WALMART Installing New Security to Deter Theft at Self-Check Out

I know that we all are feeling the woes of the self-check out lanes at Wal Mart.  That is, if you shop at "Wallyworld".  Admittedly, I only go to Wal Mart when every other store I have checked does not have the item I ABSOLUTELY need right now, and they happen to have it.  Otherwise, I just avoid that store.

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But every time I have gone into the store, there are no regular check out lanes open.  Only the self-check with a monitor standing by.  The chance of theft seems like it would be fairly high.  And apparently it is, because now Wal Mart is implementing new technology that is supposed to deter theft at the self-checkout.

Before I get into what they are doing, it does seem like they could have used that money to hire more cashiers, and lessen the self-checkout need and help deter theft in that way.  Just a thought.

Anyway, if you have gone through the checkout lane and noticed that you just drag the item you are buying, and it scans anywhere on the package.  Not just if you scan the barcode.  And the other scannable areas on the item are not visible to the human eye, apparently.

From The Street:

“The scanning speed goes up significantly according to Digimarc technology partner Datalogic,” said Digimarc in a press release. “Hunting for barcodes during the scanning process becomes unnecessary, which eases the self-scanning for customers. The imaging cameras can also pick up several products at the same time.”

The move has been brought on by the uptick in shoplifting loses in all retail.  In 2022 losses went up to 112+ Billion dollars. And it's continued to climb since then. Prior to that, it was around 93 Billion dollars, which still seems like a lot.  This is not just Wal Mart, but across the entire industry.  You have to wonder if the move towards more and more self-checkout lanes has contributed to that situation.