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Walmart customers either hate or love the chain's new shopping carts. We tried one out, and it's clear why they are so polarizing.
Walmart customers either hate or love the chain's new shopping carts. We tried one out, and it's clear why they are so polarizing.
Dominick ReuterSep 12, 2023, 16:23 IST
Business InsiderI went to Walmart to check out the redesigned cart, and I even brought my tape measure.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images (Left), Dominick Reuter/Insider (Right)
Walmart's new taller shopping cart design features a cupholder and a slot for phone or grocery list.
Reactions from shoppers have been divided, but an Insider tester thought they were one of the best.
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A redesigned shopping cart has begun appearing at Walmart locations, and the reaction among shoppers is mixed.
Back in July, a Supercenter in Mayfield, Kentucky, posted a video to its Facebook page featuring an associate pointing out the newest features — a cupholder and a slot for phone or grocery list.
The clip has since racked up 34,000 views and generated hundreds of likes, comments, and shares.Reactions to the video were divided, with some commenters praising the change and others complaining that the taller design was uncomfortable for shorter shoppers.Walmart spokesperson Kelsey Bohl said the design is intended to enhance the shopping experience and has been rolling out at stores across the US for more than two years now.The wheels roll amazingly smoothly – no judders or wobbles (yet).Dominick Reuter/InsiderThe new carts are roughly the same width and length as a traditional Walmart cart — 25 by 38 inches — but the handlebar and child seat are quite a few inches higher in the latest model (43 inches and 38 inches, respectively).Sam's Club and Costco shoppers might recognize the cart's side profile with its low basket and high seat. The main difference is the narrower, single-seat design, while the warehouse club carts accommodate two children.Costco uses a similar design, albeit wider with two child seats.Dominick Reuter/InsiderOn Monday, I visited a store in Madison, Wisconsin, where I first noticed the carts while reporting on another story back in July. I decided to ask a few shoppers what they thought.One shopper told me she hadn't noticed a difference until I pointed it out. She said she was visiting from out of town and that her usual location still had the older carts.She remarked favorably on the phone dock and cupholder, grading the design "A-plus." Target's shopping carts also feature a nice phone tray and cupholder.If you're uncomfortable leaving your phone in the cart, you can still put your grocery list in the slot.Dominick Reuter/InsiderA fatherI spoke to was less impressed. He told me his young son kept trying to squirm out of the seat and that he preferred things to be left the way they were before.Lastly, a mother of a one-year-old told me the main difference she noticed was that the plastic flap only covered half of the seating area, leaving her child to sit mostly on the cart's bars.The cupholder fits most size drinks, but is not big enough for larger containers.Dominick Reuter/InsiderShe would have preferred a retractable seatbelt rather than the cart's existing adjustable one, she said. And the phone and drink storage weren't particularly useful to her since her child would bump into them.She had no complaints about the higher seat and handlebar position, though. "I'm tall," she said. She also noted the main basket seemed larger and more accommodating of an infant car seat. Despite her criticisms, she said she was a fan of the new design.On TikTok, user Maddy Charlson quipped that she couldn't see around her daughter. "We're literally eye-to-eye," she posted.For my part, I am a fan of the warehouse club style of cart, which I think holds small items more securely in the child seat area and simplifies loading of merchandise in the shallower main basket.Larger items also fit more easily in the main area without bumping into the seat — something that really bugs me when using a traditional cart.I also happen to like the taller proportions since I'm more than 6 feet tall, but I can appreciate the frustration of shorter shoppers — especially if they have to hoist squirming toddlers into a chest-high seat."Walmart's new carts are a game changer," TikToker Tyler Paboucek posted last October. "We need these everywhere!"I couldn't agree more.
