Parents savage supermarket giant on Facebook over latest Little Shop fail

Coles is facing yet another Little Shop nightmare as its Christmas Collectable cases sell out countrywide, sparking widespread fury.

Frustrated parents have lashed out at supermarket giant Coles over its latest Little Shop collectables campaign.

The Coles Australia Facebook page has been inundated with comments from customers unable to find Little Shop Christmas Collectable cases just days after the limited edition festive campaign was launched on December 7.

News.com.au has also been contacted by readers who have missed out, with the cases now sold out across the country.

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The Christmas Little Shop edition features five festive products including pavlova, mince pies, gingerbread, Christmas crackers and gingerbread ice cream, with one collectable being awarded to shoppers for every $30 spent in store.

However, the Christmas stocking-shaped collectable cases, being sold for $4 each, have since sold out across Australian stores despite the grocery giant imposing a limit of three cases per customer, per transaction in an effort to even the playing field.

Coles has confirmed that the cases were a “while-stocks-last campaign” — meaning they will not be restocked.

The only option left to disappointed kids and parents is online marketplaces such as eBay, where several of the coveted items are being sold for up to $35 a pop, with a complete collection including the case and all five collectables on sale for an eye-watering $100.

One angry parent branded the Coles Little Shop Christmas edition a “waste of time”.

Coles is now facing criticism with its Facebook page littered with angry comments.

“... you are SOLD OUT of the mini cases within hours, have called stores, they said they will not be getting anymore!!!!! People DO NOT BOTHER COLLECTING THESE MINIS as there will be NO cases for them. This promotion is a waste of time,” one disgruntled customer wrote.

“So why is Coles not going to produce any more Collectors Cases? … If your marketing did their job you would know they would sell like hot cakes. Please don’t send me your standard response of sorry you have missed out …” another posted.

“Just as Coles wishes to limit access to Coles Little Shop merchandise I am going to limit where my shopping money goes. Maybe those selling them on eBay should be reported to eBay,” another wrote.

A Coles representative has responded to each complaint on social media, explaining: “The Little Shop Christmas Collectable is a while-stocks-last campaign, therefore there is a limited supply of cases to go around.

“Although we had anticipated a degree of success based on our previous Little Shop campaign, we’ve had an overwhelming response and unfortunately many of our stores have sold out of cases.

“Unfortunately, stores that have ran out of the Collector Case will not be receiving any more stock. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

In a statement sent to news.com.au a spokeswoman for Coles said there we plenty of minis left, but admitted some stores had sold out of cases.

“For those who wish to make a do-it-yourself case at home, they can download the template at www.coles.com.au/christmaslittleshop and over the next few days stores will have some printed A3-sized DIY Little Shop Christmas gingerbread houses available at the service desk, while stocks last,” the statement read.

Coles chief operating officer Greg Davis said in a statement ahead of the launch that the business had been “blown away with customer feedback to Little Shop when it launched in July” and that the Christmas edition had been planned “to bring customers a little extra as a surprise this Christmas”.

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