Free Woolworths gift to solve annoying supermarket trend: 'How did I not know?'

Yahoo

16-05-2025

Supermarkets and major retailers like Woolworths, Coles and Kmart are in a constant battle to ensure shopping trolleys stay where they are meant to be — in stores. However, a growing trend of locking them up in Australia to prevent them from being dumped is causing growing frustration among shoppers who rarely have a $1 or $2 coin required to operate them.
Recently, regular Woolies shopper Stefan was fuming after his arm was hurting from having to lug a heavy basket around the store to do his weekly shop because he didn't have a coin on him to access a trolley.
"My arm was killing me," he told Yahoo News of the ordeal, admitting that he "never" holds coins on him.
However, after sharing his gripe online, Aussies informed Stefan of a little-known gift from staff at Woolies which solves the annoying problem — a keyring token which can be used to release the trolley without a gold coin.
"I went up to the desk and asked, and they were like 'here you go' and gave it to me," he explained, asking, "how did I not know about that?"
While the supermarket remained tight-lipped about the free item when approached by Yahoo News, it's understood customers who don't have a coin to use for the trolley locks are welcome to enquire about the tokens.
Trolley dumping is a widespread issue, with supermarkets spending "significant amounts" on maintaining their fleets. Brisbane-based Ocean Crusaders' Ian Thomson recently told Yahoo it costs roughly $300 to replace a trolley, and stores "don't do much" to recover missing ones.
"That's often being paid for with our groceries," he said, suggesting it's everyday Aussies who bear the brunt of the ultimate costs of the problem.
Coles recently told Yahoo News they have teams of people collecting trolleys removed from the premises.
"Abandoned trolleys are a nuisance to local communities and we are continually working to make this better across all our stores, including regular collections of abandoned trolleys with vehicles on the road frequently," a Coles spokesperson said.
"We are always reassessing our trolley management and take local feedback into account when deciding what methods to employ at any of our stores, including the use of coin locks and electronic wheel lock systems."
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Aldi, well known for using coin-operated trolleys, told Yahoo News Australia they too use them to prevent trolleys being dumped, as well as to save money.
"The Aldi trolley token system is a key preventative measure against trolleys being dumped in backstreets, waterways and public areas. As a result, we find almost all of our trolleys are returned to our stores," a spokesperson said.
"By incentivising customers to return their own trolleys, we save money on trolley retrieval services and pass those savings on to customers in the form of our low prices. It's part of our Good Different operating model."
The store sells a trolley token for 99 cents.
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