Self-checkout and Shrink

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region. No non-grocery posts.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1568
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by SamSpade »

This article is from a few years ago, but it makes you think.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... ut/550940/
The Walmart supercenter near my home has virtually converted their front end to self checkouts, and if you pay for Walmart+ you can again "shop, scan, bag." Maybe that's part of why this program was quickly abandoned overall at Walmart and Kroger's family of stores.

I would *never* think to do any of these tricks, but I consider myself an ethical person. Perhaps that is also why so many store self checkout registers now stare you in the face with a camera/screen to try and prevent some of this.

This might also explain why the threads about Aldi, Dollar General, Rite-Aid, etc. and their self checkout stations being semi-offline could make sense.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by storewanderer »

SamSpade wrote: February 8th, 2021, 7:51 pm This article is from a few years ago, but it makes you think.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... ut/550940/
The Walmart supercenter near my home has virtually converted their front end to self checkouts, and if you pay for Walmart+ you can again "shop, scan, bag." Maybe that's part of why this program was quickly abandoned overall at Walmart and Kroger's family of stores.

I would *never* think to do any of these tricks, but I consider myself an ethical person. Perhaps that is also why so many store self checkout registers now stare you in the face with a camera/screen to try and prevent some of this.

This might also explain why the threads about Aldi, Dollar General, Rite-Aid, etc. and their self checkout stations being semi-offline could make sense.
I have witnessed a good amount of theft at self checkouts. The biggest one I see, and continue to see, is customers who scan everything and go to the payment screen, then just up and leave with all their stuff. Some of these customers may be confused as I have seen some enter their card into the self checkout but fail to hit the finish button, but others never made any effort to pay and clearly were attempting to take their items without paying.

I think Kroger has detected these theft issues as they have started to run a limited number of self checkouts during the evening hours at Smiths in my area (like only having 4 or 6 of the 8 or 12 or however many self checkouts they have open). Kroger is by far the best at monitoring its self checkouts. At other chains it is not unusual during slow periods for there to be nobody watching the self checkouts or employees that go off task and disappear. I shopped in a CVS yesterday afternoon that only had a couple customers inside and I did not even see any employees at all in that store other than the 3 in the pharmacy (which is located at the back of the store and has no view of the front door). At the front end they had the self checkout open then they had a sign "ring bell for service" on the counter at the register. I guess you can get away with that sort of thing in some locations but it seems like just asking for major theft. The self checkout is pretty loud- loud scanner, loud voice, which all could be heard well into the store, and the 2 minutes I was using it nobody came up to check on me or offer assistance. I paid and left what felt like a ghost store.

To be fair, items go unscanned or incorrectly entered at the regular cashier lanes too. Often that is due to rushing or confusion of some sort, not due to an intention to engage in theft.

It may already exist but they need to develop software that triggers irregular activities and freezes up the self checkout for employee intervention. For instance- bananas- typically wobble the scanner and do not come to a steady weight right away. If someone plops a package of steaks onto the scanner (which does not wobble and would be flat and immediately register a weight) then enters the banana code the system should trigger irregular activity and stop the transaction. Another thing which also probably already exists is they could install cameras that do item recognition and try to tie what is scanned/keyed to what they see going over the scanner and into the bagging area.
veteran+
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2234
Joined: January 3rd, 2015, 7:53 am
Has thanked: 1204 times
Been thanked: 72 times
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by veteran+ »

Naughty customers PERFECTED this skill of theft at self checkouts during the Fresh & Easy days.

There was even an organized "group" dedicated to the Fresh & Easy chain.

Thank you Tesco!

:roll:
bayford
Stock Clerk
Stock Clerk
Posts: 49
Joined: November 1st, 2019, 10:43 pm
Been thanked: 5 times
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by bayford »

I always assumed retailers that install self-checkout do so under the calculation that the potential for shrink is huge, but that they will still come out ahead versus the labor expense of having only staffed terminals.
klkla
Posts: 1614
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 3:26 pm
Been thanked: 2 times
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by klkla »

bayford wrote: February 9th, 2021, 4:30 pm I always assumed retailers that install self-checkout do so under the calculation that the potential for shrink is huge, but that they will still come out ahead versus the labor expense of having only staffed terminals.
That is definitely the calculation. Over the long term it could backfire, though. When shrink increases as a result of relying on self-checkout they will continually raise prices to keep up.

