Self-service checkouts can be beyond annoying.
A new report from Leicester University shows supermarket losses more than double when the technology is used.
According to the study, the removal of human contact not only makes theft easier it makes it feel a lot less riskier as well.
But other reasons for increased losses include:
The study showed that the rate of loss at shops using self-scan technology increased by an average of 122%.
- It creates a ‘ready made excuse’ for non-scanning behaviour
- Retailers struggle to identify if customers meant to scan items or not
- It is so easy customers who wouldn’t normally consider stealing are more tempted to commit crime
- Some customers become so frustrated they feel justified in doing it
‘There are a few ways for a customer to “steal” and it be difficult to pin them down,’ a loss-prevention expert at a major supermarket told Metro.co.uk.
‘It’s very easy for a customer to say they didn’t realise it didn’t scan, there’s also a new way with pretending to tap contactless payments, even if the amount is above the contactless threshold.
‘It’s very easy to say they forgot or they didn’t realise.’
So how on earth does this keep happening?
‘Fewer people are there to manage the shop tills,’ the expert says.
‘They put the newest or worst member of staff on the self-service tills because people hate that job.
‘But the best one should be put on it.
‘The ideal number should be one staff member for four tills.
‘That never happens. You’ll have one person managing the whole bank of self’
Source
Thoughts?