Stores Losing Millions Due To Theft Via Self Check Outs

JimBob1952 said:
You could always do what I do and not shop there. My only point is that retail, especially low-end retail, is a really tough, low-margin business. And as to your comment about profits, well, if you run a business and profits aren't robust, your shareholders get angry and your stock activity goes negative in a hurry. Look what happens every quarter to companies that fail to meet the earnings expectations set for them by Wall Street.
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Yes, massive retail is tough. It has to compete with similar stocks and trendy, newly-listed new-comers.

The upside is, if they open now, small businesses have an excellent chance at success. A huge amount of retail floor space is available and cheap and young people and families still like to go out to shop. Naturally, young new shop owners won't have the same level of success as Walmart and Apple, and I think that's a problem because, based on what they've seen and heard all their lives, young people sort of expect that level of success, or at least think it's very achievable.
 

caroln said:
Makes you feel like a criminal, doesn't it? At my Walmart they just check your receipt if you have unbagged items. Does your Walmart check everybody?
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I spoke to a business owner about checking store receipts on the way out. He explained that it was not so much for preventing customer theft; it was for preventing employee theft. Employees were helping their friends steal, by simply not ringing up everything.

I personally experienced this during my 6 years in retail sales 25 years ago:
I was a sales rep & instructor for a large firearms distributor. I was sent to different store locations to train employees.
At one store, I learned that the store manager & two of the salespeople were handing out free stuff to their friends. That's just simple theft. I later found out they were also violating Federal laws that could get the owner in big trouble.
Women would often walk into the store & say, "My husband just died & he had a bunch of guns & I want to sell them."
The store Manager & other employees would re-sell the guns without any legally-required paperwork & keep the money. Worse, some of the new purchasers were prohibited from gun ownership due to criminal records.
I brought it to the owner's attention & ATF agents descended on the store & arrested everyone.
 
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Murrmurr said:
Yes, massive retail is tough. It has to compete with similar stocks and trendy, newly-listed new-comers.

The upside is, if they open now, small businesses have an excellent chance at success. A huge amount of retail floor space is available and cheap and young people and families still like to go out to shop. Naturally, young new shop owners won't have the same level of success as Walmart and Apple, and I think that's a problem because, based on what they've seen and heard all their lives, young people sort of expect that level of success, or at least think it's very achievable.
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Interesting that you mention that. There is a mall near us that nearly went under during Covid. My wife and daughter went there today and said it's full of new stores, many of them run by young black entrepreneurs. They bought candles at one store just opened by two young men.
 

win231 said:
I spoke to a business owner about checking store receipts on the way out. He explained that it was not so much for preventing customer theft; it was for preventing employee theft. Employees were helping their friends steal, by simply not ringing up everything.
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Once I read that Walmart (in particular) checks receipts to make sure the cashier didn't overcharge you. 🙄 Yeah, right. What a bunch of PR doodoo.

Regarding receipt checking, one of the posters said: "Wal Mart pays a bonus to their security staff who DO find stealing customers. It is called an incentive payment plan."

I guess it's to find theft from anyone, customers and employees alike.
 
caroln said:
Once I read that Walmart (in particular) checks receipts to make sure the cashier didn't overcharge you. 🙄 Yeah, right. What a bunch of PR doodoo.

Regarding receipt checking, one of the posters said: "Wal Mart pays a bonus to their security staff who DO find stealing customers. It is called an incentive payment plan."

I guess it's to find theft from anyone, customers and employees alike.
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One of the selling features of this policy was "It will give your customers a sense of safety and security."

Our local Superstore only checks receipts during certain hours now....because the policy hasn't had that "Yay, we're safe" effect on all customers. Anyway, about half the checkers who've checked my receipt just glanced at it. I doubt many of them want to police the store, they just want to work there with as few confrontations as possible.
 
I don't use self checkout mainly for the reason many here have cited - I prefer to keep people in entry- level jobs. Also, a little human contact isn't a bad thing.

