So Woolworths is going to do the cashless thing. Not at all their stores as yet, but I’m guessing it’s heading that way and while they are calling it a trial period at present, it’s my guess the length of the trial period will be equivalent to what is deemed the length of time it will take for people to get so used to it as to accept it as the norm. And then it will be set in stone.
That’s how anything bound to be unpopular with the masses is introduced. It’s just a “trial period”. Except that it isn’t. Trial periods have an end date and this move by Woolworths doesn’t.
Okay sure, many of us use our cards for transactions much of the time but that doesn’t mean we have lost touch with cash. We haven’t, and despite the tendency to use our cards often, many of us still like to deal in cash too, especially for smaller purchases. Many still like to use cash at the checkout. Cash or card? We like to have the option.
Thing is, people tend to vote with their feet and if their local Woolworths, where they usually shop, does the cashless thingy and they decide they aren’t happy about it, they will spend their money elsewhere. Woolies are no doubt aware of that but anticipate that a) people will get over it and come back, b) they will have no choice but to shop at Woolies if there are no local alternatives, or c) the number of customers who will permanently boycott them will be too small to make any real difference.
They’re possibly right on all counts, except that times have changed, and rather dramatically this year, and people will no longer accept that there are some things that can’t be stopped so they may as well accept it. They don’t accept it anymore. They make very determined moves against being forced into something they don’t want and it would appear that a lot of people do not want a cashless society. They want to see actual cash, touch it, and spend the stuff when and where they want and they will go elsewhere to do that if Woolworths stops cash use in their stores.
If Coles and Aldi follow suit, we could see the re-emergence of the smaller independent supermarkets that were killed off as the big guys moved into towns across the country, and local food markets could be set to become even more popular, way beyond their usual expectations, as anti-cashless shoppers flock to their stalls to buy local…and pay with real money.
Which would not be a bad thing. Local markets are a great place to buy fresh local produce. Vegetables and fruits, local honey and dairy, even local meat. Find a local food market and you will find good quality food at a good quality price. And the stallholders don’t have an aversion to actual money!
But I don’t think the big supermarkets are aware of the potential threat that local markets could become. Big companies which have a monopoly on something usually don’t. They are so big, the local weekend market is so small in comparison, it just won’t happen. But I think it might, especially in the light of the present day push to buy Australian, buy local, support the local community etc. People angry at being told they can no longer use cash in their local supermarket will find an alternative, and in time it could have an impact on Woolworths.
Maybe sooner that they think.