Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
nbcnews.com
Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
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Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#2Anytime corpos blame theft there’s always another reason. I wonder what the real reason they’re doing this is; are the automated checkout companies increasing prices or perhaps they’re charging a percentage of the items that go through their machines?
It’s never theft, just like a failing economy isn’t on the millennials, and you can’t personally save the environment through recycling and using less gas in your car. The real problems are only covered up by blaming individuals, specifically it ends up being something like “our stores are costing because of downtown theft” then you find out it’s because downtown stores are doing half the business as before the pandemic and it was never theft.
Edit: this comment has some links showing I’m correct, theft is a scapegoat: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39740436
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#3[deleted]
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#4Anytime corpos blame theft there’s always another reason. I wonder what the real reason they’re doing this is; are the automated checkout companies increasing prices or perhaps they’re charging a percentage of the items that go through their machines? It’s never theft, just like a failing economy isn’t on the millennials, and you can’t personally save the environment through recycling and using less gas in your car.…
>are the automated checkout companies increasing prices
How would this work? The items have price tags on shelves. You can't arbitrarily jack up prices without attracting consumer outrage and/or regulatory scrutiny.
>perhaps they’re charging a percentage of the items that go through their machines
That wouldn't affect the raw sales data, which is how "shrink" is determined (ie. goods you've bought - goods you've sold)
>It’s never theft
What makes you so sure of this? Theft is a real phenomenon, so it's at least somewhat plausible that it's affecting stuff. You'd have to have pretty good exculpatory evidence to assert it's "never theft".
>specifically it ends up being something like “our stores are costing because of downtown theft” then you find out it’s because downtown stores are doing half the business as before the pandemic and it was never theft.
Source?
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#5Anytime corpos blame theft there’s always another reason. I wonder what the real reason they’re doing this is; are the automated checkout companies increasing prices or perhaps they’re charging a percentage of the items that go through their machines? It’s never theft, just like a failing economy isn’t on the millennials, and you can’t personally save the environment through recycling and using less gas in your car.…
Bro, it really is that simple. Literally everyone (except apparently you) is stealing from these retailers.
The shrink rate is an order of magnitude higher on self checkout compared to a cashier lane with a human.
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#6Anytime corpos blame theft there’s always another reason. I wonder what the real reason they’re doing this is; are the automated checkout companies increasing prices or perhaps they’re charging a percentage of the items that go through their machines? It’s never theft, just like a failing economy isn’t on the millennials, and you can’t personally save the environment through recycling and using less gas in your car.…
Bro, it really is that simple. Literally everyone (except apparently you) is stealing from these retailers. The shrink rate is an order of magnitude higher on self checkout compared to a cashier lane with a human.
Some people feel a moral imperative to try to steal from these stores.
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#7Wal Mart by me has a large amount of efficient self checkout lanes. I love it.
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#8I just noticed today my local Walmart super center has signs limiting self-checkout to 15 items. They're not enforcing it -- I had that many yogurts, plus a dozen other things. But maybe, like when they eliminated providing any grocery bags at all in Washington, they'll give it a little time to sink in.
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#9I think this is a positive step. Most of the time when online discussion about self-checkout theft would come up, there would be an uncomfortably larg number of people justifying their theft as "payment for doing a cashier's job". Basically "if you don't want me to steal, then hire someone to watch me".
Also it was inconvenient when I had about 30 items and a kid in the cart to do self-checkout.
Re: Target sets a limit on self-checkout items
#10Anytime corpos blame theft there’s always another reason. I wonder what the real reason they’re doing this is; are the automated checkout companies increasing prices or perhaps they’re charging a percentage of the items that go through their machines? It’s never theft, just like a failing economy isn’t on the millennials, and you can’t personally save the environment through recycling and using less gas in your car.…
>are the automated checkout companies increasing prices How would this work? The items have price tags on shelves. You can't arbitrarily jack up prices without attracting consumer outrage and/or regulatory scrutiny. >perhaps they’re charging a percentage of the items that go through their machines That wouldn't affect the raw sales data, which is how "shrink" is determined (ie. goods you've bought - goods you've sold…
https://sfist.com/2023/12/22/sure-enough-shoplifting-was-not...
Edit: this one from further down the thread too: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/29/briefing/shoplifting-data...
For the first point, I usually assume the checkouts are run by third party vendors and charge a fee for the automated systems. I was saying that perhaps those third parties have started to raise prices for the operation of the checkout machines because it’s harder to find cheap labor, so now that corpos have gone all in on automated jobs they’re in a hard place. Maybe not, but I wasn’t saying the checked out item prices were being changed, that’d be stupid.