‘I was so confused’ first time Aldi shopper admits after facing costly cart dilemma – and Walmart is following suit

A SHOPPER has been left stunned when she made a discovery at her local Aldi, which means she will always keep spare change.

While businesses are turning to new technology to improve their stores, others are using more traditional methods seen in retailers across Europe.

German supermarket chain Aldi caught some shoppers off guard after installing devices on shopping carts across several stores that require shoppers to insert a quarter to use them.

"My first time shopping at Aldi and I feel like I’m in a simulation lol insert a quarter for a shopping cart? I was so confused," Facebook user Shyanne Creason said in a post.

"I don’t typically carry around change so I was like WTF," Creason said.

While she was impressed with the store, "the quarter thing was different," the shopper added.

"It’s a way to get people to return the carts where they’re supposed to go once it’s returned they give back the quarter," another shopper replied.

Forcing customers to return shopping carts has two key benefits for retailers.

It prevents theft of carts and any items inside and stops stores from being fined by cities when abandoned carts are located elsewhere, causing hazards and eyesores for the community.

In 2022, Walmart was charged $23,000 by a city board in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, for the recovery of abandoned shopping carts, per CNN.

"According to the Food Marketing Institute in Washington DC, annual costs due to cart theft is around $800 million," Good L Corp, a US shopping carts and baskets manufacturer, said.

It added that shopping carts are "integral to store profits," making it a logical decision that retailers will try to protect them.

After receiving fines and wanting to crack down on financial losses, at least three Walmart stores also introduced coin-operated shopping carts last year.

Stores in Thunder Bay, Canada, about an hour north of the Minnesota border, demand customers insert a $1 coin to use the carts.

The money is returned when the shopper puts the cart back and inserts a chain into the device, securely locking the cart in the correct place.

Walmart has been contacted for comment on the future use of these devices in the US.

Meanwhile, some Costco shoppers want the retailer to introduce the coin devices as members complain about abandoned carts causing damage in the parking lots.

While other major retailers don't use coin-operated carts, similar changes are slowly being rolled out, taking shoppers by surprise.

Shopping cart complaints

Here are just some of the recent complaints shoppers have had about carts across numerous retailers:

• Target shoppers said they are going to Walmart instead after noticing a lack of shopping carts as they call on the retailer to "do better."
• Kroger has been slammed for its "bottomless" carts that one customer says make shopping "impossible."
• Walmart's recent shopping cart design change has seen customers rage about the new size.
• Walmart has made several upgrades to its carts, but short customers are not happy.
• Meijer's anti-theft cart device left one shopper stunned.

Kroger and Walmart are just a few retailers turning to new anti-cart theft technology that locks the cart's wheels at certain areas of store property.

However, one Walmart shopper called it the retailer's "stupidest idea ever" after the boundaries set out for the cart's wheels prevented her from getting her groceries to her car.

Meanwhile, a Kroger shopper said that the spontaneous wheel-locking is making him reconsider his loyalty to the retailer.

"I have half a mind not to go there again. I have other options nearby," he said on Facebook after realizing it was part of the store's anti-theft measures.

"I thought the cart just had a malfunction, but once I realized they did it on purpose I was pissed!" he wrote.