Shoppers baffled by little-known checkout detail

Shoppers have been left scratching their heads over a tiny checkout detail, but it’s apparently been around forever.

Shoppers have been left scratching their heads after discovering a tiny feature installed at the checkout counters at Coles.

The image, which quickly gained traction on Reddit, shows a small mirror fixed to the lower part of the checkout lane, sparking a range of comments speculating about its purpose.

“What’s with the tiny mirrors in the check-outs?” the original poster asked, along with photos of the mirror.

News.com.au understands that these mirrors have been around for a long time and are present in all of Coles’ traditional checkout lanes.

These mirrors allow team members on the opposite lane to see if anything has been left at the bottom of a shopper’s trolley.

This could include heavy or bulkier items, which the team can then manually key in without the customer needing to remove them from their trolley.

A shopper has spotted a mirror on the side of a checkout in a Coles. Picture: Reddit

However, commenters on the post had their own theories.

“It was for five-year-old me to stare at while I was waiting for my mum,” joked one.

“It’s like a hall of mirrors but just not as fun,” chuckled someone else.

“They can see if you have nice shoes or not,” a third person quipped.

Somebody else suggested the mirrors also had the added purpose of being an antitheft measure, saying, “They provide an angle for the checkout chick to see the bottom of a trolley to look for items the customer hasn’t placed on the belt. Thievery.”

But one former retail worker admitted, “Not a single staff member in the eight years I worked there cared about BoB (bottom of basket) mirrors, other than the service managers.”

They are apparently called ‘Bottom of basket’ mirrors. Picture: Reddit

Bottom of basket mirrors are designed to help cashiers see, identify, and charge for any items located at the bottom of a shopping trolley, which is often a blind spot for them.

By reflecting the lower part of the trolley, the mirror helps ensure that all items are scanned and charged, reducing the chance of items being overlooked or stolen.

It comes after a man explained his self-checkout loophole last month. Picture: TikTok

It comes after a man went viral last month after claiming to have found a “loophole” in Coles’ self-checkout system that lets shoppers save money – and he insists it’s not theft.

It all came down to a surprising quirk in the supermarket’s weighing scales.

He claims that the scales aren’t sensitive enough to accurately measure light produce, meaning you can “get away” with scanning small items and getting them for cheap.

He ended up buying a single chilli using this method for only three cents, instead of the 30 cents it was supposed to cost.

Originally published as Shoppers baffled by little-known checkout detail