We have barcode scanners inside Anaconda, Target, I think Kmart and BigW too. You can check item current price with any today's discounts. Nice.
But no scanners inside Woolworths and Coles. Why is that? Printed shelf labels are often missing, misplaced, confusing or plain wrong. ALDI has no scanners too.
Use case: I see item I want, I cannot find price on the shelf, I go to closest nearby scanner and scanner shows checkout price.
good point, thanks!
Does the app require you to be logged in to your Woolworths account?
No.
Where is the barcode scanner in the Woolies app? I cannot see it.
Or were you referring to the Scan and Go thingy?
Both coles and woolies apps have a square barcode scanning button on the right hand edge of the product search bar
Thank you. Takes a bit of searching to find it. Surely they could just put it as a tab on the bottom so we can go straight to it. But they know best of course, not the customers.
@johninmelb: Surely it is not a feature you'd use every time you go shopping? Definitely does not deserve a dedicated tab.
This. I often use it at Coles as the items on the clearance shelf are often unlabelled. Need to make sure in-store shopping mode and the correct store is selected though.
Never thought to do that.
I always just take the items to checkout and scan it through and wait for staff to come and delete the overpriced "clearance" and then continue to scan my shop.
Following up.
Tried to scan a few products barcodes at clearance section of my local Coles because no ticket for that product.
They all registered as "no product found" so no price. Same when staff member was trying to get price.
So only way to know price was to put through register and then have staff delete when price was too high.
Quite often no price comes up for items where I'm trying to find out the price (ie Clearances), so I dont think its as useful as it seems.
I think OP is talking about random scanners placed around the aisles for price checking.
yes, thanks
No, use case is - I see item I want, I cannot find price on the shelf, I go to closest nearby scanner and scanner shows checkout price.
D'oh, got you. Misread that. That is indeed a good question. It cannot be difficult to implement. Maybe send them some feedback?
You've deleted a few comments today
I only seem to find price tags in front of empty shelves.
eggs?
I would have thought an empty shelf at Woolworths would be worth less (or even discounted) but noooo…
And then, when I cave in and want to buy the Shelf and I ask to borrow a Spanner or use a Trolley to take them to the Checkout, they say they aren't for sale (despite the Shelves having prices on them).
Then, they ask me to leave.
Most of the Colesworths are not that big. It's as easy to check the price at the checkout. It's only occasionally that I need to check the price. Maybe now I'm more experienced than before.
And who will go after you and collect all the unwanted items?
If I don't like the price, I place it back where I got it. Obviously.
You are a good man, but what about the others? Including me :)
you should never be allowed to shop in the first place :)
@nuker: This is the reason according to the Coles manager I know. Because for Big W or Anaconda, if someone dumps the product next to the scanner (they sometimes even have a basket next to the scanner for you to to it) then it can be put back on the shelf no issue. Food - some of it can, obviously; but a lot of it can't (anything fresh, refrigerated etc).
People rarely put things back in the right place when they haven't moved a step, taking an item to the end of the isle or half way across the store, it's getting dumped near the scanner 99% of the time.
Unfortunately that common sense is not that common.
I actually think woolworths and coles (at least my local ones) are pretty good at making sure everything is labelled. There are rare occasions where I can't find the price, but 9 out of 10 times the price is very clear. I think that's what they're aiming for rather than not having it labelled well and having to implement scanners (like kmart)
Me too, except Tuesday evenings can be annoying cos they start removing all the special labels, so you can't tell what's on special.
I find that I can't trust price labels, because they're usually for a cheaper item a little to the left or right.
They clearly print the name of the product and its weight on the label. And if you still can’t figure out which one it is, they also include the barcode. I never trust the location of a label, always read the description.
Just did that today
In woolies if you need to find the price use the self serv checkout and scan the item easy peezy .
Worst case, from far off corner of the store to the checkout, it might well be over 100 meters. With 6 km/h (teen on caffeine), it'd be 100m * 1.7 m/s = 180 seconds (3 minutes).
Add another 3 minutes to place the item back. And another 3 minutes to get to the checkout again. It adds up to 9 minutes of lost time (but you get your daily steps!).
BTW, far off corner of the store is where marketing advises placing popular stuff, like milk.
Yes they don't make it easy.
100m at 1.7m/s is 1 minute
yes, brain farted
@nuker: I know you probably already feel defeated but you also were going to walk to the checkout regardless so you should only count the roundtrip.
You need to divide not times( even if you did times it would be 170 not 180)
If the shelf price is wrong and it scans up higher you get it for free. Either way you're winning.
it is missing, mostly. I got smoked salmon 300g blister, a very yellow (!), label was saying "smoked salmon, 300g $15". Got charged $19. I knew it was going to happen, so I was ready. 20 seconds stare contest with the machine. Fark it, you won today.
Likely not the right brand.
When I am not sure about something, I always match the bar code number or product number etc on the product with the shelf label. Been caught out with that nonsense more than once. Not happened for awhile and now my local Woolies have implemented electronic shelf labels. I need to check if they still list product numbers. Damn things are so hard to read with failing eyesight.
Yeah the Woolworths electronic price tags have thin tiny text with huge amounts of wasted space. The displays always look dirty, even from day one.
Aldi electronic price tags are easy to read. I think Woolworths bought a shitty version with low quality LCD screens.
Most supermarkets have the pricing pretty obviously displayed. It's rare for me to ever have to look it up, so can't imagine it makes financial sense to install them.
High installation and maintenance cost (power outlets, network cabling, tamper proof readers & displays) for less than zero measurable return
High installation and maintenance cost
very close to zero. 5 posts, 5 cables, 5 scanners at $50 each, given order quantity. Per shop.
for less than zero measurable return
Why do you think Anaconda installed those?
