Coles shoppers love new store's feature for kids: 'Can't wait'

Little trolleys have been in some Bunnings stores for a while and it seems new Coles stores are getting on board.

Little Coles trolleys (left) with a child pushing a trolley in Bunnings (right).
Shoppers were delighted to see little trolleys for kids in a new Sydney store recently. They have been used in some Bunnings stores for a while now. Source: Yahoo

Coles has recently opened a new inner-city store in Sydney and with it has come an addition plenty of customers haven't seen before. At the new store in Surry Hills Village, young shoppers are now able to get in on the action by using their own little trolley.

"I saw two little girls having the best time pushing these trolleys down the aisles, it looked like their parents were giving them items to retrieve off the shelves," one local mum told Yahoo News Australia. "I can't wait to bring my son in so he can have a go."

Little trolleys for children are popular in the UK, and while Bunnings has them available at plenty of stores, the trend is yet to fully take off in Australia.

And while it appears shoppers were impressed with the new offer for kids, Yahoo understands the trolleys have been in a handful of Coles stores for quite some time, however they are not widespread.

A Coles store was previously on the Surry Hills Village site but closed in January 2021 for redevelopment. The previous store didn't have the little trolleys.

Coles declined to answer whether the supermarket plans to roll them out at more stores.

While the supermarket, alongside rival Woolworths has faced criticism in recent years over the increased surveillance of shoppers inside stores, the supermarkets are making efforts to improve the customer experience.

Last month, Coles announced it was trialling reusing produce boxes for customers who don't want to use single use plastic bags for their fruit and veg. Other stores including Harris Farm Markets offer the produce boxes at the checkout as an alternative to using a bag.

"We know our customers want us to provide more sustainable packaging solutions, and this trial offers a plastic-free alternative to fresh produce bags that, if successful, could see a sizeable reduction in the number of plastic produce bags in circulation,” Coles Chief Operations and Sustainability Officer Matt Swindells said.

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