A well-run self-checkout area is a great way for food markets and grocers to offer customers a faster, more convenient payment option while reducing staffing costs.
Unfortunately, that convenience comes at a cost. Many self-checkout thieves steal right under employees’ noses and only 24% of self-checkout shoplifters are caught.
It’s not all bad news. By following self-checkout security best practices, you can reduce your shrink and reap the benefits of self-service.
In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about self-checkout security, including:
- The current state of self-checkout usage and theft
- The types of self-checkout theft
- Why people steal at self-checkout
- Six tips to improve self-checkout security at your store
The Current State of Self Checkout
Self-checkout has been a staple of large retailers for years and is also increasingly popular in small businesses.
Despite many large brands decreasing the overall number of self-service lanes, their popularity with customers means self-checkout is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Self-checkout by the numbers:
- 96% of grocery stores have self-checkout
- Over 65% of customers say they prefer using a self-checkout kiosk over a staffed checkout
- Over 20 million Americans steal from self-checkout
- Shrink rates for self-checkout can be up to 16 times higher than traditional cashier lines if not properly managed
- The people most likely to admit stealing at self-checkout were people with higher incomes
- Self-checkout theft tends to target lower-value items.
These numbers tell a complicated story. On the one hand, most people prefer self-checkout and not having a self-service option at your store could make it less appealing and less convenient for customers.
On the other hand, when inflation and other costs are going up, finding ways to reduce shrink is crucial — and it’s impossible to ignore the added risks that come with self-checkout.
Types of Self-Checkout Theft
Before getting into some self-checkout security tips, let’s go into the various ways people steal during the self-checkout process.
- Skip-scanning: This form of theft happens when a customer pretends to scan an item and then puts it directly into their bag.
- Accidental theft: Sometimes theft isn’t intentional but simply results from confusion over how the system works, scanning the wrong type of produce, or accidentally leaving something in their cart.
- Switching items: This type of theft happens when someone switches out the barcode on an expensive item with a cheaper one.
- The “banana trick”: Similar to the previous tactic, this involves weighing an expensive item but coding in a cheaper item. The name “banana trick” comes from the fact that a banana is typically one of the cheapest fruits on the floor.
Why Do People Steal From Self-Checkout?
When discussing various forms of retail theft, it’s easy to assume that anyone stealing is doing so maliciously. However, it’s often quite a bit more complicated.
Despite prominent stories of organized retail shoplifting rings, self-checkout usually isn’t a target. Often, the reasons for stealing at self-checkout are rooted just as much in frustration or bad customer service as they are in criminal intent.
Here are a few reasons why people steal from self-checkout:
- Lack of staff: Most self-checkout offenders admitted they stole because they felt it was easier. Without a staff member to interact with, there’s less sense of danger or consequence for would-be thieves.
- Bad technology: Sometimes, a person doesn’t go to checkout intending to steal, but after unsuccessfully trying to scan a barcode several times with no staff nearby to help, they feel justified in taking the item or scanning a different item to get through checkout.
- Fraud: Common retail scams, such as buying gift cards using a stolen credit card, are easier to get away with at a self-service kiosk than with a cashier.
- Confusion: If a customer has to manually look up and enter items at checkout, they might accidentally misidentify an item (e.g., ground beef vs. ground chuck or a regular apple vs. an organic one).
A common element between all these reasons is a lack of human interaction. When a shopper feels that no one is there to watch them, they’re more likely to steal (whether they initially intended to or not).
Benefits of Self-Checkout for Small Food Markets
At this point, you might think self-checkout isn’t worth it. However, despite the risks, self-checkout offers distinct benefits for small grocery stores and food markets if managed the right way.
- Faster checkout: Most customers value speed when paying for items. A self-checkout option gives them a quick, convenient method of payment.
- Cost savings: A single employee can manage several self-checkout lanes, reducing the need for extra staff even during busier times.
- Maximizes floor space: A self-checkout area allows smaller stores to serve more customers using less space than traditional checkout.
For most businesses, the question is not whether to offer a self-checkout option but how to strike the right balance between the two.
