Major supermarket quietly increases paper bag prices in latest blow to shoppers

Coles has quietly increased the price of its paper shopping bags from 25 cents to 30 cents, a 20 per cent price hike on an item that supermarkets used to offer for free.

This latest blow comes as Aussie shoppers face growing frustration over everyday supermarket expenses during the cost of living crisis.

The supermarket has confirmed the price increase for its paper shopping bags, as well as other shopping bags in its range, including its larger chipper bags which have risen in price from $4 to $4.20.

A Coles spokesperson told nine.com.au: “We recently made some changes to the price of selected bags.

“We know value remains important to our customers, and we’ve worked to keep these increases as low as possible.

“Unfortunately, from time to time, prices of individual products may need to increase due to changes in costs such as materials and transport. 

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“Customers can continue to bring their own reusable bags when shopping at Coles, and we encourage them to reuse bags wherever possible.”

The Coles Online flat fee for bags remains unchanged at $2. Woolworths and Aldi paper shopping bags remain at 25 cents.

It wasn’t long ago that shopping bags were provided for free in Australian supermarkets. Then, in mid-2018, Coles and Woolworths phased out free single-use plastic bags, citing environmental concerns, and began charging for them. This was followed by a transition from plastic to paper shopping bags.

These paper shopping bags cost 15 cents each before steadily increasing in price.

Initially, consumers were diligent about reusable shopping bags and many still are. However, buying paper shopping bags during weekly grocery shops has become commonplace.

QUT retail expert Professor Gary Mortimer estimated that the major supermarkets make about $170 million a year after phasing out six billion free single-use plastic bags and charging for paper and reusable ones.

Finance and marketing expert Dr Nadja Dollisson from Swinburne University previously explained to nine.com.au how paying for shopping bags in supermarkets became “normal”.

She said it was due to a “mix of habit change, social copying, and the behavioural conditioning described by psychologist B.F. Skinner”.

“In simple terms, Skinner showed that behaviour is shaped by consequences. When an action brings reward or removes a problem, it tends to be repeated, and we tend to avoid actions that bring penalties or discomfort,” she said.

"Bags had always been free, so the change triggered frustration and pushback. But once every major chain adopted the same rule, shoppers had nowhere else to go.

“A change that initially felt like a shock quickly settled into ‘just how grocery shopping works’.”