Shopping Carts: Going High Tech?

From increased productivity to reduced cart losses, automated shopping cart accessories are helping supermarkets boost efficiency and improve their bottom lines.

Grocery Headquarters
May 1998

Shopping carts, a necessity in all supermarkets, have come into the spotlight in recent years as retailers look to create opportunities to improve efficiency and protect this costly investment. Consequently, a host of shopping cart accessories have been developed to help retailers improve bottom-line profits by managing activities – from reducing cart theft and better utilizing cart collection labor to promoting products inside the store.

And all of them use technology as a key component. Dane Technologies, Plymouth, Minn., for example, offers a cart retrieval system designed to help supermarket operators reduce labor costs and improve productivity in the parking lot.

The battery-operated cart collection vehicle is available as a ride-on model or walk-behind unit.

In operation, as the store employee walks through the parking lot, he or she attaches individual or chains of carts to the front of the vehicle. The system is controlled by a single store employee using a hand-held transmitter. The remote control unit features tow speeds, enabling operators to slow down the unit for entry into the store. The control also includes an emergency stop button and horn. An optional snow blade converts the unit into a snow plow, which accommodates 9-inches of wet snow.

"With labor markets as tight as they are, we have found a way to change strenuous and physically demanding jobs into one more acceptable to employees," says Matt Gard, store manager for Ultra Foods, Highland, Ind. "The unit has improved employee morale and retention rates, and is saving us an average of 54.5 hours per week, which allows us to shift labor inside the store."

According to the company, the vehicle can be efficiently operated by one employee, enabling one operator to retrieve up to 40 carts at one time. The cart operates for up to 10 hours on a single charge, and can be recharged overnight.

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