Revolution at Rewe, Edeka, Aldi and other supermarkets: shopping carts soon without a deposit?
Created: 09/09/2022 04:47
By: Stella Henrich
In the Netherlands, customers can now use their shopping trolley without the classic coin chip.
In this country, too, more and more retailers are relying on alternatives.
Cologne ‒ "Freedom for the shopping trolley" is roughly how Dutch consumers are currently celebrating the technical revolution, because the retail group Albert Heijn is letting its trolleys off the chain.
What an achievement, what a joy - such a small chip provides such a big step forward for its customers.
According to the company, the change is based on experiences during the corona pandemic.
Because the classic system had to be suspended for hygienic reasons, reports
Der Spiegel.de
.
Dealers quickly realized that no more carts were disappearing than before the pandemic.
Now the decision: No more chips, coins and chains.
A few shopping carts are still attached to the chain in this country.
Retail is working on new, digital solutions.
(Iconic image) © Matthias Baran/imago
Shopping aids without a chip: Free availability is much more convenient
Attentive consumers should have noticed by now that more and more shopping trolleys are parked "freely" in front of the markets in Germany.
For example at the Edeka supermarket.
Because the free availability of the rolling helpers is much more convenient than looking for a coin.
Unfortunately, the digital principle has not yet caught on everywhere in retail.
Somehow the shopping cart seems to be the last relic where the customer is still not getting anywhere digitally in retail.
That's not entirely true, because Netto, Lidl, Penny, Rewe and Aldi now also have shopping apps that consumers can use to go shopping.
And some of the retailers are already testing that customers can unlock the shopping carts with their smartphones.
All they have to do is download the app for the respective supermarket or discounter onto their cell phone and then hold the device over the car's deposit lock.
This is then unlocked via NFC or Bluetooth signal.
So easy.
This is why the deposit system was originally introduced:
The deposit system with chip and coin was introduced because more and more shopping trolleys disappeared or got lost.
The trade then hired employees who had to look for the shopping assistants and bring them back.
They found them on sidewalks, parking lots, in courtyards and gardens ,
reports
Chip.de.
When the deposit lock was introduced and this concept established itself across the board, the trend declined significantly.
Shopping trolleys without chips and coins: soon to be ready for the market
Markets that are still in the test phase do not seem far away from being ready for the market,
Chip.de
reports .
Well-known software manufacturers have already developed the market-ready technology for the "unchipped" shopping cart.
In any case, according to a “non-representative” survey by
Lebensmittel-Zeitung
, customers can hardly wait to do their shopping with a trolley without a chip.
79 percent of those questioned are in favor of a “car without a chip”, while 27 percent oppose it.
However, older people may still need the classic lock.
They probably don't get along so well with digital solutions.
According to Chip.de
, retailers have so far been gathering initial market experience to see how it is received by their customers
.
In addition, the costs for technology, software and a conversion of the trolleys could deter retailers from using digitally unlocked shopping trolleys across the board in their stores.
Supermarket and discounter giants such as Netto and Edeka are already testing self-scanning concepts.
So it could be that all the "liberated cars" up to that point are not put back on the chain, but are then "chipped" to protect them from unwanted "kidnapping".
With these tips you can get through everyday life without plastic
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