Latest news with #LisaVargas
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Walmart forced to shut down self-checkout lanes for good
A Walmart in Missouri has seen a sharp drop in police calls and arrests after it made a bold move: ripping out every self-checkout machine. The Shrewsbury supercenter removed the kiosks last year after logging a staggering 509 police calls. Since then, the numbers have plunged — with only 183 calls so far this year and arrests cut nearly in half. 'That's a huge change. We really appreciate Walmart taking initiative and removing those self-checkers,' Shrewsbury police chief Lisa Vargas said on Tuesday. Walmart has been looking for other ways to crack down on shoplifting at self-checkouts such as using handheld scanners in select stores to verify a receipts authenticity. Bosses have also been locking up items that are frequently stolen behind plexiglass screens. Besides Shrewsbury, select Walmart stores in Ohio and New Mexico eliminated self-checkouts to lessen the chance of shoplifting. 'We believe the changes will improve the in-store shopping experience and give our associates the chance to provide more personalized and efficient service,' a Walmart spokesperson told CX Dive . Walmart is in the middle of a massive revamp at 650 stores this year. While they're working on store redesign, select locations are also rolling out adjustments to self-checkouts to stop crooks stealing customers' card details. Commonly seen is red tape covering part of the card reader prevent card skimmers from stealing financial information. Card skimming has become a frequent problem in Walmart stores nationwide, with one incident going unnoticed for 18 days . During those days, a card-skimming device disguised as a pin pad at one of the retailer's registers in Connecticut . The problem has escalated to a point where Washington state's legislature proposed a bill to regulate the use of self-checkouts . Besides registers, Walmart has begun testing other methods aiming to decrease its crime rate without diminishing its current progress. Some of these tools include opening locked display cases with phones and hidden barcodes in Great Value-branded products . Walmart is not the only retailer to continue axing self-checkout. Dollar General also performed a massive self-checkout removal in 12,000 stores , hoping for a decrease in shoplifters. The takeaway worked in Dollar General's favor, and the chain reported an 8 percent boost in income during its first quarter . Sam's Club, a division of Walmart, is removing all machines and rolling out AI -powered 'Scan & Go' technology to reduce checkout wait times.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Walmart makes massive self-checkout U-turn: 'Huge change'
A Walmart in Missouri has seen a sharp drop in police calls and arrests after it made a bold move: ripping out every self-checkout machine. The Shrewsbury supercenter removed the kiosks last year after logging a staggering 509 police calls. Since then, the numbers have plunged — with only 183 calls so far this year and arrests cut nearly in half. 'That's a huge change. We really appreciate Walmart taking initiative and removing those self-checkers,' Shrewsbury police chief Lisa Vargas said on Tuesday. Walmart has been looking for other ways to crack down on shoplifting at self-checkouts such as using handheld scanners in select stores to verify a receipts authenticity. Bosses have also been locking up items that are frequently stolen behind plexiglass screens. Besides Shrewsbury, select Walmart stores in Ohio and New Mexico eliminated self-checkouts to lessen the chance of shoplifting. 'We believe the changes will improve the in-store shopping experience and give our associates the chance to provide more personalized and efficient service,' a Walmart spokesperson told CX Dive. Walmart is in the middle of a massive revamp at 650 stores this year. While they're working on store redesign, select locations are also rolling out adjustments to self-checkouts to stop crooks stealing customers' card details. Commonly seen is red tape covering part of the card reader prevent card skimmers from stealing financial information. Card skimming has become a frequent problem in Walmart stores nationwide, with one incident going unnoticed for 18 days. During those days, a card-skimming device disguised as a pin pad at one of the retailer's registers in Connecticut. The problem has escalated to a point where Washington state's legislature proposed a bill to regulate the use of self-checkouts. Besides registers, Walmart has begun testing other methods aiming to decrease its crime rate without diminishing its current progress. Some of these tools include opening locked display cases with phones and hidden barcodes in Great Value-branded products. Select Walmart stores have been adding gadgets to self-checkout scanners to decrease the chance of card skimming Walmart is not the only retailer to continue axing self-checkout. Dollar General also performed a massive self-checkout removal in 12,000 stores, hoping for a decrease in shoplifters. The takeaway worked in Dollar General's favor, and the chain reported an 8 percent boost in income during its first quarter. Sam's Club, a division of Walmart, is removing all machines and rolling out AI -powered 'Scan & Go' technology to reduce checkout wait times. Costco, one of Sam's Club's biggest rivals, began rolling out the same technology but is not planning on axing self-checkout from all locations.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
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
