Shoppers Using Self-Checkout Are Stealing ― But Does It Matter?

By  |  April 29, 2012
 | 

Roughly 30 percent of shoppers who use self-checkout services admitted to stealing goods, in a survey of British shoppers run by watchmywallet.co.uk.

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    Another 13 percent said they’ve considered taking advantage of the unsupervised opportunity to steal, but are afraid of getting caught. 

    What’s more, many honest customers say they dislike the user experience associated with self-checkout, the watchmywallet write-up notes. But at least one retailer — Tesco — is sticking to a plan to invest £1 billion in the technology, chief executive Philip Clarke confirms. 

    Despite the negatives, two key factors make self-checkout services an attractive investment for many businesses: reduced labor costs (including training, and the frustrations associated with high turnover); and increased spatial efficiency, since self-checkout kiosks take up less room.

    Read the full story here.


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