Coles Self Checkout Gate

Coles has introduced self-checkout gates in some of their stores across Australia as a security measure to prevent theft. These gates are designed to open automatically after a customer has paid for their items at the self-checkout. The implementation of these gates began in late 2023 and has continued into 2025.

In theory, once payment is made, the gates should automatically open, allowing the customer to exit.

If the system detects that items may not have been paid for, the gates will remain closed.

Coles states that team members are available in the self-checkout area to manually open the gates for customers who have paid or who were just browsing and did not make a purchase.

There are a number of concerns around customer frustration, false imprisonment, technical glitches (of course), accessibility concerns, general safety concerns and more…

I questioned a staff member while I was waiting at the closed gate and she explained that the cameras pick up a customer as they enter the self checkout zone and assign an identifier which then follows the person to the checkout, monitors the transaction and payment then flags the gate that this person can leave.

I asked if facial recognition was used and the answer was, um, I don’t think so. Given the recent backlash with Kmart, Bunning and Good Guys using facial recognition, I hope Coles have found a better way to track customers.

The (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner ) OAIC launched formal investigations into Kmart and Bunnings due to concerns about their facial recognition practices. As of now, there haven't been similar investigations announced regarding Coles' self-checkout gates specifically related to facial recognition, likely due to Coles' denial of its use.

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