Unusual Blinking Lights on Price Tags at Woolworths
A recent discovery by a Woolworths shopper has sparked curiosity and conversation among customers across Australia. While browsing the fruit and vegetable section, a customer noticed something unusual about the price tag for Hass avocados. It wasn’t the $2.50 price that caught their attention, but rather a tiny blinking light above the tag.
The shopper shared their observation in a Reddit thread, asking: “What’s that light? That little thing above the $2.50 price tag? It blinks green or red sometimes. Is it a sensor or camera or something?” The question quickly generated responses from other shoppers who had also noticed the same feature.
Some speculated that the blinking light might be a small surveillance camera, but several Woolworths employees provided a more practical explanation. According to insiders, the lights help store workers fulfill online shopping orders by indicating where specific items are located on the shelves. This makes the process of picking and packing orders much faster and more efficient.
“It’s to make it easier for online team members to pick orders,” one employee explained. “They blink to indicate the location on the shelf. No more reading each individual tag to find the correct item—just look at the blinking light, grab the product, scan and go to the next item.”
Another worker added: “It’s to help the online team locate items. Seems silly for avocados, but trying to locate the correct toothpaste out of three dozen in a few seconds… yeah. I appreciate the (blinking light).”
“They’re digital tickets—it helps team members locate the products. It’s not a camera,” another said.
One customer noted that they had previously noticed this detail, saying: “It’s so funny shopping in busy online stores, half the store is blinking.”
Many shoppers were surprised by the explanation and appreciated learning a new fact about their local supermarket. One person wrote: “That’s really interesting, thank you for teaching me something today.” Another added: “I too find joy in learning things that have zero use or importance to my day-to-day life.”
However, some employees admitted that customers often found the blinking lights confusing. There were even stories of the lights causing unexpected reactions. One worker shared: “A team member asked if they could stop using them as whenever the light blinked, she swears all the customers crowd around and start buying the item.”
Despite the confusion, some shoppers enjoyed the mystery and offered creative theories about the purpose of the lights. One joked: “The Government is keeping detailed records on avocado eaters. Better watch out.” Another quipped: “It’s there so the avocados don’t get scared at night.” A third suggested: “It’s a sensor that measures how much pressure is used when you test the avocados’ firmness.”
Another person made a playful comment about self-checkouts: “That sensor reports to the teller how many avocados you took. If you press one in checkout and take two, you get reported.”
Meanwhile, a recent Woolworths TikTok video gave further insight into how store workers use handheld RF devices. In the video, staff member Liam asked: “Have you ever wondered what these RF units can do in our stores?”
The short clip demonstrated how the RF units are used when fulfilling online orders. However, one surprising detail was revealed: the devices are also used to set up digital price tickets. Although the tags on the shelves look like traditional paper price tags, the video showed that they are actually e-ink displays, similar to a Kindle screen.
As Liam demonstrates, the RF unit is pointed at the price tag, and with a simple button press, the price information appears next to the item on the shelf. The video also revealed that the portable RF units can be used as a microphone to make announcements over the in-store PA system.
