For food delivery driver Louise Turner, shopping at her local supermarket on Queensland's Sunshine Coast has been a hair-raising experience.
"I keep getting zapped every time I go in there," Ms Turner said.
"I actually tried to film it once but when it zapped me I dropped my phone. I got a little video of my hair standing up and sent it to my children and they were like, 'Oh God, Mum!'
"It's like a full 'ow' and it drives me bonkers. I thought it was just me."
But when she took to her local online community board to see if anyone else had felt the same while visiting the Nambour Aldi store, her post sparked dozens of comments.
Within 12 hours, more than 80 people, including Tim Dixon, also reported experiencing regular shocks at the store.
"You go to touch something in there, anything metal there, and you'll just get a ripper shock," Mr Dixon said.
"Plenty of times when nothing's happened and other times you become afraid to touch anything, or I'll keep touching things so I don't build up too much static.
"A couple of times, it's physically hurt it's been that big of a shocker."
An electrifying combination
Ms Turner said she raised the issue with a staff member who told her management was looking into it.
Aldi responded with a written statement.
"We take any concerns customers have about our store experience very seriously," an Aldi spokesperson said.
"We ask that customers share their feedback directly to Aldi via the [online] help centre."
Many of the shoppers who reported receiving regular shocks were pushing trolleys at the time.
Associate professor Jacq Romero, an experimental quantum physicist based at the University of Queensland, said the design of the store and the trolleys could be contributing factors.
"Humans are actually conductors," Dr Romero said.
"Electricity can travel through us so when you touch a shopping cart that has built up charge, the tendency would be for the charges to discharge through you.
"Some wheels and some floors are more susceptible to building up charges."
An Adelaide supermarket trialled anti-static wheels when it had similar issues in 2022.
Can you stop the shocks?
The Sunshine Coast has also experienced months of dry weather.
"Usually you get these charges when the air is so dry … that's because the water molecules in the air help to move the charges away from objects," Dr Romero said.
"When it's dry that doesn't happen."
A run of wet weather has been predicted for the region in coming weeks, which should provide a welcome reprieve.
Static shocks are generally more of a nuisance than a danger to humans.
Dr Romero said shoppers could consider wearing gloves as an insulator.
Some experts also recommend keeping skin moisturised, wearing leather-soled shoes instead of rubber-soled and dressing in natural fibres.
Written by Jessica Ross, ABC News.
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