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> Shoplifting is an even worse excuse given that most retail theft is done by their employees Sounds like a quite bad argument to me. Whether it makes sense to

> Shoplifting is an even worse excuse given that most retail theft is done by their employees Sounds like a quite bad argument to me. Whether it makes sense to invest in this shoplifter-catcher technology is quite simple mathematics. If you prevent/catch enough shoplifters with it is worth the investment (doesn't matter if they are only the non-employee shoplifters). I'm pretty sure that shop owners can do that kind of investment decision pretty well, I highly doubt shop owners would be investing to these if it wasn't worth the hassle. I'm not in retail, but what I've heard shoplifting can be huge hassle for shop owners. I also knew one kleptomaniac guy personally when I was younger and he stole shitloads of stuff and rarely got caught (according what he told me).

PostOnce 8y ago
I used to shop at a supermarket here, spending upwards of 10K/yr there on my family grocery bill -- they got some AI startup camera bullshit and I've never been back. (Startup stuff both in store and parking lot, supposedly ties cars to customers and all kinds of shit, I won't say who so as not to promote them.) It's been half a year so far, and I'll never trust them again. I considered contacting their CEO to say hey, for every guy like me who bothers to contact you, there may be others who just change stores and don't bother. In the end, I didn't bother either, I just shop somewhere else (its about 5 minutes further away but 15% or so cheaper overall... so I'm winning on two levels). You'd have to be catching a hell of a lot of shoplifting to make up for even half a dozen lost regulars. I bet they got sold it and aren't doing any kind of before and after analysis, not that I'd rise above the noise anyway. Hopefully 99% of this stuff will die off when the bubble pops; I assume that even if it is profitable now, it won't be once retailers and other customers trim the fat during a recession.

PostOnce 8y ago

I used to shop at a supermarket here, spending upwards of 10K/yr there on my family grocery bill -- they got some AI startup camera bullshit and I've never been back. (Startup stuff both in store and parking lot, supposedly ties cars to customers and all kinds of shit, I won't say who so as not to promote them.) It's been half a year so far, and I'll never trust them again. I considered contacting their CEO to say hey, for every guy like me who bothers to contact you, there may be others who just change stores and don't bother. In the end, I didn't bother either, I just shop somewhere else (its about 5 minutes further away but 15% or so cheaper overall... so I'm winning on two levels). You'd have to be catching a hell of a lot of shoplifting to make up for even half a dozen lost regulars. I bet they got sold it and aren't doing any kind of before and after analysis, not that I'd rise above the noise anyway. Hopefully 99% of this stuff will die off when the bubble pops; I assume that even if it is profitable now, it won't be once retailers and other customers trim the fat during a recession.