Does Walmart Know When You Steal From Self Checkout?

Self-checkout tills have become so ubiquitous that many stores barely seem to have any employees ringing up items anymore, but how well are these new tills being policed?

You might be wondering: does Walmart know when you steal from self-checkout? YES, Walmart will know if you steal from self-checkout. By utilizing a combination of strategies, including cameras, RFID, Artificial intelligence, and even standard methods like checking your receipt on the way out, Walmart has a very good chance of knowing if you didn’t pay for everything.

Walmart uses a combination of employee supervision and complex technology to track whether or not the correct items are being scanned at self-checkout machines, and they are likely to press charges if they catch someone stealing.

Read on to find out all about how they do it!

Table of Contents

Does Walmart Take Stealing From Self-Checkout Seriously?

There are many benefits to the meteoric rise of the self-checkout machine for large retailers, particularly because it means that they can reduce labor costs and streamline how and where they utilize their staff.

As it turns out, though, this new technology does also bring about some considerable headaches – particularly when it comes to theft.

Walmart has said that it loses around 1% of its profit due to theft, which totals around $3 billion per year. Employees and customers alike have acknowledged that increased reliance on self-checkout machines has definitely contributed to this problem – with Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillion even saying that some stores would have to close if they cannot get it under control.

That’s why Walmart takes this issue pretty seriously, and they are taking a surprising number of steps to make sure they know exactly what is being scanned and bagged at their tills – even when you feel like you’re being left to your own devices.

The question is, though: How do they do it? These machines read a barcode and then weigh the item to check that it matches – and people have been trying to take advantage of this system ever since it was introduced.

How do they know if someone bags something much more expensive that weighs the same as a cheaper item that they scanned?

How Does Walmart Monitor Self-Checkout Theft?

From the information that we know, it has been made clear that there is a lot that Walmart is doing to monitor what happens at the self-checkout tills.

Of course, they will almost always have somebody keeping an eye on the area, but what else are they doing?

Monitoring Technology

In a statement to Business Insider in 2019, Walmart confirmed that they have installed computer vision technology across their stores that is designed to track every customer that is using a self-service machine. This tech has been in place since at least 2017, and it is pretty advanced.

The program, which they call “Missed Scan Detection”, utilizes cameras, artificial intelligence, computer vision systems, and a lot of data to detect abnormal activity. It keeps an eye on which items are being scanned and what is actually being put onto the scales. If something seems out of place, then it immediately notifies employees, and they can come to investigate.

A recent TikTok video showed this technology in action. Someone claiming to be an employee of Walmart showed off a small handheld device, which is supposedly held by all of the employees that are working the self-checkout tills.

The device alerts the worker any time something appears unusual and prompts them to go and take a look for themselves.

You might even have noticed this happening to you. Sometimes, a Walmart employee will come over to help you with your basket, even when you don’t think that anything was wrong.

This is often because the technology has alerted them to a potential issue and they are double-checking that everything is in order.

Cameras

It should come as no surprise that there are cameras all over every store in the country, but retail giants like Walmart are particularly well-equipped in this department.

Not only do they have security staff monitoring the overhead CCTV cameras, but the self-checkout machines themselves have cameras that are directed at you and your shopping. These are part of the Missed Scan Detection that we just mentioned, but they can also be remotely accessed and monitored by employees to see what is happening in real-time.

You probably know about these cameras because you’ve likely experienced the unsettling shock of looking up from your groceries to see your own face staring back at you from the screen.

They aren’t fakes designed to try and scare you, either. These are real cameras that can be viewed by employees all over the store.

Loss Prevention Staff

On top of this, Walmart also has a significant number of staff members whose entire job is to reduce “shrinkage”, which is the name given to the losses that companies might face due to things like theft and fraud. They are generally referred to as the Loss Prevention team, or LP for short.

Many Loss Prevention employees roam the stores in plain clothes, looking out for suspicious activity. It can be impossible to tell who is keeping an eye on what you’re scanning and who is just another shopper going about their day.

Artificial Intelligence is also at play

Shoplifting and crimes likes retail theft (for instance, swapping price tags) cost U.S. businesses an estimated 50 billion every year, which they have to make back somehow, so this ends up driving the prices up that you’ll have to pay for groceries. It’s become enough of a problem that American retailers are no longer ‘playing around’, but are beginning to incorporate Artificial Intelligence solutions and Walmart is definitely one of them.

To give you an idea of the kind of security that they are using, it’s good to start with RFID tags. Everyone is familiar with these plastic transponder tags, but according to Zebra Walmart has taken things a step further, by insisting that their suppliers provide goods to Walmart ALREADY TAGGED.

This is a very secure method to employ, as goods can be placed directly on the shelf, and even employees won’t be tempted because they are no longer the ones tagging the items. This also allows for tracking the items around the store, and with clothing at least 2/3rds of the ‘higher risk’ items are going to definitely have RFID.

