When you want to pick up a shopping cart at the supermarket, it is necessary to insert a coin or token but for what purpose? This is not to prevent theft as one might think!
At the supermarket, it is often more practical to take a shopping cart so you can do your shopping peacefully and buy the necessary quantities. When you’re in the car, it’s also ideal for carrying your purchases back to your trunk. The ritual is then to insert a small coin or token into the shopping cart at the end of the line so that you can pick it up and take it to the supermarket shelves. When you return, you will have to put it back in its place again and retrieve the coin inserted in the small slot. Knowing that the parts are collected by customers, what is the real benefit for the supermarket? It is in any case not financial. A shopping cart costing more than a hundred euros, a small part will not be enough to deter thieves either.
In reality, it is more a question of organization and for a practical aspect. All the shopping carts being gathered in the same place, this avoids wasting time looking for them. This is why the coin system was put in place to encourage people returning their shopping cart to the parking lot to go and put it away afterwards and not to leave it anywhere. Otherwise, they could be scattered and even end up in parking spaces, which could be a big nuisance.
This idea of the room set a standard for storage. It is in fact the concept of deposits which is becoming more and more widespread in public places. By returning something, you get your money back. However, the instructions do not sometimes prevent some people from not putting their shopping carts away or even stealing them.
In 2021, some stores have still decided to withdraw this instruction, particularly at Carrefour, preferring to rely on everyone’s responsibility. According to TF1, some customers complained about constantly having to get their hands on a coin or token. Indeed, with contactless payment and the gradual decline in the use of cash, it is increasingly rare to carry coins. This being said, a little trick exists, according to C News, if you don’t have any coins on you. You must use your keys, choose the one with the most rounded end and insert it into the slot provided for the room.
However, you will have to leave your keys hanging on the shopping cart throughout your purchases and therefore remain vigilant while you browse the shelves. If you want to be able to remove your keys, you must use two of them at the same time. They must be positioned so that the teeth are inside the slot and unlock the mechanism locks.