--- title: Where are the missing shopping carts? - The Hustle description: Shopping carts are frequently stolen, costing retailers an estimated tens of millions annually. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1414378943-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-24T003937.060Z.webp --- # Where are the missing shopping carts? ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: January 25, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 Ever see a random shopping cart rolling down the sidewalk or tossed in a creek? Us too. ![Where are the missing shopping carts?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1414378943-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-24T003937.060Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1414378943-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-24T003937.060Z.webp) The Food Marketing Institute estimates [~2m](https://www.khon2.com/local-news/shopping-cart-theft-may-cost-you-more-at-the-grocery-store/) carts are stolen per year. It’s been an issue since carts were invented, and costs retailers an estimated tens of millions annually, [per](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/21/business/shopping-carts-lost-stolen-ctpr) *CNN*. Costs include: - Replacing missing carts, which can cost up to ~$250 each - Paying vendors to retrieve carts - Lost revenue from shoppers who can’t find carts - Municipal fines related to cart retrieval and storage **Example:** In 2022, Dartmouth, Massachusetts, fined Walmart $23k after public workers collected and stored 100+ carts over two years. #### **Why are people taking carts?** Even though cart theft is illegal, they’re pretty handy — and not just at the grocery store. Unhoused individuals use carts as shelters or to store and transport belongings, while people without cars may cart groceries home or to a transit stop. And as homelessness has increased, so too have missing carts. #### **What can be done about it?** Apart from increasing affordable housing and improving public transit and accessibility? Some stores are trying: - Wheels that lock if taken off-property, which sometimes [irritate shoppers](https://www.businessinsider.com/target-shopping-cart-lockup-frustrating-customers-in-viral-tiktok-video-2023-1) - Barriers that prevent carts from leaving stores — not ideal for shoppers with disabilities or heavy purchases Meanwhile, Aldi’s [requires](https://www.aldi.us/en/about-aldi/faqs/about-aldi/) quarter deposits as an incentive to return carts. Other stores use QR codes and member IDs to unlock and track carts. **BTW:** Check out Julian Montague’s [Stray Shopping Cart Project](http://www.montagueprojects.com/the-stray-shopping-cart-project), featuring an extensive identification system. Topics: [Ecommerce And Retail](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/ecommerce-and-retail) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Excited about Bed Bath & Beyond’s return? You may feel pretty lonely](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1248390843-19-News-Brief_2023-08-20T225804.606Z.webp) ### Excited about Bed Bath & Beyond’s return? You may feel pretty lonely - ![What can be done about shoplifting — and how bad is it, actually?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1983757125-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-shoplifting-man_20230606222634.webp) ### What can be done about shoplifting — and how bad is it, actually? - ![People love stealing stuff from Target](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/921948562-19-News-Brief_2023-05-22T002028.532Z.webp) ### People love stealing stuff from Target - ![Kiss your free returns goodbye](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/88609367-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2011202023Returns.webp) ### Kiss your free returns goodbye - ![The company that turns rain into drinking water](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1783708216-19-News-Brief_2023-04-17T234232.437Z.webp) ### The company that turns rain into drinking water - ![Fadeaway: Nike’s latest pivot is bad for brick-and- mortar retail](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/139434517-News-Brief_2020-09-01T005347.846Z.webp) ### Fadeaway: Nike’s latest pivot is bad for brick-and- mortar retail - ![Resale’s popping off — for good and bad](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1219657425-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMarch2027202023Resale.webp) ### Resale’s popping off — for good and bad - ![7-Eleven in Japan dials convenience up to… well, eleven.](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1071715948-HS-News-Brief_2023-03-16T000302.590Z-scaled.webp) ### 7-Eleven in Japan dials convenience up to… well, eleven. - ![Sephora and TikTok team up](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1932755138-HS-News-Brief_2023-03-15T005056.304Z.webp) ### Sephora and TikTok team up - ![Kids can’t get enough of this influencer sports drink](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/903901278-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-28T004230.914Z.webp) ### Kids can’t get enough of this influencer sports drink Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "datePublished" : "2023-01-25T04:00:10.000Z", "headline" : "Where are the missing shopping carts?", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1414378943-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-24T003937.060Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/01242023-missing-shopping-carts", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:36:08+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-01-25T04:00:10+0000", "headline" : "Where are the missing shopping carts?", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1414378943-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-24T003937.060Z.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```