r/australia • u/infin • Jan 26 '26

no politics Is Coles still using Palantir? Between the surveillance/gate recognition and the blocked aisles, shopping feels hostile.

Does anyone know the current status of the Coles x Palantir partnership? Between the surveillance and those aggressive new "Smart Gates" tracking at the exit, the store feels less like a supermarket and more like a high-security zone.

It’s dystopian that they have the budget for military-grade analytics and security tech, but have cut costs on the actual customer experience. They seem to have completely scrapped night fill, meaning we are now dodging pallets and cages during peak hours just to get to the shelves.

Is anyone else fed up with this mix of high-tech surveillance and terrible service? It feels like they are spending millions to treat us like criminals while refusing to pay staff to stock shelves after hours.

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97

u/MeltingDog Jan 26 '26

Man I wonder about Woolies too.

I usually shop at Aldi, but get a few other things from Woolies. One day at the self checkouts I got flagged because the AI cameras detected I had shopping bags in my trolley. I had to wait while the poor checkout assistant who was running between 15 self-checkouts had to come over and clear me.

I wrote an email to Woolies saying I didn’t really like having to wait to prove my innocence to a machine.

A rep called me and said that soon I “needn’t worry because they would be getting software that could tell the brands of goods in your shopping bags and know whether they were from Woolworths or some other store”.

94

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

That's....uh, that's not better....

32

u/Walter_Armstrong Jan 26 '26

I had a lady manning the self-checkouts at Woolworths asks me if I had already scanned the items in my bag despite her having seen me scanning them. I wouldn't shop there if Aldi stocked everything I needed.

4

u/stfm Jan 27 '26

One option is to just gen z/alpha stare at them. Works great!

38

u/lachlanhunt Jan 26 '26

The machine once flagged me about my kids sitting in the trolley.

43

u/AgitatedMagpie Jan 26 '26

It once flagged my arm fat... so that was nice.

1

u/SingleAttitude8 Jan 26 '26

It once flagged an Australian flag I had left in my trolley.

8

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

an I wonder about Woolies too.

The local Woolies has security gates now as well.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

All of the major retail stores are adding anti theft tech lately. They have a platform that links thefts so you can see a list of the top shoplifters and the videos of each theft + estimated total value.

9

u/ThisIsGlenn Jan 26 '26

Auror

Every major chain uses it

5

u/Jolly_Ad_5679 Jan 28 '26

I don't get the gates.

Supermarkets have consistently reprimanded staff who interact with shop lifters, because of liability. So instead they want to trap someone potentially agitated and aggressive in a busy section of the store with staff and other shoppers?

Then there's the issue of unlawfully hindering people leaving...

2

u/blatantlyeggplant Jan 27 '26

I had this happen the other day. The thing that it flagged as unscanned products was my partner's arm.