Shoppers at Woolworths Canberra Airport store can now use a tablet to scan their groceries as they shop. Photo: Woolworths.
Canberrans can now shop in a new way, with Woolworths Canberra Airport introducing Scan&Go Trolleys.
The new system lets shoppers scan their groceries as they move through the store.
On entry, shoppers can choose to unlock a tablet by scanning their Rewards Card. The tablet then sits on the trolley handles, where shoppers can scan and select items, adding them to a digital cart. Items without barcodes, like fruit and vegetables, are weighed by in-store scales, normally located in the produce section. Once weighed, a barcode appears on the scales that the tablet can scan.
When the shop is complete, customers take the tablet to a self-checkout, where they scan a barcode displayed on the tablet to check out and pay without having to take items back out of the trolley.
While Woolworths said the new way to shop is for shoppers’ convenience, not everyone is convinced.
Shopper Carol Cooke discovered the new tablets when on her shop last week. She said she was annoyed that more work is being forced on customers.
“I push the trolley, find the groceries, scan the groceries, pack the groceries and then hand over an excessive amount of money for the privilege?” she said.
“We are increasingly encouraged to do all the jobs once performed by our teenage children.
“I left feeling slightly amused, slightly guilty and a little sad that we seem to be enthusiastically designing a future where machines are everywhere, and the humans are increasingly just there to explain how to use them.”
Fellow shopper Jack Nolan disagrees, believing the new system will be quicker.
“No one wants to spend ages shopping. At least now once it’s in the trolley, I don’t have to get it back out again until I get to my car,” he said.
“Of all the new technology that all the supermarkets are bringing in, I do think this is one of the better ones.
“It beats trying to fit everything in at a cramped self-checkout.”
Woolworths director of smart enablement Matthew Baveas responded to customer concerns about the Scan&Go system, stating that once customers learn the system, it will save them more time in store.
“We’re focused on giving time back to our customers, and these trolleys are designed to make the grocery shop faster from start to finish,” Mr Baveas said.
“By scanning and packing groceries as they shop, customers can enjoy a much more seamless checkout experience.
“One of the really great things about these smart trolleys is that they allow customers to track their spend as they browse the aisles, helping them save on the weekly grocery shop.
“The Scan&Go trolleys are now available at the Canberra Airport Woolworths, and will be rolled out to more stores in the near future. This follows a successful launch of the trolleys in NSW, WA, VIC, QLD and SA.”
More information on the Scan&Go trolleys, including a full list of participating stores, is available at Woolworths.