Retail theft is off the charts these days. With every Tom, Dick & Harry possibly carrying a gun, I sure can't blame store employees for not confronting thieves.

With my small business, when we had retail events (rather than mail or internet orders) the pubic had no access to the product other than fit samples. All uniforms and other products were held behind the counter. People tried on sizes, brought them back to the counter (which was heavily staffed), placed their order, we'd pull it, ring it up, and have them pay for it all in one go.

Although some surely stole the samples they tried on, our strategy kept theft to a minimum. It also prevented the nonsense of hundreds of garments that didn't fit being thrown on the floor, inside-out, or stuck on the wrong racks. People are more responsible for the condition of what they don't want, rather than anonymously dumping them. If you've ever been in a clothing or department store fitting room, you know exactly what I mean.

A couple of stolen garments cost us more than paying an employee for that hour. We kept our profit margins razor thin, so theft prevention was high on our list.

Self checkouts make theft extremely tempting, IMHO. As does unfettered access to expensive product.
 
Ruthanne said:
I don't think so. I bet an employee would run after someone who didn't pay before leaving.
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I must disagree with you. Doing that will open the employee up to being fired. And it might open up the business to being sued by the criminal if the criminal is hurt. Usually, only trained security personnel are allowed to actually chase and/or confront a thief.
 
A few years ago I was leaving Costco and the guy at the door saw that I was missing one item on the receipt. He called for another employee to check the register I used and they found the item and brought it to me. I admit I was surprised. I notice that my Costco receipts now have a total number of items prominently displayed. The door monitors almost always do a count from what I can tell.
 
Murrmurr said:
One of the selling features of this policy was "It will give your customers a sense of safety and security."

Our local Superstore only checks receipts during certain hours now....because the policy hasn't had that "Yay, we're safe" effect on all customers. Anyway, about half the checkers who've checked my receipt just glanced at it. I doubt many of them want to police the store, they just want to work there with as few confrontations as possible.
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I was asked at WM to let them check my receipt on the way out, about 12 bagsfull in the cart, and I asked her if she had a search warrant. NOT standing there all day. They don't do it any more.
 
Losses due to theft at self checkout is something stores can prevent by eliminating, or improving, the self checkout process. On the other hand I expect we have all seen videos of guys loading duffel bags with merchandise and running out the front door. With DAs who won’t prosecute there is little or nothing a store can do, other than close, which is what five Walgreens have done in San Francisco.
 
win231 said:
I spoke to a business owner about checking store receipts on the way out. He explained that it was not so much for preventing customer theft; it was for preventing employee theft.
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Before control techniques were implemented, I've heard of bartenders smuggling in their own alcohol bottles, selling the contents as if it belonged to the establishment, and pocketing the cash.
 
JimBob1952 said:
if you run a business and profits aren't robust, your shareholders get angry and your stock activity goes negative in a hurry.
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Profit is fuel, no profit and the entire machine doesn't run. Everyone's motor will eventually seize up, despite all the unworkable 'pie in the sky' economic philosophies that con the naive into thinking that a non-Morlok Eloi-ville is obtainable "if only we all.......".
 
Using self-checkout eliminates the unpleasant experience of having to deal with snotty cashiers. While most of the time, they're friendly and professional, there's always the one who acts like he or she is doing you a tremendous favor by checking out your groceries or items. I don't need that in my life.

With self-checkout, I'm in and out of the store with no disruption to my day. That said, I order almost everything online these days, including groceries.
 
SeniorBen said:
Using self-checkout eliminates the unpleasant experience of having to deal with snotty cashiers.
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Luckily I don't think I've ever encountered a snotty cashier........it's a tough, go go go, cog in the wheel job, and I almost always attempt to get a smile out of them, often with a self deprecating remark about my failing to swipe my c/c properly or somesuch.
 