Tips for Improving Self-Checkout Security
Self-checkout is here to stay for the foreseeable future — but how do you improve self-checkout security without hurting the customer experience?
Here are some tactics you can try at your store today.
1. Train Your Employees
As we mentioned earlier, many would-be self-checkout thieves are emboldened when they feel they aren’t being watched. That’s why it’s important to train your employees to spot and prevent self-checkout theft.
One of the best theft prevention techniques is also one of the simplest: great customer service. Train your employees to greet people when they enter the store and at checkout. Have any employees at self-checkout interact with customers to see if they need help.
Customers who feel that staff is involved and alert are less likely to try stealing. More importantly, always having an attentive employee at self-checkout improves the customer experience.
2. Set Limits on the Number or Types of Items in Self-Checkout
Not every type of transaction is a good fit for self-checkout, and bigger transactions often come with bigger risks of fraud.
To combat this, consider limiting your self-checkout lines to a certain number of items (e.g., 15 items or less). This will ensure that shoppers with large carts don’t slow down your self-checkout area while reducing your shrinkage risk.
You might also limit the types of items sold at self-checkout. For example, you should restrict sales of alcohol and other age-restricted items to manned lanes only. You can also flag customers who buy a certain number of gift cards or other items that could be used for fraud.
If you limit the items available for self-checkout, advertise this fact with large and clear signage to avoid confusion. Additionally, you can program a message to pop up on your point of sale (POS) system before customers start scanning items.
3. Install Security Cameras and Anti-Theft Signs
Want people to feel like they’re being watched? The best way to do that is to actually watch them. Installing security cameras is an effective shoplifting deterrent — especially if you have cameras and monitors at self-checkout.
Some advanced technologies can even detect theft by comparing the number of items in a person’s cart to their transaction data. While these solutions are likely too costly for a small business, simply having cameras is often enough to stop petty theft.
That said, the goal of having security cameras isn’t to make them a secret. Put up signs at the store entrance and near registers that tell people they’re being monitored.
Related Read: How To Prevent Grocery Store Theft: 6 Security Tips and Tools
4. Use Barcodes and Clear Item Names To Reduce Confusion
When checkout procedures are tedious or confusing, your risk of theft increases. Often, this is due to having to manually look up items at self-checkout.
Here are a couple things you can do to make self-checkout easy:
- Print custom barcodes: Instead of relying on a customer to manually input a code or item name, use a custom label printer to create barcodes that customers can scan at checkout. You can also put food-safe stickers on produce to reduce the need for manual item lookup.
- Make product names clear: If you can’t label everything, make sure manual lookup items are easy to find. Ensure the names in your system match the names on your shelves, and use pictures if possible.
Ultimately, if self-checkout is easier, people will be less likely to abuse it.
5. Use Security Scales
Many grocery store and food market self-checkout kiosks come equipped with security scales. These scales can verify whether the weight of an item at self-checkout matches the item's weight in your inventory management software.
If an item doesn’t match, it will alert an employee. These scales can also detect whether a customer is deliberately trying to make an item appear lighter by sensing rapid or unusual changes in weight.
6. Identify Commonly Stolen Items Using Reports
It’s hard to know which self-checkout security tactics will be most effective if you don’t know what is being stolen.
Many modern point of sale systems include shrinkage reports that track inventory losses. These reports will help you understand if your shrink is the result of employee error, spoiled food, or theft.
If you see that certain items are more likely to be stolen than others, you can set restrictions on your POS system to alert staff when they’re scanned or try other countermeasures.
Improve Self-Checkout Security With Market POS
By following self-checkout security best practices, you can offer customers the convenient, quick checkout experience they love while reducing shrink.
However, having the right technology partner is key. Markt POS is dedicated to building solutions for small grocers, butchers, and other specialty food markets. With sophisticated self-checkout hardware, robust reporting, and modern security features, we empower your employees to provide a frictionless self-checkout experience.
Schedule a custom demo today to learn how Markt POS can help you improve the customer experience and maximize profits.
