CUSTOMERS have had enough of major retailers security policies around the country.
Some have grown so frustrated with their shopping experiences that they have expressed their anger about these policies on X.
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“Why do I have to show my receipt to the f**king Sheriffs deputies to get let out of Kroger now,” one frustrated customer wrote.
“I’m here to buy one candy bar,” she explained.
“Why does Kroger think they can subject me to this security state bullsh*t,” her post continued
“You are NOT Costco.”
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Other customers have been complaining about similar experiences in stores.
From most everyday items being locked behind glass to extra receipt checks, long wait times, issues and limits with self-checkout, and even a major lack of employees available for help and checkout lanes – customers have has lots to complain about.
“If they don’t trust me, take away the self checkout,” another customer posted after he had his receipt checked at self-checkout
“Why is EVERYTHING locked up and I’ve been waiting 10 minutes for someone to unlock DEODORANT for me,” another said on X.
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Another who was complaining about the rising prices, asked, “if paying a cashier a living wage will make prices go up, why doesn’t replacing cashiers with self-checkout make prices go down?”
The answer to that question, as well as others such as why receipt checks have also been implemented among a slew of other new security measures, would be because of a rise in theft throughout their stores since the pandemic.
At least according to retail executives, that is.
It is true that businesses have seen an increase in shoplifting losses and theft since the pandemic four years ago.
In fact, large chains, such as Kroger, are expecting a loss of nearly $132 billion in combined shoplifting losses this year alone, according to research by Capital One.
So retail executives say they simply had no choice in the face of an amount of losses so high.
Now combine these losses with inflation, and retailers had the perfect storm to try and maximize their profits.
However, within that same exact time frame since the pandemic, although shoplifting statistics did shoot up around the country, corporate profits also account for the largest share of national income in the last decade, according to the National Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Last year alone, Kroger raked in an operating profit of $3.1 billion, according to company records.
And they are not alone.
Other chains, such as Walmart, have also seen record profits since the pandemic.
In May, Walmart reported a quarterly profit of $5.1 billion, triple that of the same quarter just one year earlier.
But despite Walmart tripling their profits, the chain has laid off thousands of workers since the pandemic at the same time, citing the need to cut costs because of those losses from theft and inflation.
At the same time, other chains like Target also saw massive profit increases too, raking in over $2 billion more in profits last year than they did the year before, despite a 2% drop in sales within that year.
But these chains continue to cut costs in stores, with Walmart recently announcing they are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into expensive digital price labels that can be changed instantly.
After the news of this change broke last month, many customers on social media pointed out this could possibly allow the chain to implement even more lay-offs as fewer workers would be needed in the stores.
“Why is it so much easier to justify investment in technology vs in people?,” asked a customer on X.
Although Walmart didn’t disclose how much money the chain is spending on this change, just 10,000 electronic shelf labels could be anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000, according to Solum, a wireless communication technology manufacturer.
Wendy’s, for example, announced in February it is investing $20 million into the same technology for high-tech digital menu boards, leading to a similar backlash.
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“If it’s hot outside, we can raise the price of water and ice cream,” Phil Lempert, a grocery industry analyst, told NPR about the new change coming to Walmart.
“And if there’s something that’s close to the expiration date, we can lower the price — that’s the good news,” he continued.
Legality of receipt checks and detention
In an effort to curtail retail crime, stores are increasingly turning to receipt checks as shoppers exit.
Legally, stores can ask to see a customer’s receipts, and membership-only stores have the right to demand such checks if shoppers agreed to terms and conditions that authorize it.
Many legal professionals have weighed in and come to similar conclusions, caveating that all states do have specific laws.
Generally speaking, stores have Shopkeeper’s Privilege laws that allow them to detain a person until authorities arrive when they have reasonable suspicion that a crime, like theft, has been committed.
Declining to provide a receipt is not a reason in itself for a store to detain a customer, they must have further reason to suspect a shopper of criminal activity.
Due to the recent nature of the receipt checks, there is little concrete law on the legality of the practice, as it takes time for law to catch up with technology.
Setliff Law, P.C. claims that “there is no definitive case law specifically relating to refusal to produce a receipt for purchases.”
For stores that improperly use their Shopkeeper’s Privilege, they could face claims of false imprisonment.
“The primary law that applies to these types of wrongful detention cases is called ‘False Imprisonment’,” explained Hudson Valley local attorney Alex Mainetti.
“Of course, you’re not literally imprisoned, but you’re detained by a person who has no lawful authority to detain you and/or wrongfully detains a customer.”
It is likely that as altercations in stores over receipt checks continue, more court cases will occur giving clearer definitions and boundaries to the legality of receipt checks.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/11788406/kroger-receipt-checks-walmart-target-self-checkout/