Having to "buzz for booze"

[Elendel]

I understand why supermarkets do this, I really do. Theft, especially en masse, is a huge problem, and alcohol is among the most commonly stolen items. The locked shelves even look neat and smart.

However, I find the system hugely off-putting.

I feel like I'm being treated like a naughty child when I have to press the button and wait for a member of staff to get me a bottle of spirits (I like a good cocktail on a weekend).

I cannot go and read the bottle labels and explore new brands and flavours as I need to point at what I want and it is gotten within the shortest time possible before the doors are locked again.

The waiting around is inconvenient. I hate food shopping and try to do it in as little time as possible. I had to wait around a few minutes and felt compelled to make small talk with the elderly gentleman who was also waiting. I hate small talk at the best of times.

The waiting around is embarrassing. It wouldn't be too bad if I could press the button and the thing silently sent a message to a nearby member of staff. Instead, a loud, automatic voice keeps reminding me that they have alerted a member of staff to assist me. Again, for several minutes. I work in a school and prefer to buy my booze discreetly rather than announcing it to the whole shop, which may well contain some of my charges who'd just love to text their mates that Miss is buying raspberry-flavoured vodka.

It inconveniences staff. My local store has massively reduced its workforce since the introduction of self-service tills to the point that only one member of staff (who also has to hand out bags as they get taken, too) who runs around like a headless chicken between 20 tills the entire time. Shelves are barely restocked in busy times as it is and now it's ANOTHER thing on the list of staff to do.

I am a gentle person with a fair bit of patience. Many people around me really are not. So I assume that staff will now face even more abuse due to the inconvenience and waiting times.

I am honestly waiting to see what happens in the long run. Will the gain from less theft make up for the loss in custom? Will it make up for the maintenance and inevitable damage that will occur with these lockboxes? Will other stores have to follow suit as they will now have an increased share of shoplifters because it is far more convenient? Will meat, cheese and other high-value foods be next?

Yes, my liver will probably be grateful because I will drink far less, and my wallet will be happier because on the occasions I do, I will likely switch to wine. But for god's sake, are all the little pleasures in life slowly being taken away from us law-abiding folk because a few arseholes are spoiling it all for everyone else.

But that’s why staff have to approve alcohol transactions at the till.

Don't shop in stores in a high crime area, or ones that suffer (or just attempt to prevent) shoplifting?
I spotted this type of arrangement in local aldi - the M&S next door did not have similar measures in place.

Or even support your local independent off licence.

OP I work in a supermarket, and the On Demand Groceries (Uber eats, Deliveroo et al) have taken off in a huge way in the past couple of years. And thefts also - of everything, baby food, alcohol, high value meats...not to mention the violence that comes with that.

So I can see the day coming when ALL supermarkets will cater solely to it - you won't be able to go into a physical store, you'll have to do it all online and either deliveroo it, or click and collect. And pay for the privilege, obvs. But at least there will not be the thefts (which drive up prices for everyone) or the security (ditto) and even the shop overheads will be reduced, as there won't be actual shops.

The shopper, tho will have to pay for the delivery or for the collection.

@ThinWomansBrain Don't shop in stores in a high crime area, or ones that suffer (or just attempt to prevent) shoplifting? -Riiiiight. I work in a high end supermarket, in a 'naice' suburban town. Our security guard was recently clubbed to the ground by 4 local youths (between 14-16yo) with the bottle of vodka they'd stolen from us. He'd got brain damage and will likely never recover. he is early 20s, with a wife and small child.

It happens everywhere.

This isn't going to be practical for a lot of people. Not everyone can travel to another town to do their shopping. Not everyone can afford to shop in M&S instead. Not everyone has a "local independent off licence" and if they do its likely to be more expensive.

Once the lifters can't get their mitts on the booze they'll move on to something elseIf. It'll not be long before the coffee is behind locked doors. And the nappies. Then the rest of the toiletries. Then all the fresh meat. Shopping in store will become less and less attractive. Maybe that's their end game.

You're right, I was thinking of amazon fresh orders, which do have all of that.

However, I have just had a look out of curiosity. It's, as expected, more expensive to buy via amazon compared to my local supermarket. And of course I get a delivery day, which means having to wait in the whole of Sunday (the only day I am realistically home most of the time) and delivery can be up to 10pm. As I said, it's my own convenience being impacted.

I never wait in for Amazon deliveries. Set a safe place or have them ordered to a pick up location! And yes, some things are more ££ than at supermarkets but tbh a lot of alcohol is cheaper from Amazon than anywhere else, especially if you keep an eye on their deals/offers.

When I worked in a supermarket (a long time ago) we had to have one security guard in the beers, wines and spirits aisle the majority of the time. It was a huge problem. Am guessing this is a cheaper option but agree it’s a pain for the staff.

I don’t tend to buy spirits on the online shop as they often forget to remove the tags.

Please don't go to Dunelm. They have bedding under lock and key.

It's not just morrisons, some tescos have it too

Can you order alcohol from Amazon to a pick up location? How do they do the age check?

It's not illegal to pick up a bottle of alcohol from a supermarket shelf if you're under 18.

It's about theft !

My coop does this . It I understand why. Last year I was perusing the vodka on offer and a man came in with an ikea. Bag and swept about 15 bottles of booze off the shelves... and walked out .. the security guards are not paid enough to put their lives at risk !

TBH no one is paid enough..
this system is set up to stop this ... and I'm in an extremely rural tiny market town - not London !!

I’ve stopped buying spirits in Tesco as the security packaging makes the labels hard to read!
Sainsburys and Waitrose will have to remain my go to apart from an occasional online order

I went past the aisle today and saw two people in the very short time I paid attention having a "nope" moment and moving on. The aisle is normally busy at this time in the evening with people browsing; it was empty. I was in the clothes section opposite while my child was selecting a shirt, so less than a minute.

I do wonder how much custom is lost due to this.

They have this is my local Aldi. I've never seen it in use, but I don't buy alcohol very often. It would definitely put me off. Although it's much cheaper at Aldi than other places so I probably would still buy the occasional bottle from there

All of the checkouts are self-checkouts and you need to get checked by the staff before buying any alcohol, so it's definitely more about theft than age checks.