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A radical change may be on the horizon for Australian supermarkets with major retailers expected to ask customers to use a QR code, rather than a coin, to access their trolleys.
A NSW based company, the Trolley Data Management Network, has designed a new lock where shoppers can use a smartphone app to unlock shopping carts.
A $2 deposit is then returned once the trolley is returned to its bay.
A radical change will soon be coming to Australian supermarkets with major retailers to ask customers to use a QR code rather than a coin when using trolleys
The benefit for retailers is that if the trolley is abandoned the app will quickly allow store staff to track it down.
‘The ability to scan a QR code and have something tangible happen didn’t exist until now,’ Domenic Ammendolia, the founder and chief executive said.
Mr Ammendolia told Daily Mail Australia the idea for the system struck when he realised most consumers paid for everything using a card or a smartphone.
‘I haven’t carried a coin in years,’ he said.
‘The fact that I could do so much with my phone, use Apple Pay and Google Pay to pay for groceries, I realised what a powerful tool smartphones had become.’
The trolleys have the ability to self-report their GPS location directly to retailers, a system that could reduce the amount of carts dumped in parks, lakes and streets
Major retailers like Coles, Woolworths and Aldi can face fines of nearly $14,000 if their trolleys aren’t returned to the premises
The trolleys have the ability to self-report their GPS location directly to shops, a system that could reduce the number of carts dumped in parks, lakes and streets.
Mr Ammendolia said abandoned trolleys had been a big issue for a long time and was costing retailers upwards of $20million a year.
Major chains such as Coles, Woolworths and Aldi can face fines of nearly $14,000 if their trolleys aren’t returned to the premises.
Under a new bill introduced in NSW Parliament last week, retailers will have three hours to retrieve items that are causing a safety hazard in the community.
If shopping carts are left out in the cold for too long, supermarkets could be asked to cough up fines ranging from $660 to a whopping $13,750.
Company founder Domenic Ammendolia told Daily Mail Australia the idea for the system struck when he realised most consumers paid for everything using a card or a smartphone
Under a new bill introduced in NSW Parliament last week, retailers will have three hours to retrieve items that are causing a safety hazard in the community
Mr Ammendolia said trolleys could be located quicker and more efficiently due to the accuracy of the GPS tracking system.
The technology was tested during a five-month trial run at a Harris Farm Markets on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and will soon be available at other retailers.
The system has also turned heads internationally with retailers in the UK considering the technology for their own supermarket chains.
Source: Daily Mail
