Regular shoppers turned part-time thieves

Self-checkouts emerged quickly in the country to make it more convenient for shoppers who are in a hurry.

But apparently, these smart machines, have become a crime of opportunity for some shoppers.

Walmart, Shoppers, and even Dollarama now have self-checkout counters. Shoppers get to be cashiers, scanning the items and putting it in their shopping bags. It sounds very simple. You get to do everything on your own.

But again, since you’re alone, you can just not scan the item at all and secretly just put it in your bag. These cases have happened and it’s one of the reasons why Walmart began having security checks before heading out of the store. Just like Costco.

These “part-time thieves” have different tactics on stealing. For beginners, they steal plastic bags that cost a couple of cents. But for professionals? It can be skipping an item unscanned, not weighing an item correctly to get a cheaper price, or declaring a cheaper priced item.

Using self-checkouts does offer convenience for shoppers, but for some, it’s a difficult test of honesty.