I actually like self check out. Just one less person I have to deal with. But I'm beginning to wonder if they should just go. Is there some kind of a tax write off for the retailers when there is none for more employees is there? I don't know. The self check at WINCO Foods yells at you pretty quick if you don't put your scanned item in the bagging area which has a scale of coarse.

There is one grocery store chain, Raley's that has taken coins from me so I hesitate to use their self check out though I rarely shop there.

Minor incident at Target yesterday. I used self check. 21.25 total. I put the twenty in and it took the bill fine and then shut down. I panicked a little. How do I prove I just put that twenty in the machine which I most certainly had. The woman was nice and helpful. She opened the device and took my twenty out and then took the 1.25 at the service desk. I thought she would need to scan my items again but it was up on her screen.

But people are crooks and they lie, cheat and steal. I never could. From stealing packages to claiming they never got them when they did. People will do anything. I've never had that entitlement to think I deserve something free because I used self check. It's actually a convenience for me but again, maybe it should go away.
 
SeniorBen said:
Using self-checkout eliminates the unpleasant experience of having to deal with snotty cashiers. While most of the time, they're friendly and professional, there's always the one who acts like he or she is doing you a tremendous favor by checking out your groceries or items. I don't need that in my life.

With self-checkout, I'm in and out of the store with no disruption to my day. That said, I order almost everything online these days, including groceries.
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It's the baggers I can't handle for the most part. WINCO Foods is self bag even for the employee run checkout. They have divided areas so two people can bag from each side.

I've had to rearrange bags if it's bagged at the store. I've had cans on top of tomatoes. Even at Trader Joe's, I may bring 4 of my handmade cotton bags because I like to bag light and they will cram it all into two bags and leave the other's empty. Makes no sense to me. And I have to fix it.
 
Nemo2 said:
Baggers? Wow. Feels like we haven't seen those here since before that fellow Moses showed up across the pond(s).
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Really? Is everything self bag in your area? They still have baggers at Safeway and Raley's grocery stores. But again, I prefer it because I can bag my stuff better.
 
Remy said:
Is everything self bag in your area?
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Almost exclusively...(perhaps even exclusively).....I imagine that, if someone is perceived as 'holding up the line' by being slow, then a staff member might 'help' by stuffing items in their bag, but other than that......;)
 
Our cashiers are expected to bag the groceries themselves, there’re no helpers.

One of my least favourite stores has cashiers but you have to pack your own groceries.
 
It comes down to.

The essential feature of capitalism is the motive to make a profit.

What a corporate CEO, CFO or any other person in charge of steering a company towards that goal was never my concern. I didn't start a company nor did I want to. I was happy to sell my time for the wage that was paid when applying for employment.


Don't like the wage disparity take all your skill & do like these people do. Note this is a 2022 study

Study: Immigrants in the U.S. are more likely to start firms Immigrants to the U.S. are more likely, on a per-capita basis, to start businesses than native-born Americans are, according to an MIT study ...

“Immigrants found more firms in every bucket,” Azoulay says. “They create more firms, they create more small firms, they create more medium-size firms, they create more large firms.” He adds: “It’s not the case that [immigrants] only create growth-oriented startups. It’s not the case they just create subsistence businesses. They create all kinds of businesses, and they create a lot of them.”

https://news.mit.edu/2022/study-immigrants-more-likely-start-firms-create-jobs-0509
 
ElCastor said:
Losses due to theft at self checkout is something stores can prevent by eliminating, or improving, the self checkout process. On the other hand I expect we have all seen videos of guys loading duffel bags with merchandise and running out the front door. With DAs who won’t prosecute there is little or nothing a store can do, other than close, which is what five Walgreens have done in San Francisco.
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A local drug store chain has closed several drug stores in the big city near me. The high cost of thievery and the the additional security it demands has make the stores unprofitable. Add in the fact that customers are nervous about going into stores where thieves are robbing at will. As one customer said, at some point the thieves will also decide they can get away with robbing the customers.

Make Crime Illegal Again would be a great slogan for a politician in these areas.
 

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