Aussies have been left divided as the nation’s biggest supermarket chain continues to roll out digital trolleys across its stores.
Last August, Woolworths announced it would trial Scan&Go trolleys – which allow customers to scan as they shop – in select Sydney stores.
When using the trolleys, shoppers can scan and track their purchases as they shop via a monitor attached to the trolley’s handle.
Customers then pay the total amount at the self-serve checkout.
But six months on and ten locations later, many customers believe the digital trolleys are more trouble than they’re worth.
One Woolworths employee told Daily Mail Australia their store had issued several refunds arising from a temporary glitch in the technology.
According to the Sydney-based employee, several shoppers paid for another customer’s shop before realising their monitor had substituted their items.
Other times, monitors simply displayed an incorrect order.
Customers remain divided since Woolworths unveiled its Scan&Go digital trolleys last year
A number of customers have complained the digital trolleys were fraught with technical issues
The employee said, however, Woolworths had since remedied the issue and that customers generally enjoy the new set up.
A number of customers have taken to social media to complain about technological issues, including one who said the the experience is ‘more hassle than it’s worth’.
‘When it works it is wonderful and a huge time saver but when something doesn’t appear on the list (yet does at the physical register) its a huge pain,’ one user said.
Another said they had witnessed another shopper struggling to stop their monitor from scanning unwanted items.
‘Honestly, I think the design could be improved,’ they said.
‘Some poor dude across the aisle from me was having a bad time because every time he pushed his trolley around it was randomly trying to scan cartons of soft drink or toilet paper that was stacked on the end caps.’
Shoppers are required to scan their Everyday Rewards card to unlock the new trolleys, meaning non-member shoppers are unable to use them.
A number of customers have also complained about being stopped for random inspections more often when using the new trolleys.
Shoppers are required to scan their Everyday Rewards cards to unlock the digital trolleys
‘I tried these at the new North Parramatta store,’ one Reddit user said.
‘It all worked fine, but after you pay at the checkout a staff member came over, grabbed the receipt and chose 4 items at random.
‘We had to rummage through the trolley to find them and show her.
‘What the f***? Either trust people or don’t.’
Another user estimated they were stopped for an inspection every four or five times they used the Scan&Go trolleys during the trial.
One customer said the savvy shopping experience was ‘fun’, until an employee ‘had to check everything again as like [my husband] had stolen something’.
Other customers have embraced the new trolleys as well as the Scan&Go app, which allows customers to scan their items through their mobiles.
‘Never tried the trolley but the Scan&Go app is my dream come true,’ one user said.
‘I’ve only been stopped once versus something going wrong every single time I used the self-serve there.’
Woolworths told Daily Mail Australia its customers find the trolleys ‘easy to use’ and otherwise declined to comment.
