Supermarket Sleuths: Grocery shoppers unimpressed with controversial change

Grocery shoppers have a number of options when they head to their local supermarket to do their shopping. There are typically two sizes of trolleys and a single option for baskets.

A fortnightly shop necessitates a larger trolley. A weekly or top up shop may require a smaller trolley.

Then there are those times we pop in for bread, milk, maybe some bananas and optimistically think we'll be able to hold it all in our arms, forgetting that most times we do this we end up grabbing additional items.

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The walk of shame to retrieve a basket during these trips happens more often than you'd think.

Baskets are usually available in one size which is small enough to hang over your arm as you grab a few items here and there. Traditionally they include two handles that meet in the middle and that can easily be pushed to each side when it comes time to purchase the items.

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Then there are the newer baskets that have arrived at supermarkets. They are larger, with a single, thick handle in the middle.

Not everyone is a fan of them, particularly Coles shoppers who have been left with the newer baskets only.

Some Woolworths stores stock both baskets, the original two-handle designs and these newer, larger, more cumbersome baskets. There are also reports of Woolworths stocking large baskets with wheels, in select stores.

One frustrated mum told 9honey: "I hate those baskets so much, they're so much harder to carry, especially for women who might have less upper body strength or are trying to wrangle kids at the same time.

"I hate how big and bulky the one handle is, it's so awkward to try and carry while pushing a pram at the same time, or worse trying to get in and out of the shops with a toddler."

Aldi has so far stuck with the smaller, original two-handle baskets.

Also, fun fact for those (like me) who never noticed this before. Coles baskets are red, Woolworths baskets are green and Aldi baskets are black. So on brand.

We reached out to Coles to talk about their range of grocery shopping baskets. A spokesperson said: "We are always looking for ways to deliver a seamless shopping experience for our customers, and that includes offering shopping baskets alongside our trolley options for our customers to choose from.

"We know that some of our customers prefer the convenience of being able to pick up a basket when they are doing a smaller shop for a few items or grabbing that last-minute meal.

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"Our newer style baskets are Australian-made from 100 per cent recycled milk and fruit juice bottles, saving the equivalent of 18 2L milk bottles from landfill for each basket made."

So larger and environmentally friendly. It's hard to get mad about that.

Woolworths' new baskets are also environmentally friendly, made out of "recycled milk bottles".

A spokesperson for the supermarket confirmed not all customers are happy with the new single-handle larger basket design, telling 9honey: "We've taken customer feedback on board and every store has a combination of the single and double handled baskets whilst we look to future solutions."

The more cynical of us would point to the fact larger baskets typically lead to more items being purchased, and that is the real reason behind these new designs.

As explained by Consumer Psychologist and founder of Thinkerbell, Adam Ferrier, who said: "The smaller the basket the less you'll buy," adding that we "look for cues like a full basket to encourage us to stop and check out".

Coles reportedly introduced single-handle baskets a number of years ago and they have been rolled out across the country. They are meant to be more ergonomically friendly for customers to hold during shopping trips but from one short, tired mum to another, that is not the case for women of our stature.

Also, my kids used to love to carry the shopping basket for me when they were little. It was their job, a way to keep them busy and interested in the experience.

There's no way little kids can carry these new, larger shopping baskets.

Some supermarkets have a third basket option, a larger basket with wheels which I have only seen at Officeworks but not at my local supermarkets.

These are a great option and I hope to see them rolled out further.

Basket options at supermarkets differ depending on the store format and customer shopping patterns in the area, as it does with trolley fleets.

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