By Kai Iris
Grocery or shopping carts are an important part of many types of businesses, allowing customers to carry large or numerous objects with ease. Although the quality of shopping carts you have available in your business may seem trivial, having quality shopping carts can go a long way toward increasing customer satisfaction.
One of the largest annoyances with shopping carts is their wheels, which is why the wheels themselves should be repaired or replaced as soon as they begin to fail. How can you tell if it’s time to get new wheels for carts? Find out below.
1. They Generate Irritating Noises
All of us have had the displeasure of getting a cart with squeaky wheels, and the noises they make often sound as bad as nails on a chalkboard. Often, squeaky wheels can be fixed with a bit of grease, but those that continue to produce annoying noises should be replaced with quieter ones as soon as possible.
2. They Damage Your Floors
Some types of wheels create unattractive scuff marks on the floors of your store, which takes a fair amount of elbow grease by your staff to clean up. Other types of wheels, especially those that are damaged or have become dislodged, can create deeper cuts that can only be fixed by replacing certain sections of the floor.
Although customers don’t necessarily pay close attention to the condition of your store’s floors, those that are free of hundreds of marks and cuts tend to look much more professional and leave a better impression.
3. They Make Carts Difficult to Maneuver
Shopping carts should, ideally, move smoothly and respond to the subtle movements of our hands and arms as we guide them through the aisles. Pushing and steering a shopping cart tends to be inherently easier for younger and more able-bodied individuals, but quality shopping carts with great wheels make pushing and moving shopping carts a breeze no matter who is pushing them.
If you have noticed, or customers have reported, that some carts are hard to steer and move, they may just need a simple wheel upgrade to restore them to their former glory.
Some business owners hesitate to invest in matters like their shopping carts, as they won’t directly improve sales or make the company more money. At the same time, small aspects of your business, such as shopping cart wheels, can add up and improve or harm the perceptions your customers have of your business.
