​Walmart, Target Changing Self-Checkout Rules: What To Know In CA

CALIFORNIA — California shoppers who regularly use self-checkout registers at Target and Walmart should be prepared for some changes as the retailers tackle a multi-million-dollar theft problem.

Minneapolis-based Target has placed a 10-item limit on the number of items customers can scan at its honor system self-checkout registers, effective Sunday at nearly all of its 2,000 stores. Walmart also has implemented self-scan item limits at some of its more than 10,500 stores nationwide.

According to the research firm Statista, the Golden State is home to the most Target stores nationwide, with 314 locations — more than twice the number in second-place Texas. Walmart operates 309 retail stores in California, including 144 Supercenters, employing more than 100,000 workers.

Target said its self-checkout lanes during the pandemic were popular with customers who wanted to socially distance, but surveys since have shown customers prefer a more traditional retail experience. Individual stores will have the flexibility to open staffed lanes or set self-checkout hours that fit their customers’ needs, the retailer said.

Walmart customers who want to self-scan can enroll in the Scan & Go program, offered exclusively to Walmart+ customers. Enrollment in the customer loyalty program costs $12.95 or $98 a year, according to the retailer’s website.

Dollar General has placed limits at thousands of its stores, including 300 with the highest shoplifting rates, where the option has been entirely eliminated. To identify those stores with high retail theft, the company used artificial intelligence to analyze hundreds of thousands of purchases at self-checkout lanes, CNN reported. CEO Todd Vasos said in a call with analysts Thursday the changes are expected to have a “positive impact on shrink,” a term mentioned 37 times on the call.

Self-checkout is a popular option among U.S. consumers, according to a survey by NCR Voyix survey of 1,133 Americans. About 43 percent overall said they prefer to scan and bag their items themselves. The option is especially popular among consumers ages 18 to 44 who like the speed, shorter lines and privacy of a self-scan lane.

Another survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers by LendingTree found 69 percent think they make it easier to steal, and 15 percent admitted they had stolen items using the system.

Even law-abiding customers can be tempted to cheat at self-checkout lanes, Christopher Andrews, an associated professor and chair of sociology at Drew University and author of “The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets and the Do-It-Yourself Economy,” told The Associated Press late last year.

He said the technology makes it easier for customers to scan every other item or input codes for a cheaper item. But they could also make honest mistakes that affect stores’ bottom lines, he said.

Andrews told The AP he doesn’t expect the self-checkout system to disappear entirely from America’s retailers.

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