have long queues and another ‘closed 2 to be staffed by humans’ do not get opened. Pushback or adoption on this one?
There’s a lot of talk-up on the web but not much detail, my concern is mainly about the in-built eftpos machine:
How vulnerable would it be to hackers/scammers redirecting payments to a scamming site?
Can the trolleys be taken out of the store into the car park or do customers need to shift the shopping load into a ‘plain’ trolley before leaving the store?
I’m with you in wondering about that, @Gaby.
Apart from the EFTPOS terminals being seemingly highly vulnerable to deliberate damage / hacking, those trolleys surely shouldn’t be taken outdoors. Might they have to be limited to large shopping malls with under cover parking, so the trolleys aren’t left out in the open? Or, as you suggest, people have to switch to a ‘classic’ trolley before leaving the store?
The parking areas at the Colesworths I normally go to are open-air only.
They will be secure. Someone removing the EFTPOS handsets and replacing them with a different one might seem a possibility - but this is unlikely to work as the trolley smarts connect to the EFTPOS handset. Replacing the handset will mean that communications will be broken and any replacement handsets will be ‘dumb’ and know not what to do/can’t process payments.
The only risk is if skimming equipment was placed on the handset, but, this would stand out like the proverbial…and the same risks apply to any ESTPOS handsets. Such currently isn’t a risk.
I suspect that they won’t be weather proof and the trolleys may be limited in the their use and store rollouts. It might be better suited to large internal mall type shopping centres which have undercover parking and trolley collection. It should however be possible to make them near waterproof.
Vandalism will be an issue though.
Can one bag items as one proceeds? If not will there be a bagging station where one empties the trolley into bags etc, and then …… to leave the store. The suppliers of the smart trolleys promoted shoppers saved on average 18% of the time in store with the trolleys. Without knowing what the average shopper represents or details of the superset of users it’s not a very meaningful result.
Hope if it becomes a thing Coles will offer store credits on the next purchase in return for playing Coles Shopper Crush. That game where one try’s to match the colourful images of Coles branded products to pass the spare moments between the aisles. Not so subtle product promotion if one chooses to play. Daily shoppers jackpot similar to how some supermarkets promotions give away a number of free trolley loads as a matter of chance. 
Not!
Once you’ve paid, you can take the trolley out of the store to the car park.
It looks like the smart trolley can be taken out of the store to the car park. I might be too suspicious but I fear anything could happen to the computer equipment when out of the store?
A potential security issue with Smart Shopping Carts is the increased risk of shoplifting. A retail store’s security system may not detect shoplifters when using the Smart Shopping Carts, but the technology’s ability to sense an individual’s heart rate, speed, and grip force is already a great step in the right direction. The potential security problem is worth investigating, however, given that shoplifting is one of the most common causes of store closures.
This link (my bold text) talking about a shopping cart which detects my heart rate…grip force, just gives me nightmares…hope it’s not a universal feature of the carts
There are a great many amongst us who feel guilt for absolutely no reason at all. Smart carts may not be that smart! I’d go out of my way to shop somewhere else rather than find out.
Keep in mind American’s have different views on many things than most of us. I punt this trial will ‘crash and burn’ similarly to Masters, Starbucks, and many other ventures not suited to us, as well as unsuitable products that we buy anyway. These trolleys are a service to the shop but an imposition to the shopper.
A wild card is whether they continue reducing manned checkouts and then reduce self serves to essentially force adoption.
I say this with sadness: going by past experience, even if it takes a long time, we will eventually follow and adopt newer technologies, for example the self-service check out :
Some people might see the smart cart as a way of saving precious time, the problems will come later when it’ll be too late…
And it’s surprising to learn that it doesn’t do anything about preventing shoplifting but apparently increases it.
This is in use in the UK. If you change your mind about an item and remove it or swap a product (like a roast joint) it’s more likely the staff at the exits have to check your trolley. A minimum of 20 items in your trolley! I was with my DIL at ASDA when this happened. Quite honestly I find it offensive, much the same as the staff in the exits at Kmart. They force people down this path then clearly show they don’t trust you. I know there’s lots of shoplifting but all this achieves is insult the honest shopper.
NO! Just no.
