Not long ago, the weekly supermarket shop<\/a> was a ritual, one full trolley<\/a> loaded up to last the entire week.<\/p>\n But according to consumer expert Gary Mortimer, that behaviour has largely disappeared.<\/p>\n Think about it. How often do you head out to Coles, Woolworths or Aldi<\/a>?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re still sticking to one big weekly shop, you\u2019re now in the minority.<\/p>\n These days, Mortimer said, many Australians are making multiple trips.<\/p>\n “If you think back to the ’70s and ’80s, we would normally do a full grocery shop, and you would shop for the whole week<\/a>,” Mortimer told Yahoo News Australia.<\/p>\n How many times per week do you do a grocery shop? Source: Yahoo News Australia<\/p>\n What’s driving the change?<\/p>\n But now, he said, we’re shopping more frequently.<\/p>\n A growing number of Australian shoppers are visiting their local grocery stores several times per week, as appetite grows for freshness<\/a> and supermarket availability expands wider than ever before.<\/p>\n That’s in large part because there’s a greater demand for freshness.<\/p>\n People are no longer willing to buy fresh food on Monday and still be consuming it on the weekend.<\/p>\n Supermarkets are now more accessible than ever. Source: Yahoo News Australia<\/p>\n At the same time, supermarkets are more accessible than ever, with stores now located in more neighbourhoods across the country. <\/a><\/p>\n In many areas, they\u2019re smaller than the large-format supermarkets of the past, but far more widespread and convenient.<\/p>\n RELATED:<\/p>\n “We’ve also now got more extended trading hours,” Mortimer said.<\/p>\n “Back in the 80s, most supermarkets and businesses would close at five o’clock and wouldn’t trade on Sundays and on public holidays<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Consumer expert with Queensland’s University of Technology, Gary Mortimer. Source: QUT<\/p>\n That picture is very different now.<\/p>\n ‘”And then, of course, we’ve got this influx of medium and high-density living,” Mortimer said.<\/p>\n People living in studios and one-bedroom apartments don’t have the storage space for a week’s load of groceries in their vehicles or in their pantries anymore.<\/p>\n All these factors influence how we shop, and the trend will continue over time.<\/p>\n A key change in recent shopping habits is the trend towards online shopping. Last year Aldi joined Woolworths and Coles in offering an online service<\/a> as more people choose that method of shopping.<\/p>\n Supermarket checkout evolution on the horizon<\/p>\n Last week, Mortimer explained that it’s not just when we shop that’s changing, but how we do it.<\/p>\n “What I\u2019ve observed is a great influx of self-service registers. A good example would be my local Coles store \u2014 it had about 10, and now it\u2019s grown to maybe 14,” he said.<\/p>\n “The other thing we\u2019re seeing is conveyor belt self-service registers<\/a> designed for people with bigger shops.<\/p>\n Are we experiencing the end of the weekly grocery shop?. Source: Yahoo News Australia<\/p>\n “Now consumers have three choices: they can go through a staffed register, a conveyor belt self-service register, or the smaller self-service technologies<\/a>.”<\/p>\n And that increase is just the start.<\/p>\n Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can also follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cf3e1461-3938-11f1-b9ef-834f6739af9a.jpeg\"\/)
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