Apparently the better looks and ease of use of plastic trolleys cannot outweigh an important disadvantage: their price is higher than their metal counterparts. Unlike plastic shopping baskets that cost a fraction of metal ones, plastic trolleys are up to at least 30 per cent more expensive. Metal trolleys cost about US$75 to US$100 a piece, while plastic carts are roughly priced at US$120 to US$130, excluding accessories. Suppliers of plastic trolleys, however, state that their trolleys are a better deal in the end. No corrosion and less maintenance costs are their main arguments for pointing out that plastic trolleys last at least twice as long (up to six years).

Basket on wheels
Plastic shopping carts have shown most innovations over the last two years. Thus there are trolleys with baby seats, personalised handles and coin locks integrated into the handle. Furthermore trolleys for large or small stores can be custom-designed with various colourings to fit in the store design and concept. Trolleys can also be equipped with display systems and adapted to carry, for instance, mobile self-scanning equipment. Another trend is the development of mobile support devices to carry two instead of one shopping basket.
Plastimark is a supplier whose innovations resulted in, for instance, Portuguese retailer Sonae Group purchasing over 10,000 ‘Duka’ carts (especially designed for hypermarkets) and a similar number of ‘Tyko’ shopping baskets for all new and remodelled Continente stores.
Wanzl is a supplier of metal trolleys that – four years ago – entered the plastic trolley market by introducing its ‘Tango’ trolley with a capacity of 160 litres. Now Wanzl has launched an even larger model (220 litres) in two styles: one with a curved base and without a platform (to reduce theft) and a second classic model fitted as standard with a pull-out crate rack.
An innovation claimed by supplier Joalpe International is a (recyclable) plastic 43 litre shopping basket on wheels. Customers can pull out the extendable, telescopic handle and off they go. The basket’s panels allow for advertising. The concept is just being rolled out in European supermarkets, for example, at Super de Boer (Laurus) in the Netherlands and at Caprabo in Spain.

Ergonomics
As in plastic, manufacturers of metal trolleys are developing bigger carts. The obvious reason for this is the increase in floor space of the average supermarket and the shift to larger superstore and hypermarket formats. For this reason, Portuguese supplier Farame has developed the ‘Delta’, a 180-litre cage model, and French company Caddie offers a family size ‘BXM’ trolley with a capacity of 255 litres. This trolley with a width of 650 mm features an ergonomic ‘easy-push’ handle, which is of course an asset for a huge trolley like this. Ergonomics is clearly getting more attention from trolley suppliers. A good example is ‘Self 130’, the latest metal model in the ‘Self Caddie’ range for self-scanning shopping aids. This mobile device can hold two baskets of up to 30 litres and its baskets are lower, making loading and unloading easier.
Ergonomic design and ease of use also play a role when customising trolleys for the elderly. This has resulted in new rollator walker-type carts. Wanzl’s 'Light Shopper’ for instance is a metal design with a capacity of 70 litres. According to Wanzl, retailers have not sufficiently catered to their 50+ generation of customers. Already one in five Germans is older than 60. By the year 2030 one in three will have reached this age. Capitalising on the ageing society, Joalpe had developed ‘Gencar’. Currently used at Intermarché, Gencar’s frame has fixtures for two baskets and a crate plateau. Thanks to an all-plastic construction the model is tunnel scanning compliant.

Shopper scooters
Customised solutions are needed to accommodate the needs of elderly or disabled shoppers. Electric mobility scooters with a basket in the front can bring relief and may attract new customers that would normally never do shopping on their own. In Europe, shopper scooters are not as common as in the US, but this is set to change. Tesco, J. Sainsbury, Carrefour and Coop Italia recently invested in the XTi-model, supplied by the Arkansas (US) based supplier Mart Cart. Most stores have at least two shopper scooters, while an ASDA store in Bristol (UK) even has a complete scooter fleet of 12 Mart Carts.
Dan Technologies from Denmark is a scooter supplier from Europe, selling its ‘Smartkart’. This model has a whisper quiet front wheel drive, a thumb control throttle and multi-lingual operating instructions. Mart Cart Xti and Smartkart are both priced at US$2,200 to US$2,750 depending on order size.

Personalised shopping assistant
In addition to their electronic mobility, trolleys are also developed to become smart personalised shopping assistants. The Canadian company Springboard Retail Networks developed the ‘Concierge’, an on-board computer equipped with a touch screen device that serves as an easy product locator, information source, recipe browser and advertising medium. It also includes an integrated self check-out. Customers can scan their loyalty card to log in, or enter a code to start operation. Once logged in, shoppers can download shopping lists initially created on a home pc and they can also send information, like featured recipes, from the Concierge database to their personal e-mail account. When logged in, the assistant offers extra functionality, but logging in is not necessary to use the product.
Currently this personal assistant is being tested in Canada and according to Springboard’s VP of Technology, Sylvain Perrier, it is too early to see results. Still, he confidently dubs the Concierge “a new paradigm in food retailing as it enables retailers to both service and educate customers in the store in a non-intrusive way.” As the system follows the customer’s preferences, it will only display items which might be of the customer’s personal interest.
According to Perrier, Concierge’s customised interactive communication abilities may yield interesting marketing data. “The device tells retailers what shoppers buy, how they shop and what they like. Today we are losing contact and loyalty in the retail environment. This device may help to restore that loyalty.”

Anti-theft system
Shopping cart loss is a costly problem in food retailing. In the US alone, retailers spend over US$180 million a year to replace ‘missing’ carts. Shopping cart immobilisation systems can prevent carts from being transported beyond the car park. Among others Rocateq offers a protection system composed of an underground antenna wire that is connected with a main station in the store. Customers that pass the colour marked perimeter of the protected area will find their shopping cart's wheels immobilised. Therefore each shopping cart is fitted with one or more electronic locking wheels. Supermarkets that implemented the system have experienced a dramatic drop in lost trolleys.