Surprise response as Aussie mum touts 'amazing' Woolworths change
It's arguably the biggest change to the supermarket experience since the advent of the self-serve checkout. Woolworths has now effectively moved the checkout experience to the trolley as they roll out new scan-as-you-go technology to certain stores.
While it's received a mixed response from shoppers, one Aussie mum of four has given it a glowing review, calling it a "huge time saver" and says it reduced her shopping "anxiety" while doing the groceries with small kids in tow.
She shared her experience this week while shopping at a Northern Sydney Woolworths, but was met with a surprisingly bitter response from many Aussies after posting it to social media.
A number of viewers reacted angrily to her video, decrying what they believed was the loss of jobs due to such technology, with some even chastising the mum for embracing it.
"It was a huge time saver for me and kept my toddler happy," the mum said, adding it was tough to remember to scan each item but having her bags open in the trolley helped remind her.
"It saved me so much time and way less anxiety standing still while being checked out with a toddler going nuts. I just scanned, paid [and] they have more workers helping in store now," she added.
Overwhelmingly, people were negative about the new trolleys. "Not a fan of this," said one. "Congrats you're now an unpaid retail worker," chided another.
"So many negative comments," remarked one person. "Y’all really enjoy taking everything out of the trolly and onto the belt at the register and waiting in lines?"
"Exactly!" the mum replied. "Once they tried it they’d never go back."
Woolworths told Yahoo the new trolleys will not impact employment and that store staff will conduct random checks of people shopping to make sure customers don't exploit the system to steal.
Despite the seemingly mixed response from shoppers on the ground – which appears to track along generational lines with older shoppers more circumspect – Woolworths said the rollout had actually exceeded early expectations.
"While it's been in use for just over a week, the launch of our Scan&Go trolley has exceeded expectations," a spokesperson told Yahoo. "Customers are saying the trolley is saving them time and the ability to see a running total of their shop means it's helping them better manage their budget."
Woolworths says it will continue to roll out the Australia-first initiative to more and more stores.
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