Walmart has had to adopt a new strategy to address theft at self-checkouts, and customers are not happy about it. Previously, staff manually checked customers’ receipts against items in their bags. However, shoplifters quickly learned to exploit this practice by using old receipts, those from different stores, or even completely fake ones. In response, Walmart has now started using handheld scanners in select stores to verify the authenticity of customer receipts after checkout. The policy is designed to catch theft in action but also to deter potential shoplifters through fear of being caught. The scanners, about the size of a smartphone, confirm that items were purchased within the last four hours and from the same location. Customers have been left fuming, threatening to take their business elsewhere. “Instead of having all these people standing at the doors, why don’t you have people working the register and ringing up all the items so you won’t have to worry about people not paying,” commented one shopper. “Just shop at Target, they don’t treat you like a criminal,” suggested another. Experts say that the theft issue might not be as bad as retailers say. A recent analysis showed that retail theft has not spiked nationwide in the past several years. Whatever Walmart decides to do, the retailer is risking sending customers scrambling for other stores to escape the “shake-down” they have to go through with every shopping trip to Walmart.
