To think giant supermarket scales to spot shoplifting won't work?

[SwanOfThoseThings]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rzvrjkklko

Tesco are trialling these giant scales to check trolley contents match what has been self-scanned. Surely this is going to be nothing more than a giant pain in the arse? They're never going to be sensitive enough to weigh small items, e.g. cosmetics, bar of chocolate etc. plus you might have your own shopping bags in the trolley to complicate matters.

This is not the way to go. Supermarkets need to increase the number of staffed checkouts.

Oh yes and babies/ toddlers

Also if I get a Costa in a meal deal I don't put it in the trolley as worried it will spill. So just hold it.

My local Sainsbury's has issues with theives. I've seen them walk down the street with bottles of vodka. They just grabbed them and ran out of the store! Those are the people you worry about, because they know they can just run off with it if there are no security guards and the police don't give a shit, so free booze. Unless there is some incapacitating laser/tasering system on these machines, I don't see how this will stop. Funnily enough I haven't seen any issues in the store once they hired about three security guards to man the doors.

I don’t think this is a bad idea.

The giant scales aren’t supposed to be a standalone measure to stop shoplifting. They will be used in conjunction with staff, cameras, list of items scanned, customer algorithms etc. My assumption is that the giant scales are just there to trigger a manual staff check of items scanned so they don’t need to be perfectly accurate, ie if there’s a 10% discrepancy between the expected weight and actual weight, it will just trigger a manual staff scan.

I assume the actual discrepancy percentage can be adjusted by the store, if they feel there are false positives.

I don’t think they are aiming for unscanned chocolate bars, but rather the people who don’t scan a significant proportion of their shopping.

If people have their own shopping in the trolley, it will complicate matters but presumably the manual check will go through just fine and will
update the customer algorithm. Whereas if the reason for the discrepancy was unscanned items, the manual check will be more frequent.

It's all nonsense. The deterrent has to come from the law. If the offence for any shoplifting was an immediate police caution (which was properly policed), 2nd offence community service, repeated offences prison time it'd end 90% of it ovenight. The country is soft as anything and criminals know it. The only people who have rights in the UK are criminals.

Retail businesses need protection from the courts, the police and the law and they don't get it.

Quite. I keep seeing prices such £4 for a tin of soup that would have seemed bonkers just a couple of years ago.

It's ridiculous and the government really should've stepped in by now, because these companies won't do it

My assumption is that the giant scales are just there to trigger a manual staff check of items scanned so they don’t need to be perfectly accurate, ie if there’s a 10% discrepancy between the expected weight and actual weight, it will just trigger a manual staff scan.

Then you just legitimately buy loads of heavy cheap things (tins, potatoes, milk) and nick light stuff, so it falls within the large 10% discrepancy.

Yes - some light things are expensive, e.g. cosmetics, easily £10+ for a mascara or similar but weighs very little, on the method you describe you could steal £100 worth - and it's the sort of thing that people would steal to order or to sell online.

I can see the problem with this but am I really the only person who likes Scan & Shop?

I love it!

I read that there's a supermarket up North that's abandoning self-scan.
Hooray, hope it spreads South !

The thing is, I assume Tesco aren’t intending to detect lightweight unscanned items with these trolley scales. They want to catch out the higher value theft, like people who only scan every other item of their shopping. That kind of thing is hard to manually detect in real time, because the staff and cameras would see items being scanned. The scales act as another layer to automatically check if a manual check if required, before customers leave.

Remember that these scales are just one tool at their disposal to prevent theft.

For high value/low weight items, they are usually security tagged so would flag via their security alarms. Some Tesco stores will have security stickers or cases on things like mascara for example. Other stores include things like alcohol, meat, cheese, toiletries etc.

Again the giant scales aren’t their only measure to prevent theft, I doubt it’s is intended to be a standalone item. Even their presence alone would act as a deterrent.

Does anyone know about the technology they use in Zara and Uniqlo which know what is in your basket way before you reach the self checkout?

I mean, it always slightly scares me, but it is handy not having to actually scan things. Surely, supermarkets could develop a similar system?

I was in a Zara last week that had that! It was a bit disconcerting but it seemed to work. I was only buying two items, not sure how well it would work if you were buying more.

Porcelainpig
“In years to come, actually having retail staff in a shop will become a major selling point.”
———-

Damn right.

See also airlines with workers to weigh and check in your luggage.

If the law meant that the crime of theft from shops was more serious if a shop had all staffed tills, or even a barrier that required you to scan a receipt, I wonder what the response would be from supermarkets?

It sounds ghastly. I don't shop in Tesco anyway because they piss around with pricing and bullshit schemes so much but this is even more alienating. Meanwhile shoplifting has become the nation's fastest growing hobby.

Surely it will just come to rfid tags like they do in some clothes shops where it scans the whole trolley.

@Nanny0gg I'd never go back in if they got rid of scan and shop. It's so much easier to just do it as I go.

Yes, this is the elephant in the room. What's the point in knowing who is stealing without doing anything to stop, apprehend or punish them?

At the moment, security guards can observe people stealing with their own eyes and can't realistically/safely stop them, so what difference will new tech make - unless a pair of handcuffs instantly spring out of the side of the barrier to trap the supposed thief until the police (decline to) come out?

Retailers don’t give a crap about the criminal or moral implications of shoplifting. They have no desire in stopping what’s unrealistic or might put their staff in danger. This isn’t something to stop all theft.

As you say, who can stop the person willing to grab and run? And why would you, to be honest, over a bottle of vodka that’s only a loss to Tesco’s revenue?

this is to prevent & deter the social / non professional shoplifters

I love Scan & Shop too - have done since they had it in Safeway in the mid 90s - but, as well as the inherent convenience, one thing that makes it quicker is because not all that many people use it, so there's always a free till/terminal to walk straight up to and pay immediately.

A bit like with helicopters: the main reason why they're so much quicker for getting somewhere is because the vast majority of people can't afford one. If they were as affordable as cars for Joe & Joanna Average, the skies would be absolutely clogged with them and it would probably be quicker to go on your bike!!

I quite like Scan and shop too, because yuou can pack your bags as you go. Tho half the time Tesco don't have that bit open anyway so you have to trail into the self service bit and queue there anyway!

I can't think it will be too long before a sensor identifies you as you enter the store, you quite legitimately just put whatever you want into your bag and walk out with it - past the sensor again - then your account is automatically debited for all the items that left the store with you.

Only issue I can think of is that thieves could wear some kind of signal jamming coat and walk out right behind a legitimate customer, who would then be charged for their stolen goods as well as for their own shopping.

Or just slip small, expensive items into people's bags or (pull-along personal) shopping trolleys, so that they get charged for them, and then grab them back when outside the store.

Amazon stores do this already although of course your have to scan your Amazon account/ Apple Pay

sometimes they are more or less staffed though, to help you out, and at times they must think they’re vulnerable to robbery

Or they could just hire human beings? 🤔