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I have seen supermarket chains do away with automated checkout (Jewel which parent company is Albertsons) systems because they increased loss factors.

flashman 10y ago
Here in Australia our two major chains just convinced the police to station publicly-funded officers in the checkout area: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/crackdown-of-self-serve-checkouts-by-coles-and-police-to-reduce-shoplifting-over-summer/news-story/0c1753f4e3ed593db4cb47b8001afa53 http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/crackdown-of-self-serv... Cut staff numbers without having to pay for increased security! That's just good business sense.
- beambot 10y ago
  I'm the US we have the same thing... It's just informal, and being done by Walmart: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-walmart-crime/ https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-walmart-crime/
- wwaiikpz 10y ago
  > without having to pay for increased security! They don't pay for the police?
  - aanm1988 10y ago
    No, the police are paid for via taxes.
tyingq 10y ago
Oh. I assumed Albertson's dropped these because they were slow and inefficient, not because of loss/shoplifting. The stories I can find about it suggest the same.
- joezydeco 10y ago
  Jewel/Albertsons also tried portable hand-scanners to speed up the checkout process. That quickly was pulled as well.
dx034 10y ago
I guess it depends on how you set them up. In the UK you'll find self-checkout scanners in nearly every supermarket that contain scales. Stealing with those isn't easier than just stealing in the first way. You can't just "forget" to scan an item. Scanning while you shop, however, doesn't really seem to work. Tesco tried that and basically stopped it again. You either need to check really often (high staff costs) or will have losses.
- mulletboy 10y ago
  > Scanning while you shop, however, doesn't really seem to work. Carrefour does that in France, and it works like a charm (I've used that for years when I used to live there). They run semi-random manual inspection of your grocery bag at checkout (happened like once every 1-2 months).

flashman 10y ago

Here in Australia our two major chains just convinced the police to station publicly-funded officers in the checkout area: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/crackdown-of-self-serve-checkouts-by-coles-and-police-to-reduce-shoplifting-over-summer/news-story/0c1753f4e3ed593db4cb47b8001afa53 http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/crackdown-of-self-serv... Cut staff numbers without having to pay for increased security! That's just good business sense.

beambot 10y ago
I'm the US we have the same thing... It's just informal, and being done by Walmart: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-walmart-crime/ https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-walmart-crime/
wwaiikpz 10y ago
> without having to pay for increased security! They don't pay for the police?
- aanm1988 10y ago
  No, the police are paid for via taxes.

tyingq 10y ago

Oh. I assumed Albertson's dropped these because they were slow and inefficient, not because of loss/shoplifting. The stories I can find about it suggest the same.

joezydeco 10y ago
Jewel/Albertsons also tried portable hand-scanners to speed up the checkout process. That quickly was pulled as well.

dx034 10y ago

I guess it depends on how you set them up. In the UK you'll find self-checkout scanners in nearly every supermarket that contain scales. Stealing with those isn't easier than just stealing in the first way. You can't just "forget" to scan an item. Scanning while you shop, however, doesn't really seem to work. Tesco tried that and basically stopped it again. You either need to check really often (high staff costs) or will have losses.

mulletboy 10y ago
> Scanning while you shop, however, doesn't really seem to work. Carrefour does that in France, and it works like a charm (I've used that for years when I used to live there). They run semi-random manual inspection of your grocery bag at checkout (happened like once every 1-2 months).