Walmart makes a major change to prevent theft (some customers will hate it)

If you still visit a retail store in person for your everyday essentials, chances are good you visit a Walmart  (WMT) – Get Free Report. 

The world’s largest retailer takes pains to deliver convenience with quality. With a location within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population, it’s no wonder that it brought in $611 billion of revenue in fiscal 2023. 

Related: Mark Zuckerberg starts astounding $100 million project (with odd features)

But even the largest retailers have had to shape-shift in recent years. A rise in interest rates following the pandemic and changing migratory patterns left some locations emptier than they’d been. 

But across the country things are more expensive than they were last year at this time.

Data from the most recent Consumer Price Index show that the prices of goods and services have increased. Here’s how a handful of goods and services changed in price over the past 12 months:

• Food: up 3.3%
• Food at home: up 2.1%
• Food away from home: up 5.4%
• Energy: down 4.5%
• Electricity: up 2.4%
• New vehicles: up 1.9%
• Apparel: up 2.6%
• Medical care commodities: up 4.7%
• Shelter: up 6.7%
• Transportation services: up 9.2%

These price increases have sent some people to hard times. In-store crime and retail theft is up nationwide. Shoplifting incidents across 24 major U.S. cities increased by 16% in the first half of 2023 from the 2019 period.

Walmart makes a change to thwart theft

One of the softest targets for in-store theft is the self checkout kiosk, which enables customers to scan and bag items without the assistance of a cashier. 

Though some more tech-enabled stores use cameras at kiosks, self-checkout makes shoplifting much easier as much of the process is based on the honor system.

“Over the past few years, we have rolled out new Hosted Checkouts in a number of our stores,” Walmart writes of its self checkout process. 

“Our associates working in the Customer Host role can show customers to available registers, help them through the checkout process and answer any questions they may have. This new checkout process is designed to help customers complete their shopping even faster. 

“As customers continue to change the way they shop, we’ll keep looking for new ways to offer choice while saving you time and money.”

While unintentional shoplifting — where customers may forget to scan an item — is certainly a big issue, crafty customers may simply substitute cheaper items when scanning or neglect to scan pricier items at all. 

In fact, stores with self-checkout report a loss rate of about 4%, about twice the national average. 

So Walmart is reportedly considering removing what it calls its hosted checkouts at stores in Maine and Massachusetts after management expressed concern about sales, Express US reports. 

While Walmart has not confirmed this change, in September it began removing self-checkout options at three of its New Mexico store locations.

TheStreet has reached out to Walmart for comment.

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