WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
Angry customers have expressed their frustration at Coles’ decision to start “aggressively” rolling out smart gates at checkouts.
The new technology was introduced to try to combat supermarket thefts, following a 20 per cent increase this year. Other new anti-theft devices spotted in stores include cameras, cart locks and even fog machines.
Shoppers were quick to share their thoughts, saying they were now “locked in” to the supermarket.
A customer from Hunter Valley, New South Wales, was “horrified” after seeing the doors for the first time.
Customers were left “horrified” after seeing the new anti-theft glass doors at Coles checkouts for the first time.
“Now you’re locked in Coles. I couldn’t get out of the self-checkout after I was done shopping, until they looked at my receipt and pushed a button for the new glass doors they installed,” she said on TikTok. video.
After walking through the doors, she noticed that the same glass doors had also been installed at the staffed checkouts.
“So it’s not enough that they’re ripping us off and ripping us off, they’re now locking you into Coles and you can’t get out,” the shopper continued.
“I asked the lady, ‘What’s going on here?’ Are we locked in here now? and she says ‘Oh no no no’ and I say ‘Well it doesn’t seem to open when anyone comes near’.’
The customer explained how the employee has to press a button for the doors to open once the luggage is checked.
“I wasn’t angry with her, I feel sorry for these workers (who work for) such a revolting company,” the customer said.
“I’m just horrified that they’re now locking people up so they can check bags and stop people from leaving the store.”
A woman on TikTok (pictured) said: “Now you’re locked into Coles. I couldn’t get out of the self-checkout after I finished my purchases, until they looked at my receipt and pressed a button to open the new glass doors.
Woolworths has also started implementing the new technology
Jarrod, who goes by @jarrodsworld on TikTok, also shared his thoughts on the subject after watching the shopper’s video.
At first he didn’t believe it until he read a news article.
“Let me be clear, first of all you are cutting jobs and trying to save money by implementing self-checkouts,” he began in a now-viral post. video.
“And now, for doing the work ourselves and saving you money, we’re being treated like we’re guilty until proven innocent and locked up until our bags are checked.” What if you are in an emergency?
“We don’t work for you, and if you want us to serve ourselves, you have to bear the brunt. You can’t let us serve ourselves just to be checked at the fucking door.
Jarrod predicts that the new technology will have the greatest impact on “innocent” buyers, who will resent being treated like “criminals.”
“All I see is disaster,” predicts Jarrod.
“Essentially, you could say they take their ‘locked down’ slogan literally. Not only are your prices “down, down, prices are down,” but now your customers are locked in.
Jarrod (pictured) also expressed his frustrations and said: “We don’t work for you, and if you want us to help ourselves (at the tills), then you have to bear the brunt.”
The latest technology tracks customers from the moment they enter the store, recording the time it takes to shop in each aisle until they reach the self-checkout.
New security cameras above the checkouts will then track all items scanned and placed in bags and if any anomalies are found, the smart doors will close while an alarm sounds, keeping the customer in the store.
If this fails to stop a suspected thief from leaving the store, the wheels of the new high-tech shopping carts will jam completely as soon as they leave the store.
A Coles spokesperson told FEMAIL: “We know that retail crime is increasing across all retailers, and we have put in place a range of security measures to reduce theft in our stores, including video surveillance, electronic article surveillance (EAS) and in some stores, new smart gate technology that opens automatically when customers make payment for their products.
Coles operations director Matt Swindells has previously described the technology as “world class” in identifying potential thieves.
“What we’ve done is take the best of what’s out there overseas and then improve it with a few other tweaks. So we believe we have world-class loss prevention technology in our stores,” he told A Current Affair.
“If you are a thief, we will catch you. »
Mr Swindells said the technology would also help reduce the number of violent attacks on staff members, which have seen an increase over the past year.
Staff will be allowed to wear duress watches that alert other workers of a potential incident or even wear a body camera that records all their interactions, like police officers.
“If you start threatening a member of staff, we will document it and take appropriate action,” Mr Swindells said.
The new system has been trialled across the country over the past six months, with an “aggressive” national rollout over the following three months.
Coles’ main competitor, Woolworths, introduced similar payment technology in August, to mixed reviews.