Just another of the million details in retail

Shopping carts at Safeway, West Vancouver, BC

The wheeled shopping cart, or shopping trolley if you are from the UK, has been around since the 1930s. Allowing customer to pick up more items than they could carry in a single basket offered benefits for both the shopper and the retailer.

One of the key feature of the shopping cart, the swinging rear panel that allows the carts to "nest" and thus take up less space in the store and the parking lot, is a great feature and was the subject of a minor patent battle in the 1940s.

But the nesting feature only work is the carts are configured similarly. If the carts are different sizes and shapes, and will not nest, then the benefit is lost and the stacked carts will not stack properly.

That is what is happening here. There are three different designs of carts and when customers attempt to return the carts to the chute the carts do not stack properly. Thus the carts take up too much space and are difficult to pull apart.

Not a huge deal, but just one of the little details that make a retail shopping experience less enjoyable.