The massive problem with self-serve checkouts revealed
A damning new study has found that since the rise of self-checkout options at supermarkets and other stores, more and more people are opting for the “five-finger discount”.
Adam Beck from the University of Leicester undertook a 12-month study of UK supermarket self-checkouts and found that almost 4 per cent of $380 million in lost retail revenue was due to shoppers failing to scan all their items, compared to just under 1.5 per cent on the shop floor.
Professor Larry Neale from the Queensland University of Technology told ABC News that shoppers find it much less morally objectionable to steal from a machine rather than somewhere an employee might be present. “Self-serve checkouts provide that distance between you and the organisation or an identifiable victim,” he said. “The customer can't point to someone and say, ‘that person is going to lose money if I steal from this store.’”
Professor Neale also believes that given the recent resentment among consumers towards supermarkets for taking farmers for granted has made it easier for shoppers to justify a small theft.
Australian supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths both claim they have measures in place to prevent self-service theft, believing that “the vast majority of customers are doing the right thing.”
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