Shopping used to be a pleasure, but the Coles supermarket I walked into this week felt like being stuck in a futuristic prison.
The razor blades I was there to buy were kept behind heavy glass doors.
A voice from a loudspeaker above instructed me to push the red button if I wanted access.
After I complied, it continued sternly, “The cabinet will be unlocked remotely.”
Then added, “We thank you for shopping at Coles”.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of love for Coles, which can mainly be traced back to shopping there as a kid.
Its red tones have always felt more comforting than the harsh green of its rival, Woolworths.
Some of the stores back in the early 1990s were even branded as Coles New World, which made my young mind think of space exploration and adventure.
But what immediately came to mind as I walked into a store in Melbourne’s west this week wasn’t excitement.
The aisles were clean, ordered, and monitored with high-tech security. Source: Yahoo News Australia
Supermarket experience like a science fiction prison
The feeling was closer to that claustrophobic, empty, imperial prison in season 2 of the Star Wars series Andor, or for anyone old enough to remember it, the 1992 Christopher Lambert movie Fortress.
New security was introduced into stores around Melbourne to combat “record levels of shoplifting”, but despite being a reasonably honest citizen, the store kept a close eye on me, too.
Cameras tracked me wherever I walked, and my ugly bald head, un-ironed T-shirt, and ill-fitting jeans were captured on screens in every aisle.
Despite feeling uncomfortable, I couldn’t ignore the image, as there was a red box placed around my figure.
The store felt empty, ordered, and white.
Every orange was perfect, each carton of milk perfectly aligned.
In one aisle, there was a rare glitch in the matrix, with four packets of nappies strewn across the ground.
There were no staff on the floor chatting or joking with each other, or ready to help customers as you’d find in a smaller shop, but occasionally someone in a distinct red shirt would rush by to fill an item on a shelf to maintain order.
Customers appeared to have accepted that shopping is now a solitary experience, as the one person manning a checkout had walked off to perform another task — everyone was simply self-scanning their items.
Even the mess on the ground appeared somehow ordered. Source: Yahoo News Australia
Barely an item was out of place in the immaculately presented store. Source: Yahoo News Australia
McDonald’s replaces staff with screens
Replacing customer and staff interactions with security devices and monitoring is part of a clear trend across Australia that’s not only particular to Coles.
It just appears to be leading the way.
Instead of teenagers working their first job behind the counter, the McDonald’s in the same shopping centre has colourful touch screens to place your order.
High-value items were locked behind glass doors that were remotely opened. Source: Yahoo News Australia
There’s a telling episode called Phones in the children’s TV series Bluey, which I’ve watched with my son a dozen times, that highlights the change in the way Australians now order their food
The title character and her sister Bingo play “restaurant” with their grandpa, and he expects to dine in, but the girls tell him to head home, order on the app, and watch content on his phone.
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When four-year-old Bingo arrives with his pretend food on a scooter, the grandpa expects to make conversation, but Bluey interrupts, informing him that, “You don’t really chat to the scooter person”.
Maybe I’m the problem
As I approached the security gates to leave Coles, they stayed closed until the last moment, and I became anxious that they wouldn’t open.
I hadn’t stolen anything, but the situation made me feel like a criminal, and I wondered if other shoppers felt the same.
Other major chain stores like McDonald’s have also replaced staff with computer screens. Source: Yahoo News Australia
Now that I’m in my 40s, maybe it’s me that’s the problem, as I’m not keeping up with the times.
Younger people might prefer not to be interrupted by staff, prefer screens, and accept what feels like invasive security measures to me.
I’ve reacted by simply shopping elsewhere and frequenting markets and my local grocer.
But I must admit, when I’m waiting in line, and customers are having long conversations, there’s a part of me that wishes for a self-serve checkout.
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