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My thought is that, although much of this is common sense, retailers have largely lost the will to live. They waste a lot of money on typical corporate money pi
by microcolonel 7y ago
My thought is that, although much of this is common sense, retailers have largely lost the will to live. They waste a lot of money on typical corporate money pits, but tend not to try improving the retail business itself. From what I gather in what people say, having only been to one Aldi before (so I don't really have enough experience to say much); I think Aldi has bucked the trend, and is trying to do a good job, and that is why they are succeeding.
> depositing a quarter for a cart eliminates the need to pay people to collect carts
I've seen Americans remark specifically about shopping cart deposits a couple of times on Hacker News; I never thought there was anything special about it.
I think the vast majority of retailers and grocers who offer shopping carts, in the three Canadian provinces I've lived in, use coin deposits for shopping carts.
They still end up in rivers and alleyways on occasion, usually stolen by vagrants and hooligans, but the customers at least tend to comply.
- Scoundreller 7y agoThe coin thing is psychological. If you want to avoid carrying bags by hand, melt it for scrap, push your friends around, or get to your car 2 minutes faster, foregoing a quarter is great value. Unfortunately for them/me, if I’m coming by chance by bicycle, I usually don’t have a coin and reduce my shopping to the necessities without a cart. When you feel the weight of each item, you think more about every item you buy.
- walshemj 7y agoProbably why they use a pound coin in the UK
- resoluteteeth 7y agoI just wish Aldi also had baskets to make it easier when I bike there.
- beatgammit 7y agoI don't have a coin ever because I never use cash. Requiring a coin deposit would just discourage me from getting a cart most days. If I regularly shopped there, maybe I'd consider putting one in my wallet or something to guarantee I have one, but I'd have to be sold on the place first. Requiring a coin is a hardship, especially in a plastic-oriented culture.
- Doxin 7y agoIf you go ask at the service desk they tend to give out special branded cart-coins for free, they come with a little quick disconnect hook for on your keychain.[0] It's still cheaper for the stores to do that than to hire a specific person to gather carts. [0] https://www.jmpromotions.nl/images/winkelwagen-muntjes/plastic-winkelwagenmuntje-bedrukken.jpg https://www.jmpromotions.nl/images/winkelwagen-muntjes/plast...