Coles’ ‘creepy’ checkout gates infuriate shoppers in Australia as they ‘lock customers in’ to prevent theft

Angry customers have expressed their frustrations over Coles’ decision to ‘aggressively’ roll out smart gates at checkouts.

The new technology was introduced in a bid to help stop supermarket theft, following a 20 per cent increase this year. Other new anti-theft devices spotted in stores include cameras, trolley locks and even smoke machines.

Shoppers were quick to share their views, claiming they are now ‘locked’ in the supermarket.

A customer from New South Wales’ Hunter Valley was ‘shocked’ when he first saw the gates.

‘Now you’re stuck with Coles. “I couldn’t get out of the self-service checkout after I finished shopping until they looked at my receipt and pressed a button for the new glass barriers they installed,” she said in a TikTok video.

After going through the gates, she noticed that the same glass gates had also been installed at the manned cash registers.

“So it’s not enough for them to jack up prices and rip us off; they are now locking you in Coles and you can’t get out,” the customer continued.

‘I asked the lady, “What’s going on here? Are we locked up here now?” and she goes, “Oh no no no” and I say, “Well, it doesn’t seem to open when someone walks up to it.”‘

The customer explained how the employee has to press a button to open the gates after checking the luggage.

“I wasn’t mad at her, I feel sorry for these employees (who work for) such a disgusting company,” the customer said.

“I’m just shocked that they’re now locking people up so they can check bags and prevent people from leaving the store.”

Jarrod, who goes by @jarrodsworld on TikTok, also shared his thoughts on the matter after watching the shopper’s video.

At first he didn’t believe it until he read a news article.

“Let me make this clear: First of all, you’re cutting jobs and trying to save money by implementing self-service checkouts,” he began in a now-viral video. video.

“And now that we’ve done the work ourselves and saved you money, we’re being treated as if we’re guilty until proven guilty and locked up until our bags are checked. What if you are in an emergency situation?

“We don’t work for you, and if you want us to serve ourselves, you have to bear the weight of that. You can’t have us served just to be checked at the damn gate.”

Jarrod predicts that the new technology will most impact ‘innocent’ buyers, who do not appreciate being treated like ‘criminals’.

“All I see is disaster,” Jarrod predicts.

‘Essentially you could say that they take the slogan ‘locked down’ quite literally. Not only are your prices “lower, lower, prices lower” – now your customers are locked in.”

The latest technology tracks customers from the moment they enter the store and records the time it takes to shop through each aisle until they reach the self-checkout.

New security cameras above the cash registers will then monitor all items as they are scanned and placed into bags. If anomalies are detected, smart gates are closed while an alarm sounds, keeping the customer in the store.

If that doesn’t get a suspected thief out of the store, the wheels on new high-tech carts lock completely as soon as they leave the store.

A Coles spokesperson told FEMAIL: ‘We know that retail crime is increasing across all retailers, and we have a range of security measures in place to reduce theft in our stores, including CCTV, Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) and in some stores, new smart gate technology that automatically opens when customers pay for their products.’

Coles Chief Operations Officer Matt Swindells previously described the technology as ‘world class’ in identifying potential thieves.

“What we’ve done is taken the best of what’s available overseas and then enhanced that with a few other tweaks so that we believe we’ve gotten world-class loss prevention technology into our stores,” he told A Current Affair.

“If you’re a thief, we’re going to get you.”

Mr Swindells said the technology will also help reduce the number of violent attacks on staff, which have increased in the past year.

Staff may wear duress watches that alert other employees of a potential incident, or even wear a bodycam that records all their interactions, similar to police officers.

“If you are going to threaten a member of staff, we will document it and take the necessary action,” Mr Swindells said.

The new system has been tested across the country over the past six months, with an ‘aggressive’ national rollout over the following three months.

Coles’ main competitor, Woolworths, introduced similar checkout technology in August to mixed reviews.