With real-time tracking of goods, cameras are also in place and driven by AI software, so that if a customer moves an item somewhere conspicuous, it will be noticed, and with cameras that can track movements throughout the store they can establish pretty well if there is an attempt to be sneaky or if a customer has just forgotten something.

So, now you know that items and people can be followed, but Walmart also uses facial recognition technology, so if someone is visiting the store a lot and doesn’t seem to be buying anything, then Walmart has a record of this and their face.

Now we’ve established that items can be tracked and even people, by their faces. What’s next is your checkout kiosk. As you know, it checks the weight of items, and will buzz at you to make you weigh slowly as-needed, but it’s also smart enough to know if you are scanning items too quickly and too closely to each other.

Aside from this, many Walmart locations also limit the number of items that you can checkout and even the number of people per line at the self-checkout, so that current security measures can still keep an eye on people without having to track too many of them at one time.

These are just some general examples of the kind of security you’re dealing with, but even if you make it past self-checkout and have forgotten an item that you’re now carrying, you might still get in trouble and we’ll tell you why.

Don’t forget to show your receipt

It’s old-fashioned but it definitely works – the old and classic ‘someone checking receipts at the door’ strategy. When you are going to exit, you’ll have to show this person your receipt and they may well check your bags, and after that you’ve got to pass through detection stands that are going to quickly notice if you have an RFID tagged item where the tag hasn’t been disabled.

All in all, these are just some of the most common examples of Walmart security but the numbers don’t lie – this technology is VERY effective at keeping shoplifting statistics down so that prices won’t go up. It’s definitely a different and much higher tech age that we live in, so you’ll need to be very careful to make sure that you remember to scan everything at the self-checkout or you could get in a lot of trouble!

What happens if I forget to scan an item?

If you forget to scan an item and you’re caught it with, you could be banned from the store for as little as a day or even forever! Depending on the item or items, police may even become involved. Now, this is where all the cameras can come in handy, as Walmart will certainly have footage to review so that they can see if you were being careless and may well have forgotten or if the act looked intentional.

While a ban from that particular store might not seem such a big deal, keep in mind that with facial recognition, you might be instantly recognized going into another Walmart and then asked to leave. That same facial recognition can even get you if you leave without checking out at all – after all, they might not know who you are, but it’s a simple matter to send a clip of someone leaving with an item to the local police.

As such, you really need to be careful. This technology is sharp and since it’s AI-driven, it’s only going to get smarter – so you’ll need to be extremely careful and methodical in the self-checkout to make sure that you don’t accidentally leave with something you haven’t paid for.

If you do, Walmart will likely know and they have lots of options for making sure that it doesn’t happen again!

What Does Walmart Do If You Are Caught Stealing From Self-Checkout?

So, Walmart is doing a lot to try and keep track of anyone who might be trying to steal from their self-checkout tills, but what would actually happen if you get caught?

Of all the big stores, Walmart is one of the harshest when it comes to doling out penalties. They usually aim to gather enough evidence to ensure that an arrest is possible and then they will press charges as soon as they can.

This means that someone stealing from Walmart might not be approached straight away, but it is likely that they will be taking the images and data from their monitoring systems to build up a case for when they do step in.

Then, they will aim to have you arrested and charged with “petty” or “misdemeanor” theft, which will appear on your permanent record if you are convicted. Additionally, you will likely not be allowed to step foot in any of their stores ever again.

Even if they do not press charges, they will almost always give anyone who is suspected of shoplifting a lifetime ban from every single store that the company runs, everywhere in the world.

With the amount of tracking and monitoring technology that they now have, they are also pretty good at knowing when someone is trying to break a ban.

Is Walmart Introducing More Measures To Stop Self-Checkout Theft?

Despite having all of this in place, they are still not done. Walmart has stated that they are continuing to invest in new technology and work on their internal processes to crack down even further on theft – particularly at self-checkouts.

A spokesperson for Walmart, LeMia Jenkins, said “Over the last three years, the company has invested over half a billion dollars in an effort to prevent, reduce and deter crime in our stores and parking lots.

We are continuously investing in people, programs, and technology to keep our stores and communities safe.

Therefore, you can expect them to become even more aware of what is going on at self-checkout, and they are likely to keep getting better at discovering when people try to break the rules and get away with taking home a little extra at the till.

Summary

So, does Walmart know when you steal from self-checkout? Most of the time, the answer is yes. They have employees, cameras, and plain clothes Loss Prevention staff keeping a close eye on what you are scanning, and they use complex Missed Scan Detection technology to track what is happening at every self-service till.

They might not always approach you the first time they see that something is wrong but, if they gather enough evidence, they are likely to ban you from their stores for life and even press criminal charges.

Reference Sources

https://www.distractify.com/p/walmart-knows-when-you-are-stealing

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/walmart-issues-warning-over-self-29885059