Traditional Shopping Carts

Traditional shopping carts, also commonly referred to as carriages, trollies, and buggies, are carts that are supplied by a store, such as a grocery store, and are used by people inside the store to carry merchandise and deliver it to a check-out counter while shopping, and frequently even to take the merchandise outside to the buyer’s car. Usually, customers park the carts at a designated location in the store’s parking lot, and employees collect the carts and take them back into the shop.

An early version of the traditional shopping cart was introduced in 1937 by Sylvan Goldman for use at the Humpty Dumpty grocery stores based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1940, a mechanic named Arthur Kosted patented a method for mass producing shopping carts on an assembly line. The invention was called a “folding basket carriage for self-service stores.”

At first, shoppers resisted their use. Men found them to be feminine, while women perceived them as reminiscent of a baby carriage. In response, Goldman hired people to push the carts through the store, demonstrating their usefulness. After store greeters explained the benefits, the carts become wildly popular. The shopping cart design did not evolve greatly in later years, with the exception of a larger basket for carrying merchandise, until recently. Researchers have recently introduced shopping carts with a Tablet PC attached for the purpose of computerized context awareness. Field trials indicate that this innovation has serious potential for enhancing the shopping experience at brick and mortar stores.

Today, nearly all of the largest department stores and supermarkets offer customers the convenience of shopping carts. Most shopping carts are manufactured from plastic or metal, and are constructed so that they fit inside one another so that they form a line, and many carts can be moved together at a time. This also saves storage space within the store. Carts feature a large wire basket on a metal frame to which four caster wheels are attached.

Other types of shopping carts include mobility scooters, which feature baskets for use by disabled customers. These are sometimes also referred to as motorized shopping carts, and are basically electrically propelled wheelchairs with a shopping basket attached. Shopping baskets are sometimes used by shoppers instead, if they are purchasing only a few items. In smaller stores, only shopping baskets may be available. Collapsible utility carts are used by retailers to deliver large amounts of merchandise or goods from a warehouse or store to a truck.

Frequently, stores require customers to place a deposit for the use of the shopping cart. A coin or token is inserted into a machine, and the machine releases a cart for use. When the cart is returned, the coin or token is returned also. While this doesn’t stop someone determined to steal a shopping cart, it does help to ensure that customers return carts to their proper place after use. This is more popular in Europe than in the U.S., although some U.S. chains, including Aldi’s, do utilize the deposit method. Likewise, many airports offer luggage cart rentals by using a similar procedure. Deposit systems are required by law for use in Australia.

Theft Deterrence
Theft of shopping carts is an expensive issue for stores. They may be used for shelter for homeless persons, for carrying laundry, for barbeque pits, or even as go-carts. Retailers estimate that the annual cost of shopping cart theft is nearly $800 million worldwide. As a result, stores have adopted several different techniques for attempting to prevent shopping cart theft.

Cart Retrieval services are offered by some stores. These services collect shopping carts that are taken from stores and return them for a charge. This can be expensive to the storekeeper, and does not prevent theft. In fact, some retrieval services have even been caught removing carts from a retailer’s parking lot and returning them, claiming them to be retrieved carts.

Several Electronic deterrent systems have been introduced and are quickly gaining popularity. These systems electronically lock a cart’s wheel if the cart is removed from the designated area. If the wheel locks, it must be electronically unlocked by remote control.

Some stores also use physical methods to deter theft. Examples of these methods include the use of raised curbs at the edges of the parking lot. Some stores have attempted to block a stores exit with bars to prevent the removal of carts, but this violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Despite all of these methods, shopping cart theft remains a serious problem for retailers throughout the world. Store owners continue to search for a solution to this problem.