SHOPPERS have spoken out following news major retailers have scaled back their self-checkout rollouts as theft continues to increase nationwide.
One shopper says the reason for the increase in theft may be the fault of the kiosks themselves.
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“Self-checkout is turning us into thieves – but it’s not our fault,” columnist and small business owner Gene Marks wrote in an article for The Guardian.
In a separate article by tech writer Thomas Germain, he reports that major retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Dollar Tree are either halting the installations of the kiosks or restricting their use altogether.
“The biggest problem is theft. Not only is it easy to steal from self-checkout machines, it can be hard not to steal from them,” said Germain.
“Shoppers are reportedly 21 times more likely to sneak items past machines than human cashiers, but consumers also constantly steal unintentionally because the self-checkout process can be so cumbersome.
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“One in five shoppers reported that they’ve accidentally stolen items during self-checkout in a survey from Lending Tree.
“One in seven said they’ve stolen from self-checkout on purpose.”
According to the National Retail Federation, “shrinkage” – a retail term for loss due to theft, has accounted for over $112 billion in industry losses in 2022.
What’s more, shoplifting has increased from 6.6% in January 2019 to 15.1% in January 2023, according to the Council on Criminal Justice data.
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Big retailers have struggled to balance customer satisfaction with loss prevention in the wake of self-checkout issues and have taken extreme measures to limit theft.
Target has created a 10-item limit for their self-checkout lanes in some of their locations.
Several Walmart locations have been forced to shut down across the country due to skyrocketing theft rates.
Self-checkout, which was initially implemented to add convenience and speed for customers, has now fallen victim to over-surveillance, infringement on the customer’s rights, and unjust policing.
Despite all its faults, however, Marks reports that many customers prefer self-checkout to manual checkout.
In a survey by Play USA, 62% of Americans prefer using self-checkout rather than interacting with staff at a retailer.
The U.S. has previously reported on customer reactions to self-checkout policy changes, claiming the kiosks have created negative shopping experiences and increased prices.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/10286546/self-checkout-turning-us-into-thieves/