Aussies will need to bring a gold coin on their next Kmart shop as the retail giant introduces coin-operated trolleys to stores across Queensland.
An increase in trolley-related vandalism, theft, and abandonment has seen the controversial measure rolled out at the behest of fed-up councils.
The system is designed to give shoppers an incentive for returning their trolleys and stop them from ending up on roads and in waterways.
The majority of Kmart shoppers welcomed the change.
‘It’ll stop all the b****y trolleys littering the streets, well done I say,’ one wrote.
‘You get the money back. I mean Aldi does it, how many Aldi trolleys do you see in the streets? None compared to Woolies or Coles,’ a third shared.
But others complained coin-operated trolleys were too much fuss.
‘It’s the inconvenience of having to make sure you have the coin, along with handling small children and or elderly people,’ one woman said.
Kmart will introduce coin-operated trolleys at selected stores in Queensland
The coin system (pictured) is designed to give shoppers an incentive for returning their trolleys and stop them from ending up on roads and in waterways
‘What happens when there are no coins,’ a second wrote.
A third shopper said she had been caught out by the new trolleys.
‘There was nowhere to leave the trolley, like in a trolley bay, to retrieve my coin, which meant I had to take the trolley all the way back to the store,’ she wrote.
‘Not much fun when you’ve got a disability, or children.’
Another said she had trouble using the coin mechanisms while shopping.
‘Trouble was at our local store the coins often jammed or due to arthritis in my hand I had difficulty pulling the trolley out,’ she wrote.
‘I had to get assistance. This held everyone up.’
But other shoppers said naysayers needed to ‘get over it’ and ‘grow up’.
The measures have only been rolled-out in selected areas at the behest of local councils
‘Aldi has had them for ever! It will make you take the trolley back and not leave it randomly someplace!’ one wrote.
‘Great for kids to collect a trolley and make a buck,’ another suggested.
‘You get your money back when you return the trolley to the bay it [will] cost you nothing,’ third commented.
A Kmart spokeswoman indicated there were no plans to introduce coin-operated trolleys in other stores.
The measure is instead installed on a case-by-case basis.
Stores on the cusp of using coin operation methods to secure their trolleys will include signage to notify customers when the change is coming.