Maybe facial recognition is the long term solution to keeping people honest.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: February 9th, 2021, 5:04 pm
bayford wrote: February 9th, 2021, 4:30 pm I always assumed retailers that install self-checkout do so under the calculation that the potential for shrink is huge, but that they will still come out ahead versus the labor expense of having only staffed terminals.
That is definitely the calculation. Over the long term it could backfire, though. When shrink increases as a result of relying on self-checkout they will continually raise prices to keep up.

Maybe facial recognition is the long term solution to keeping people honest.
Some stores are going to have higher shrink than others. Initially in Wal Mart's self checkout journey they kept self checkouts out of certain stores. If you looked at those stores it became clear relatively quickly those were high shrink stores (lots of locked up merchandise, high level of staffing at the doors like multiple greeters and aggressive receipt checking tactics used, "wiped" shelves in certain categories). But in the past few years it seems like Wal Mart has just said the heck with it and installed self checkouts- and lots of them- in every store location.

I often wonder if this is why most Target Stores have so few self checkouts. Most Targets only have 4 self checkouts which is very few for such a large store. But this also makes them easier to monitor and forces more transactions to go through regular cashiers to mitigate the potential shrink issue. And also keep in mind we have yet to see self checkout in clothing retailers. They came, went, then came back again at Ikea. Bed Bath & Beyond is in the process of installing them in certain locations though as we speak.

Thinking of the local shopping mall you have many stores but not a self checkout in sight there... so the use of self checkouts on a widespread basis really is limited to mass merchandise, grocery, and drugstore.

Self checkout was a disaster for Kmart with shrink and customers quickly learned how to take advantage of that system. Granted it was one of the first self checkout implementations in the US and at a retailer with poor technology to begin with, run down outdated stores so configurations were not always great, just not a great fit for a variety of reasons. Kroger did manage to make self checkout work around the same time. I think Albertsons annoyed more customers than they delighted with their self checkout implementation (using many of the old Kmart machines).
babs
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 762
Joined: December 20th, 2016, 3:08 pm
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 64 times
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by babs »

klkla wrote: February 9th, 2021, 5:04 pm
bayford wrote: February 9th, 2021, 4:30 pm I always assumed retailers that install self-checkout do so under the calculation that the potential for shrink is huge, but that they will still come out ahead versus the labor expense of having only staffed terminals.
That is definitely the calculation. Over the long term it could backfire, though. When shrink increases as a result of relying on self-checkout they will continually raise prices to keep up.

Maybe facial recognition is the long term solution to keeping people honest.
I noticed Fred Meyer recently installed a very visible camera over each self checkout station.. it does send a message that we're watching you.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by storewanderer »

babs wrote: February 9th, 2021, 5:50 pm I noticed Fred Meyer recently installed a very visible camera over each self checkout station.. it does send a message that we're watching you.
I have seen these cameras in some Smiths and some Wal Mart locations. While I agree they need to do the recording of the transaction, I don't think they need to show the live stream of the video feed recording you there while you are paying.

Also at Wal Mart I bought some kind of a markdown item (markdown UPC covered over the normal UPC but not all the way), and I scanned it. I thought nothing of it. At the end of the transaction the machine locked up for "transaction verification." The employee eventually came up and logged in and the machine gave an error that said something to the effect of multiple barcodes passed over scanner but only one barcode scanned, then on the self checkout unit itself (not that secondary monitor) it played back a really fuzzy video recording of me scanning the item.

Does Kroger have self checkout in any Food 4 Less locations? None of the FoodsCo locations have it. I am sure it is for shrink reasons.
veteran+
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2234
Joined: January 3rd, 2015, 7:53 am
Has thanked: 1204 times
Been thanked: 72 times
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by veteran+ »

bayford wrote: February 9th, 2021, 4:30 pm I always assumed retailers that install self-checkout do so under the calculation that the potential for shrink is huge, but that they will still come out ahead versus the labor expense of having only staffed terminals.
You would think so.

But if self checkouts are not properly monitored (labor $$) then that balance is disrupted.

Fresh & Easy struggled with that balance. They constantly reduced labor hours up front and that was matched with recognizable increases in Shrink.
J-Man
Personnel Manager
Personnel Manager
Posts: 296
Joined: April 10th, 2011, 4:14 pm
Been thanked: 17 times
Status: Offline

Re: Self-checkout and Shrink

Post by J-Man »

This might also explain why the threads about Aldi, Dollar General, Rite-Aid, etc. and their self checkout stations being semi-offline could make sense.
I've never seen an Aldi that had self-checkout stations.
Post Reply