By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-14 19:02:31 | Updated at 2024-11-25 01:06:38
1 week ago
Walmart is testing technology which would allow customers unlock secured display cases with their cell phones.
In the past few years, Walmart and other major retailers have increasingly locked up items in-store in a bid to prevent shoplifting.
The move has been controversial, with many customers complaining about having to wait for an employee to unlock the shelves in order to retrieve their items.
To speed up the process, Walmart is testing tech in a few hundred stores which allows cases to be unlocked using a cellphone, rather than by hand, Bloomberg reported.
The company is reportedly rolling out the tech to employees first, but then could extend the mobile unlocking to members of its Walmart+ loyalty program, according to people familiar with the plan.
Walmart has previously said shrink, which is the industry term for a loss of inventory due to theft, damage, or other factors, is a challenge for retailers.
For every item which is stolen, stores lose not only what they paid for the stock, but also any potential earnings from its sale.
Some retailers have reported incidents of increased theft in recent years, and have locked up more items in store as a result - much to the dismay of loyal customers.
Walmart is reportedly testing technology which would allow customers to open locked shelves with their cell phones
Not only does locking up items frustrate customers, but it also creates more work for employees who have to travel around stores opening the locks manually with a key - especially if the store is low on staff.
According to a recent study from Consumer World, cited by TheStreet, 55 percent of respondents said when they found an item locked up in a store, they look for another place to buy it rather than seeking an employee to unlock the case.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a recent earnings call that customers are growing so tired of seeing products locked up in stores and pharmacies that they are flocking toward delivery services.
He added that Amazon Pharmacy is benefiting from the 'speed and ease' that physical pharmacies are beginning to lack.
But stores are not only facing the threat of individual shoplifters. One source of increased theft in recent years is organized retail crime, according to a 2023 survey by the National Retail Federation.
It found that the worst hit areas were major cities like Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, Houston, New York and Seattle.
Products that are frequently targeted include detergent, cosmetics and cold medicine, which can then be resold online, according to Bloomberg.
As well as locking up products, stores have also installed more cameras and hired more security guards in order to fight back against rising theft.
Not only does locking up items frustrate customers, but it also creates more work for employees who have to travel around stores opening the locks manually with a key - especially if the store is low on staff
Walmart has previously said shrink, which is the industry term for a loss of inventory due to theft, damage, or other factors, is a challenge for retailers
Many retailers have also put increased checks on self-service registers, or simply removed them entirely.
Walmart has introduced barcodes which are invisible to the naked eye, but are printed all over an item, enabling it to be easily picked up by a self-checkout scanner.
This makes it harder for shoplifters to pocket items without properly scanning them.
If an item with an invisible barcode is moved over the self-checkout, in an attempt to appear as if it has been scanned but hasn't, the computer will still pick up the item and register it for payment.
Other large supermarkets such as Wegmans have also introduced invisible barcodes.
