Some Walmart employees say customers are getting hostile at self-checkout — and they blame anti-theft tech::When Walmart’s anti-theft self-checkout tech alerts an employee of a missed scan, it can cause some uncomfortable situations.

  • TwoGems@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’d get hostile too. This wastes literally everyone’s time, employee and customer. Walmart and other companies already write off all their losses as tax write offs. It would actually be more cost efficient to do literally nothing. But it’s not about preventing theft. It’s about proving a point: that corporations control you.

    • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m sorry but I don’t think that makes very much sense.

      Retail theft is a real problem for a company’s bottom line. Enough so that Target is pulling out of San Francisco, IIRC. And self-checkout is one of the easiest ways to pull it off.

      Why would a corporation frantically seeking quarter over quarter growth spend money to “prove a point” about control?

      • GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Enough so that Target is pulling out of San Francisco, IIRC

        https://www.businessinsider.com/target-closing-stores-due-to-crime-stats-tell-another-story-2023-10?op=1

        ehhhhhhhhhhhhh. They’re blaming theft, but that’s not it. Theft might be a part of it, but the stats nearby contradict that. We don’t have access to their internal theft metrics, but the city data doesn’t pan out. When there are stores (mission district) that have higher theft and are staying open, then is it really theft?

        Or is it poor retail performance since WFH is the new king and people live in the suburbs more than in the city. When continue to order online more and more instead of shop at a physical store.

        Theft is an easy way to blame other people without providing evidence. It’s not the CEO’s failure to adapt to changing market conditions, it’s the poors! It’s their fault! /s

      • floppade [he/him]@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        So is CEO greed though. And they could choose to use that money to balance their budget, not ruin my experience of being out and about.

        • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yes, they absolutely could and should. That wasn’t my point. I just don’t think it makes any sense to say that they made the change to their self checkout to “prove a point” about controlling people.

      • comfy@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        I’ll call for their manager and attack the manager specifically. Is there a term for that yet?