Anaconda has nowhere near the staffing ratios of a typical supermarket. So they allocate proportionately less labour to shelf and product price labelling. Have you written to Colesworth suggesting they implement this compelling near zero-cost innovation? A kiosk scanner costs more like $1K and that's without the cost of ERP integration. You think you can just plug things into the wall and they'll magically display the item and price?
Have you written to Colesworth …
like on actual paper with fountain pen? We have not been properly introduced yet, I'm afraid.
You think you can just plug things into the wall and they'll magically display the item and price?
Yeah :)
@nuker: Subject: Request for Installation of Barcode Scanners for Customer Use
Dear [Supermarket Name] Management,
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to suggest an improvement to the customer experience at your store that I believe could bring significant benefits to both shoppers and the store staff.
As a regular customer, I have noticed the increasing use of mobile apps for shopping, price comparison, and product information. In light of this trend, I would like to request the installation of barcode scanners (or self-scanning stations) for customers to use while shopping. These scanners would allow customers to quickly check prices, verify product details, and make more informed decisions as they shop.
Here are a few reasons why I believe this addition would be valuable:
Enhanced Customer Experience: Customers would be able to scan items themselves and get real-time information, such as price, nutritional details, and promotions, which could make shopping more efficient and enjoyable.
Improved Efficiency: Barcode readers would reduce the need for staff to manually assist with price inquiries, allowing them to focus on other tasks and improving overall store productivity.
Support for Digital Tools: Many customers already use mobile apps and digital tools for shopping, and providing in-store barcode scanners would complement these technologies and promote a seamless, modern shopping experience.
Faster Checkout Process: For customers who wish to self-checkout, barcode readers would streamline the process and potentially reduce wait times.
I believe that this enhancement would not only benefit customers but could also improve store operations. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider this suggestion and explore the possibility of adding barcode scanning stations for customer use.
Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this idea.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Information]
[Your Loyalty Card Number, if applicable]
Dude those things aren't cheap.
Depending on the model of 'price checker', the size and what not, each unit could be anywhere from like $800-1500 or something, potentially more. Often the smaller units can run on PoE or can run on power and then use WiFi, either way these things will require the retailers shop fitting team or contractor to install the relevant fixturing to attach them to (not to mention probably another company involved in the design and manufacture of the fixture), get their electrical company to run either power or data or both, then these things need to hook into the retailers systems to get the relevant product and pricing information, then all these devices need to be managed using some system so they can update them, push changes to them etc.
I know it sounds simple, just plonk one on a shelf somewhere etc but it would be many thousands of dollars per store and a lot of time and money spent at head office planning, testing, developing and executing etc.
The return would be negligible I reckon.
Dude those things aren't cheap.
Are you aware that there is laser based ones (expensive) and IR ones, used in handheld units and for this purpose too (cheap)?
@nuker: Checked myself, the cheap ones are actually laser too, but 1-D only, without moving mirrors. $86 cost example:
https://www.barcodes.com.au/zebra-ls2208-barcode-scanner-kit…
I've been to a Woolworths where you can take a tablet with a scanner and attach it to your trolley and you are able to scan items as you shop.
Kellyville I presume?
I didn't go to Kellyville, but here is the website with a list of all the current Scan & Go locations. Kellyville is on the list.
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/about-us/scan-an…
One of the issues of the effective supermarket duopoly is there is not a lot of incentive to add a new feature.
If they do, the other will just copy it & add to costs.
Delivery to the bench inside the home is a good example of this. I'm sure many people want this & it would save paying for bags we don't want but it just costs them money (more time) & no incentive to do it unless the other does it.
Woolies and coles are generally* better at labeling their products and the products dont move from the shelves that much.
If you see soup you go to soup isle and you can find it on the shelf , compared to target where kids toys and stuff move around the store,
Also a good app tip is: if you can't find something in store look it up in the app set to in-store and it tells you where to get it and if it's in stock.
Bunnings site also good for this.
So it makes it harder to find price fark ups
All this chatter of price scanning but no one has mentioned the 'new' E-Ink price tags on Woolworths shelves nowadays.
The fear-mongering story is that, the price changes after you picked up the item and item is scanned at the checkout.
Before, I could rely on a missing tag or an incorrect priced item, to claim it "free" as a 'wrong-priced' item, ha…but I'm curious to know people's thoughts on them.
Target and maybe Kmart (because I couldn't find them when in store last week) removed their price check scanners. Now we are been forced to use their apps
The real reason Coles and Woolworths don't have in-store Scanners is in the nano-second between when you scan and the interval time you get to the checkout the prices have gone up.
Coles and Woolworths have in store Scammers thought.
(Ask ACCC). lol
Petrol Stations invented this changing the Pump Price as soon as you drive in.
OP. Perhaps you could update your original posting to indicate people can use the scan option in the apps although not all stock might appear there.. Thanks.
Many people found that Clearance and discounted items are missing from the apps. And this is when you actually want to price-check.
Those sort of things might be store specific for sales. In that case the in store scanners might not be up to date either. If in doubt just take the product to the self serve scanner areas to check. They basically perform the same sort of function.
Just use the same data source for the in-store checker scanners as store self-checkouts. Done.
@nuker: People should also be aware of what the shelf says. We got a free 5kg of OMO Ultimate clothes wash powder because the price had been increased in the software but the shelf price hadn’t been. We just wanted the lowest price so the freebie was a bonus.
We also found that the Fancy Feast cat food broth seems to have pricing issues on a semi regular basis. Needs manual repricing by the checkout people but we often got a freebie sachet and the rest dropped to the right price.
When in doubt take pictures.
I use the woolies app, can scan from your phone.