Eagle-eyed shoppers lose their minds over a hidden shelf feature at Woolworths – but there’s a simple explanation
A Woolworths shopper observed an intriguing price tag detail while recently in-store – and many other Aussies chimed in to confirm they’d noticed it too.
The customer noticed something unusual about the price sign for Hass avocados on the shelf in the fruit and vegetable section.
But it wasn’t the $2.50 price tag that piqued their curiosity – rather, the tiny flashing light above it.
‘What’s that light? That little thing above the $2.50 price tag? It blinks green or red sometimes. Is it a sensor or camera or something?’ the shopper said in a Reddit thread.
Some speculated it was a tiny surveillance camera but several Woolworths shoppers quickly responded, offering simple explanations for the lighting feature.
The supermarket insiders claimed the light helps employees fulfil online shopping orders by precisely indicating where to find items on the shelf, speeding up the packing process.
‘It’s to make it easier for online team members to pick orders,’ one explained.
‘They blink to indicate the location on the shelf. No more reading each individual tag to find the correct item – just look at the blinking light, grab the product, scan and go to the next item.’
An observant Woolies shopper noticed a small flashing light above the price tag of avocados in their local store
Daily Mail has contacted Woolworths for comment.
Another store worker confirmed: ‘It’s to help the online team locate items.’
‘Seems silly for avocados, but trying to locate the correct toothpaste out of three dozen in a few seconds… yeah. I appreciate the (blinking light),’ a third worker said.
‘They’re digital tickets – it helps team members locate the products. It’s not a camera,’ another added.
One eagle-eyed shopper had even picked up on this detail, saying: ‘It’s so funny shopping in busy online stores, half the store is blinking.’
Several Woolworths shoppers were stunned at this explanation – and loved learning a new supermarket fact.
‘That’s really interesting, thank you for teaching me something today,’ one said.
‘I too find joy in learning things that have zero use or importance to my day-to-day life,’ another agreed.
Woolworths store workers explained that the blinking light on the digital ticket helped staff fulfilling online orders to locate a particular item
A Woolworths TikTok video also explained how their RF units were also used to update the digital ticket price tags on shelf. The price tag appearance still resembles a paper printed ticket because the display is e-ink, similar to the display screen on a Kindle
However, some workers said they understood customers’ confusion over the unexplained flashing lights – and had even heard funny stories of them sparking a frenzy among shoppers.
‘A team member asked if they could stop using them as whenever the light blinked, she swears all the customers crowd around and start buying the item,’ the store worker said.
But several shoppers saw the funny side of these lights, offering wacky and wild avocado-related conspiracy theories about their existence.
‘The Government is keeping detailed records on avocado eaters. Better watch out,’ joked one reply.
Another laughed that the light was there ‘so the avocados don’t get scared at night’.
Someone else jokingly insisted it was all to do with the tricky art of testing for an avocado’s ripeness, replying: ‘It’s a sensor that measures how much pressure is used when you test the avocados’ firmness.’
One person made a self-checkout related quip, saying: ‘That sensor reports to the teller how many avocados you took. If you press one in checkout and take two, you get reported.’
A recent Woolworths TikTok video demonstrated some of the little known capabilities of the RF devices used in store by staff – including when fulfilling online shopping orders
Meanwhile, a recent Woolworths TikTok video offered useful insight into how Woolworths store workers use their handheld RF devices – and it revealed some interesting details.
‘Have you ever wondered what these RF units can do in our stores?’ asked staff member Liam in the social media video.
The short clip showed the employee demonstrating how the RF units are used by store workers when fulfilling online shopping orders.
But perhaps the detail that surprised most people was that they were also used for setting up digital price tickets.
Despite the pricing label on shelves having the appearance of a paper price tag, the video unveiled that the shelf tags with the blinking lights are in fact an e-ink display, similar to the screen on a Kindle.
As Liam demonstrates, the RF unit is pointed at the price tag, and at the touch of a button the price ticket information magically appears next to the item on the shelf.
The employee also offered the added insight that the portable RF units can also be used in place of a microphone to make announcements over the in-store PA system.
