Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

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Brian Lutz
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Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

Post by Brian Lutz »

https://www.businessinsider.com/home-de ... scu-HG9qzI

In an effort to combat shoplifting of high priced items, Home Depot is planning to sell power tools that will not function unless activated at the checkstand via Bluetooth when purchased. This is described as being needed to combat organized high-volume shoplifting operations that will steal the tools in large quantity. This is also described as a way to avoid the need to lock tools in cases (as is seen in many high-shrink Walmart stores now) as they perceive that this could be damaging to their brand.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people mad about these types of measures, but I can see where they are coming from. I'm also pretty sure the professional shoplifting rings will find a way to circumvent the system quickly.
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Re: Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

Post by storewanderer »

I don't know. These professional shoplifting rings may still take the things even if they have no use. And then they will still be a shrink loss to Home Depot due to the fact that the item left the store.

How about RFID to track the item. Probably easy to kill. Maybe illegal.
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Re: Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

Post by babs »

storewanderer wrote: August 3rd, 2021, 6:28 pm I don't know. These professional shoplifting rings may still take the things even if they have no use. And then they will still be a shrink loss to Home Depot due to the fact that the item left the store.

How about RFID to track the item. Probably easy to kill. Maybe illegal.
Apple has the ability to track stolen merchandise. So no, I don't think it's illegal.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman ... g-tracked/
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Re: Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

Post by Super S »

I will say this. I will not buy a power tool if it is going to depend on Bluetooth to function. Somebody could hack that, or a few bumps could damage whatever additional circuits, chips, etc. are necessary for this feature. I am in the market for a jigsaw and think I will just go elsewhere.

Ironically, I was in Home Depot today and things seemed a little "off". There were a good portion of the lights burned out, making it look rather dark, and the store didn't seem to be as well-staffed as usual.
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Re: Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

Post by Brian Lutz »

From the way it is described it sounds like the activation is a one-time thing that just needs to be done at the checkout at the time of purchase, after which it should function as it normally would.
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Re: Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

Post by rwsandiego »

Brian Lutz wrote: August 3rd, 2021, 9:18 pm From the way it is described it sounds like the activation is a one-time thing that just needs to be done at the checkout at the time of purchase, after which it should function as it normally would.
Whether the activation is a one-time thing or not, the tool still has a Bluetooth connection that could be hacked or malfunction. Besides, organized shoplifting rings will figure out sooner or later how to activate the tools.
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Re: Home Depot implementing activation on power tools to combat shoplifting

Post by buckguy »

I followed up in a few places about this (a couple of the more useful links below) and (a) HD is partnering with manufacturers to build in the technology so it would be easy to implement widely and (b) some manufacturers already have the tech, so that tools stolen from a job site won't work unless the thieves also are able to use the owner's phone. This does raise the question of how to legitimately borrow or resell tools. I would assume there is some sort of registration process that can handle this. The hacking site below wonders how sophisticated this is (i.e., how easy to hack) and whether it's more about deterrent than anything lese.

https://gizmodo.com/home-depot-wants-to ... 1847407180
https://hackaday.com/2021/08/02/home-de ... -in-store/

You have to go into the comments to get some of the detail.
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