Walmart’s latest anti-theft measures are causing controversy among customers.
Walmart, known for its affordable product range and wide selection, has introduced a new system in its self-checkout lanes to deter shoplifting.
If the technology installed indicates that a customer is suspected of theft, store staff will be instructed to close the checkout lane.
The new measures are aimed at curbing the growing theft problem, but customers are frustrated as the technology targets regular shoppers.
Customers have expressed frustration with Walmart’s new anti-theft system, especially when innocent customers make honest mistakes at self-checkout.
While the technology aims to reduce “shrink” (a retail term for loss due to theft), it ultimately discourages customers from shopping in person and criminalizes them for simple mistakes. The News for Reasonable People reports.
In addition to customer annoyance, Walmart’s anti-theft system raises privacy and customer experience concerns.
Self-checkout lanes, originally designed for convenience and speed for customers purchasing a small number of items, are now plagued by over-surveillance and unfair enforcement, News for Reasonable People reports. ing.
Shoplifting is also on the rise as cases classified as felonies increase from 6.6% in January 2019 to 15.1% in January 2023, according to data from the Criminal Justice Council.
Other major retailers, such as Target and Walgreens, are also facing an increase in retail theft and are struggling to balance loss prevention with customer satisfaction.
In fact, major grocery drug stores and other retailers have cited shoplifting as a reason to close multiple stores, going so far as to place merchandise in locked cases behind the counter, the Criminal Justice Council reported. ing.
Because shoplifting data is self-reported, the actual number of shoplifting incidents is expected to be higher, the Criminal Justice Council reports.
Karis Kubrin, a professor of criminology at the University of California, Irvine, told USA Today that limited data makes it difficult to analyze crime trends.
She believes that while theft may be increasing in certain cities, crime may be decreasing in others.
āThe key is to identify where this is happening at a more local level,ā she said. “It’s a particularly worrying headline to claim that retail theft is getting out of control, but I think it’s really missing the point because we just don’t know at this point.”
The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that organized retail crime costs businesses an average of 7 cents per $100 in sales.