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Why are shopping carts always broken?

cnn.com

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Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#81

Post by hef19898 »

mbork_pl wrote: post #79
ta1243 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's very rare to have to put a coin in a trolley as the article asserts. It's not 1999 any more.

It's very common in my country, and I think it's actually a very good idea. What's wrong with putting coins in the carts/trolleys?

Someone, potentially a start-up, should develop an appnfor that! Just imagine how much customer data you could collect! Ideally with some in-store location tracking to improve customer surveill... ahh, I mean customer experience! And so good forbthe environment, because no coins!

Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#82

Post by wisty »

justinclift wrote: post #4

> Grocery store carts are more likely to have carts with wonky wheels than ... drugstores Do countries other than the US have shopping carts in their "drug stores"?

Australian ones have a retail section with band-aids, non-prescription medicine, vitamins, nappies, sunscreen, skincare, hair care and "natural medicines" most of which are borderline frauds.

Maybe no trollies though.

Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#83

Post by amszmidt »

ta1243 wrote: post #71
londons_explore wrote: post #61

Over here in the UK, pretty much every cart (trolley) has fully functioning wheels... The only exception to that is wheels that auto-lock to stop you stealing the cart when they cross over the property line of the shop (and they then require manual unlocking). I suspect US cart designs are just bad...

And it's very rare to have to put a coin in a trolley as the article asserts. It's not 1999 any more.

In Sweden it is very common, and this is mostly a cash-less country. You can usually get these plastic coins to use as a substitute, and I don't think I've ever seen a broken trolley here

Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#84

Post by mbork_pl »

hef19898 wrote: post #81
mbork_pl wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very common in my country, and I think it's actually a very good idea. What's wrong with putting coins in the carts/trolleys?

Someone, potentially a start-up, should develop an appnfor that! Just imagine how much customer data you could collect! Ideally with some in-store location tracking to improve customer surveill... ahh, I mean customer experience! And so good forbthe environment, because no coins!

Don't tempt them... ;-) Also, how do coins impact the environment? They're metal, not plastic!

Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#85

Post by dayjaby »

rob74 wrote: post #67
jackson1way wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany you have something close to „drug stores in the US“ but minus the pharmacy. For example: dm, Müller, Rossmann. The bigger ones (especially dm) actually always have shopping carts. It‘s very common for people to buy large things in these stores, like toilet paper, baby diapers etc. which can easily fill a shopping cart.

Yup, actually dm is short for "Drogeriemarkt", which could be translated as "drug market". And yes, due to legislation in Germany, they can only sell things like vitamin supplements, "real" drugs (even non-prescription ones) can only be sold in pharmacies.

My grandfather was a "Drogist" and his job was not to sell drugs, but anything pharmacy/chemistry related: "I got that oily dirt on my jacket" - "Say no more, I mix you the perfect soap for this". That feels quite the same as dm/Rossmann/.. from a customer point of view.

The modern word Droge/drug does not mean what it used to mean.

Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#86

Post by dguest »

RecycledEle wrote: post #2

The percentage of shopping carts that are broken tells you about the character of the local population. The article's byline credits Eva Rothenberg, whose LinkedIn lists her as living in New York City. There must be horrible people there. Here in Waxahachie, TX, there are almost no broken shopping carts, and people help when there is a broken cart.

how do they help?

Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#88

Post by hef19898 »

mbork_pl wrote: post #84
hef19898 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone, potentially a start-up, should develop an appnfor that! Just imagine how much customer data you could collect! Ideally with some in-store location tracking to improve customer surveill... ahh, I mean customer experience! And so good forbthe environment, because no coins!

Don't tempt them... ;-) Also, how do coins impact the environment? They're metal, not plastic!

Coins and the environment? Who cares! The environment sells, and the hygene, coins are dirty!

What do you think, a seed round valuation of 50 million for that idea should be ok? More? The addresable market is beyond HUGE!

Re: Why are shopping carts always broken?

#90

Post by mk89 »

hef19898 wrote: post #81
mbork_pl wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very common in my country, and I think it's actually a very good idea. What's wrong with putting coins in the carts/trolleys?

Someone, potentially a start-up, should develop an appnfor that! Just imagine how much customer data you could collect! Ideally with some in-store location tracking to improve customer surveill... ahh, I mean customer experience! And so good forbthe environment, because no coins!

You mean something that would unlock carts based on fingerprints? :)
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