RAMPANT shoplifting rates have continued to sweep the United States, leaving retailers like Walmart with little option but to lock away popular food items.
A customer revealed on social media that their local Walmart seemingly went as far as to place cuts of meat like packaged ribeye steak behind a small cage with a security tag.
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“Walmart now has security cages on the steaks,” they wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The shopper included a video, where they could be heard reacting in disbelief as they showed the steak packaging, which appeared to have a fence-like cage around it with an anti-theft locking mechanism.
“Walmart now has the steak locked up — holy s**t, it’s come to this,” they said.
“This is getting bad now, man.”
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Several other shoppers in the thread had mixed responses about the meat seemingly locked behind “security cages.”
The U.S. Sun has contacted Walmart for an official comment on the apparent security cage.
One person argued that the anti-theft measure is relatively ineffective, as a thief could continue to steal the steak and use tools to open the cage later.
“Luckily for thieves, they can also steal wire cutters from Walmart,” they wrote.
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Others were shocked to see any items locked behind cages, as they claimed their local Walmart had no similar measures in place.
“That is so weird. We just don’t see that where I live. Nothing is locked,” the shopper wrote.
A third person questioned, “Is theft really that big of a problem in the USA?”
ANTI-THEFT MADNESS
It would seem that the answer to that question is a resounding yes, according to data collected by the National Retail Federation (NRF).
The NRF found that retail theft accounted for over $112 billion in losses in 2022, with numbers in 2023 expected to be similar.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon confirmed in December 2022 that the retailer had seen a “historic high” in shoplifting, coinciding with the NRF’s findings.
Throughout 2023, Walmart attempted to mitigate theft and inventory shrink through several different measures.
Similar to Target, some Walmart locations decided to lock items behind glass to prevent stealing, with an employee needing to open the case and assist a customer in getting the products they desire.
Walmart also added artificial intelligence security cameras to self-checkout stations to monitor customer behavior and to ensure items were properly scanned.
The retail giant even started placing employees at exits for receipt checks before customers exit the store to further confirm that merchandise is properly paid for.
It’s unclear how effective the anti-theft measures have been in reducing inventory shrink, whether due to stealing or otherwise.
Inventory shrink includes lost merchandise due to staff and customer errors along with theft and fraud.
Either way, the measures remain controversial among Walmart shoppers.
Several have fumed about items locked way, and employees have claimed they’ve seen “aggressive” reactions from some customers at self-checkout with the AI cameras, with some resorting to “throwing items” out of frustration, per Business Insider.
Many have also refused to stop for receipt checks, called out employees online, or tried to find ways to get around the security measure.
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For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun’s coverage on why Walmart shoppers are saying a proposed security measure “sounds twisted.”
The U.S. Sun also has the story on anti-theft measures at Walmart that one shopper said “make the shopping experience terrible.”
https://www.the-sun.com/news/10132912/walmart-anti-theft-measure-popular-food-items-locked/