Think of all the data they will collect! They’ll be doing the store’s stocktake for them etc.
And learning what you shop, when you shop, especially if you do so on a certain around a certain time… what you buy on special, if you buy a lot of specials.
Where I live, we have a lot of backpackers who come for farm work.
Many of them get picked up by a mini-bus to transport them to the farms and while there might be a car, it tends to belong to only one person. So it’s not unusual to see some of them walking to the supermarket, pulling along one of those garden carts from the hardware which they fill in the supermarket, take it to the checkout, pay and pack it all back in the cart to walk home.
My own son doesn’t use a trolley or a basket due to his disability. The trolleys are too deep and he can’t carry a basket. I’ve suggested the wheelchair trolleys but he’s a bit self-conscious. He puts his groceries in his grocery bag, takes it all out at the checkout, pays and they pack it all in again. He takes it to his mobility scooter and trundles home. No trolley used at all.
Unbelievable, hope they maintain the regular trolleys too as I doubt they will let these little beauties out in the carpark or rain🤣 surely for the price of one these, it would pay for a.staff member??
I went shopping with son to Sainsbury’s in London last year and he used a Smart trolley. He likes them, saves time queuing at a checkout, he put purchases straight into shopping bags in the trolley, so easy. Just scanned the controller at the checkout machine and paid.
Once again, the discussion does not focus on the major issues: Coles collecting private customer data (and probably on-selling them for profit) and the customers carry the burden and hazzle if something scans wrong, like the scanner is faulty, or the product code is unscannable… it will be our time if things don’t go to plan.
I absolutely resent becoming a totally transparent customer. Imagine applying for health insurance only to be rejected because you bought too much chocolate in the last 12 months!
History shows that any cost-savings made by Coles will go towards Coles’s profits, not lower prices.
Unfortunately it won’t be an entirely new practice to collect customer data.
Already loyalty cards may be used for marketing purposes, to track movements, and to share information with third parties.
Online purchases collect information about online behaviour, your IP address, purchase history or content of the shopping baskets.
Agree…
They’re already collecting that data via people’s loyalty cards
The Smart Trolleys this topic talks about has a set-up similar to the self check-out in the supermarket. The only difference is that the smaller computer screen and the eftpos machine is in the trolley (see photo in links above) the customer selects the items, scans and places them in the cart. When finished pays using the eftpos machine in the trolley. Takes it to the car park. Any privacy details in the scanning and in the payments are exactly the same as those in the store. If using a loyalty card, a lot of private details will be recorded as it does happen even now.
I can see that a smart trolley would make for easier shopping. It looks like it’ll be the way to shop in the future because the self-service machines are not designed for trolleys, not enough space, and the queuing is getting longer.
My concerns are about the trolleys being taken out of the store and the computer and paying machine possibly being subjected to hackers or to those who would know how to redirect payments in a clever way, not easily observed, especially at first when things are new and unfamiliar.
No doubt vandalism, possibly theft of the equipments, maybe problems such as ‘unexpected items’ locking the wheels, and shoplifting will abound…
Coles supermarkets locally have self service checkouts that are upgraded standard conveyor belt aisles. IE empty the trolley onto the belt, then scan each item at the other end. Just like a staff person would and place into your shopping bags/trolley. Certainly far more practical than the kiosk style in a corral model we are more familiar with. To note I tend to spend time apologising to any behind me for my lack of speed and caution. Every item is handled precisely and in order to minimise the risk of the AI detecting an abnormality leading to certain further delay. Critically best not to shop with a partner who might seize the day and assist with random adjustments to the movement of the purchases.
Finding a personally attended checkout at Coles already a challenge. Not sure the smart trolley will make one any less prone to error. How does one undo a purchase after finding a better option in the specials at the end of the aisle?
For those in a hurry suspect Coles will be ahead. For those more discerning, an even longer time deciding the best purchase before locking it in. The local IGA, independent F&V and butcher are all looking like the more accommodating choices for at least one demographic.
Just an observation. There are those who will pay a premium for a first release at a cinema. Others will purchase through a streaming service. Finally the rest of us will wait for the FTA or included streaming service content to watch a blockbuster. How we prefer to shop also not necessarily a foregone conclusion.
