Self-service checkouts: unexpected stealing in the bagging area
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Version 0 of 1. Name: Self-service checkouts. Age: Approval needed. Appearance: Approval needed. Look, I’m in a bit of a hurry, so if … Self-service checkouts were first installed in an upstate New York supermarket in 1992. It’s a sort of unmanned till with an irritating robot voice. Thanks for that. Now if you wouldn’t mind, I’m … Unexpected item in bagging area. Yes, that’s the tin of chick peas I just scanned. It looks like a bottle of vodka. Maybe it’s because I’m using my own bag, but I swear … Please wait for a member of staff to assist you. Are you accusing me of stealing? No, but the University of Leicester is. A new report from its Department of Criminology suggests that self-checkout technology encourages even normally honest shoppers to commit theft. How? Some of it’s accidental – people forget to scan items, or get confused by instructions. That’s not stealing. Other times shoppers get so frustrated with self-service kiosks that they feel justified in not paying. If the machine is messing you about, what else can you do? I have places to be! But mostly people shoplift because the technology makes it so easy. You know what? I think the supermarkets want you to steal. I doubt that. The report found that installing self-service checkouts raises lost revenue by 122%. Really? Mobile phone scanning technology is just as vulnerable – the study found that at the end of a typical shopping trip, up to 10% of items had not been scanned, leading to “shrinkage” (loss through wastage or theft) of about 3.9% of turnover. Yes, but they’re also saving money by making me do all the work for them. This free box of Shreddies is basically my salary. That’s a flatscreen TV. It’s not my fault I couldn’t lift it on to the scanner! Arrest me! Unfortunately the technology makes it very difficult to prove that customers are deliberately stealing. One retailer admitted they almost never prosecute people. In which case, I’ll take my Shreddies and be on my way. For that reason supermarkets are now introducing tagging systems so unscanned items trigger alarms. Ah, do you have that here? Maybe. Do say: “Thank you. Please accept this voucher for £10 off your next shoplift.” Don’t say: “Insert your Nectar card, and then turn to face the Taser.” |