MUSCAT, Oct 2 - Shopping carts going missing are a major concern for both supermarkets and hypermarkets in the Sultanate. Many customers use shopping trolleys to carry purchases from the hypermarket to their homes in the close vicinity or till their cars, which are parked away, and abandon them. They are later mishandled by others, rendering them unusable. Hypermarkets incur a huge loss resulting in additional expenditure because of such actions. In the wholesale market, a trolley would cost around RO 100.
“Disappearing trolleys are a headache. We are forced to replace the lost ones many times every year, adding to our expenses,” said the representative of a leading hypermarket. In view of such incidents, many players have employed staff to monitor trolley movements and request customers to keep trolleys back in the trolley bay.“We deploy staff at the exit points so that they can coordinate with customers and get the trolleys back,” said the manager of a department store.
Earlier, a renowned retail brand had a system in which customers had to insert a 50 baisa coin into a slot so that a handle would release the trolley. On returning the trolley, they would get their money back. “But the system did not bring the expected result. Since the customers were displeased, we discontinued the practice,” said a supermarket staff. A leading hypermarket official said while they have 10,000 footfalls a day, they replace 10 carts every month on average.“Awareness should be raised among customers about their responsibilities towards shopping malls and trolleys,” said Sulaiman, a shopper from Sidab.
KABEER YOUSUF
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