Coles, Woolworths surcharge flat fee for home delivery shopping bags

Coles and Woolies customers have expressed frustration about a flat fee for home delivery bags that would be less expensive if they were paid per shopping bags.

Shopping bag surcharge:

The fact that supermarket customers are paying a set cost for shopping bags on home delivery has infuriated them.

Coles charges $1.50 for shopping bags for home delivery, while Woolworths requests a total of $2 from customers to bundle their products.

However, clients who only purchase enough goods for two or three shopping bags are left dissatisfied because their bag requirements would be less expensive if they were paid per bag instead of a set amount.

Sort shopping bags based on cost:

Currently, Woolworths offers three different types of shopping bags in-store: the 25 cent paper bag, the 99 cent classic tote bags, and the 15 cent reusable shopping bag, which is being phased out countrywide.

Coles is also doing away with the 15-cent shopping bags, replacing them with recyclable bags that cost 25 cents, as well as reusable and chiller bags that cost $1 and $2.50.

Customers started criticizing the two big supermarkets earlier this month after receiving shopping bags that were worth less than $1.50 in many cases.

“Why is the charge for my online home delivery purchase a flat $1.50?” One Coles customer claimed: “I shop once a week and average three shopping bags”. It wasn't like this with the plastic shopping bags.

Customer complaints about shopping bags fee:

"You are taking advantage of everyone with retail buyers, who are mostly single or old. I do not like paying more for less. Put the price per bag back in place.

One individual said that the supermarkets "managed to find a new way to profit of us all" with the flat rates.

"Why is there a $1.50 charge for paper bags on online orders?" inquired another consumer.

Customers at Woolworths were also angry about the flat price for the cost of the deliveryshopping  bags.

"Why is the price for paper bags suddenly $2 per order?" One customer asked, "If I leave my own shopping bags out, will the delivery driver pack them for me or leave my items loose on the front porch?"

It was deemed "rubbish" by one social media user because the store charged a set rate for the shopping bags.

Woolworths clarified that the cost of the shopping bags was no longer included in the membership fee for Delivery Unlimited.

"Our Delivery Unlimited offering continues to be very popular with customers and with an unlimited number of deliveries for $15 per month or $119 for an annual subscription it provides great value and convenience to customers," a spokeswoman said to news.com.au.

"With growing gasoline prices and other expenditures, it was necessary for us to reassess the offer; nonetheless, the cost of our monthly and yearly memberships has not changed, even if we are raising the minimum spend for purchases from $50 to $75.”

Feedback from the brand about shopping bags fee: 

In response to customer feedback, the company announced that "Shopping bag fees will no longer be included in the subscription price and there will be a $1 fee for reusable bags or $2 for paper bags."

Coles, meanwhile, said that the grocery store has decided to start offering 100% recycled paper shopping bags to consumers in place of soft plastic shopping bags.

No matter how many shopping bags a consumer needs, they may have their groceries delivered for a fixed cost of $1.50 to their home or car.

"We are committed to reducing problematic packaging at the checkout, and by switching to paper shopping bags by the end of June in-store and online, we will eliminate 230 million plastic shopping bags from circulation in a single year. The 100% recycled paper shopping bags contain up to 6 kilograms of goods and may be recycled curbside.

Reducing the consumption of plastic shopping bags by using Coles is also putting a new program called Swap-a-box through its paces in a few areas, allowing customers to place Click&Collect purchases using reused boxes.

For Click&Collect customers, there is a bag-free alternative where a team member loads the goods straight into the customer's boot.

TLPPACKAGING FOR SHOPPING BAGS