Why Walmart, Costco and other companies are rethinking self-checkout - KOMO News

WASHINGTON (TND) — Walmart, Costco and other supermarket chains are beginning to rethink the controversial self-checkout method after the boom it received over the last few years.

The popular self-service machines were introduced in the 1980s and saw a boom during the pandemic when shoppers used them to minimize close interaction with employees and other customers, CNN reported.

Stores have found that self-checkout leads to higher merchandise losses from customer errors and intentional shoplifting, also known as shrink.

A recent study of retailers in the United States, Britain and other European countries discovered companies with self-checkout lanes and apps had a loss rate of about 4%, which is double the industry average.

Examples of higher merchandise losses include products having multiple barcodes or barcodes that don't scan properly, produce having to be weighed or manually entered and shoppers may not hear a "beep" confirming an item as scanned properly.

People who intentionally shoplift may take advantage of the lax oversight and develop techniques for stealing, CNN said. Common tactics include not scanning an item, swapping a cheaper item for a more expensive one, scanning counterfeit barcodes or scanning and walking out without paying.

In New Mexico, Walmart removed self-checkout machines at certain stores. Costco decided it would add more staff in self-checkout areas after the company found out non-members were sneaking in to use membership cards that didn't belong to them, according to CNN.

Booths, a British supermarket chain, told the BBC that customers have complained over time about self-scan machines and reported they can be slow, unreliable and impersonal.

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