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Walmart Makes Sudden Self-Checkout Decision After Alarming Police Data
Walmart is pulling back on one of its biggest retail experiments after eye-opening data from police revealed just how costly self-checkout can be.
At a Supercenter in Shrewsbury, Missouri, Walmart abruptly removed all self-checkout machines—permanently.
The decision came after years of frequent police calls tied to theft at the store, which local law enforcement says dropped dramatically after the kiosks were removed.
According to the Webster-Kirkwood Times, the Shrewsbury Police Department responded to 509 calls from the Walmart location between January and May of last year. During the same period this year, after the self-checkouts were removed, those calls dropped to just 183. Arrests fell by more than half, from 108 to just 49.
"That's a huge change," said Police Chief Lisa Vargas. "We really appreciate Walmart taking initiative and removing those self-checkers."
While many major retailers once hailed self-checkout as the future of shopping, the reality has proven far more complicated.
Customers frequently struggle with the machines, and some simply skip the scanning process altogether. The Mirror reported that Christopher Andrews, author of The Overworked Consumer, explained that stores initially viewed the technology as a labor-saving breakthrough, but it backfired.
"They ended up realizing that they're not saving money, they're losing money," Andrews said.
The move in Missouri isn't isolated. Walmart has also removed self-checkouts from a location in Cleveland, Ohio, and is reportedly reconsidering its broader among customers over slow, glitchy machines has compounded the issue. And with theft rising across many retailers, automated checkout lanes have become a high-risk gamble.
Still, Walmart isn't giving up on innovation altogether.
The company is testing Scan & Go technology at select Sam's Club locations. That model uses a mobile app to tally purchases in real-time, combining QR codes and AI to reduce shrink while offering speed and convenience to that system proves more efficient—or more secure—remains to be seen. But for now, one thing is clear: at least one Walmart is thriving without self-checkout. And police say the data speaks for Makes Sudden Self-Checkout Decision After Alarming Police Data first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 20, 2025
