‘Never knew’: Woolies shopper in awe over new trolley feature

The mum was stunned to discover a feature she never knew existed on Woolworths trolleys — but is it available on all trolleys?

As any shopper will know, there’s nothing more annoying than when your trolley has a mind of its own.

It’s why it is understandable that one Woolworths shopper was excited to find out her trolley came with its own brake.

TikTok user @mikhaelapaiges shared a video last week demonstrating how they was a brake switch that could be flicked on and off on top of the right back wheel.

“I was 26 years old when I realised Woolworths trolleys have a brake! Please tell me I’m not alone,” she captioned the video.

@mikhaelapaiges also joked that she had been “living under a rock for the past 26yrs”.

The mum was shocked to discover a brake on her trolley wheel. Picture: TikTok/@mikhaelapaiges

The shopper showed how you could easily click the brake on and off. Picture: TikTok/@mikhaelapaiges.

Viewers of the video commented that they “never knew” trolley brakes existed, while another person said their local Woolworths’ trolleys don’t have them.

“Not in my town they just hit the car,” one person commented.

“Only some shops have them, not all, but I think all trolleys should have them,” another wrote.

News.com.au understands that only some of Woolworths’ trolleys come with the safety brake feature.

The brakes are fitted on trolleys for stores that have sloping car parks and on trolley models designed to place two children inside the trolley seat.

It’s not the first time TikTok users have discovered a little-known feature on supermarket trolleys.

Last year shopper @pnuks shared how our trolleys came with a safety feature that stops them from “flying away”.

Supermarket trolleys also have a trolley brake that locks on travelators. Picture: TikTok/@pnuks.

@pnuks showed that the Coles trolley has two back wheels visibly different to the front two, which appeared solid.

“A lot of our shopping malls, we have travelators not escalators – and there’s a reason why,” he explained.

“They are flat but they also have grooves. So if we’re shopping and we want to go from this level to bottom level, and we have our wheels designed like this, they stick in the grooves so you don’t have to worry about it flying away.”

Expats living in Australia have reacted in either shock or agreeance, revealing trolleys had proved a novelty when they first arrived in the country.

“I’m a Canadian studying in Sydney, the back wheels moving freely blew my mind when I got here,” one wrote.

People's minds were also blown at the discover that the hooks on Woolworths trolleys were to hang your bags off. Picture: TikTok/@woolworthsau.

“I saw this when I was in AU and I thought it was the COOLEST thing #American,” another said.

Meanwhile last month Woolies employee Liam Kirley, who runs the supermarket’s TikTok page, made a video explaining how the hook on the back of the trolley was there to hang your bags off.

“There are also these convenient hooks on the trolleys to hang your reusable bags while you shop,” he said in the clip which has been viewed more than 55,000 times.

The hack came as a surprise to some TikTok users, with one shopper writing: “Am I the only one who never knew there were hooks on the trolleys? Game changer.”