Shopping Cart - Deposits

Deposits

In many countries, the customer has to pay a small deposit by inserting a coin, token or card, which is returned if and when the customer returns the cart to a designated cart parking point. The motivation behind the deposit systems is not theft deterrent (the trolley is worth significantly more than the deposit) but to reduce the expense of employees having to gather carts that are not returned, and to avoid damage done by runaway trolleys.

Although almost ubiquitous in continental Europe and Canada, the deposit system is less common in the United Kingdom and has not been widely adopted in the United States, with the exception of some chains like Aldi, which require a $0.25 deposit. Other stores such as Costco and ShopRite also use the coin deposit system, but it is not used at all of their locations.

In Australia, deposit systems are common in some local government areas as they have been made compulsory by local law. Usually, all ALDI stores, and most Coles and Safeway stores will have a lock mechanism on their trolley which requires a $1 or $2 coin to unlock. One district council in Sydney has banned the use of shopping trolleys because of the tendency of people to take shopping carts home with them and not return them to the shop.

The deposit varies, but usually coins of higher value, such as €1, £1, or $1 are used. While the deposit systems usually are designed to accommodate a certain size of domestic coin, foreign coins, former currencies (like DM coins) or even appropriately folded pieces of cardboard can be used to unlock the trolleys as well. Trolley collectors are also usually provided with a special key which they can use to unlock the trolleys from the trolley bay and get the key back.

Some retailers sell "trolley tokens" as an alternative to coins, often for charity. Merchandising companies also offer branded shopping trolley tokens as a product.

In some airports a system similar to the shopping trolley deposit is also used with luggage carts as a profit making opportunity. Companies like Smarte Carte charge two or more dollars (U.S.) (or equivalent) for rental, and return a small token reward of a quarter (25 ¢) for returning carts to the other end of any dispenser machine.