REUTERS/Marco Bello
(New York, NY) — A new study from Lending Tree finds just over one in four shoppers admit to stealing items while scanning their groceries in the self checkout line. It’s a huge jump from a similar study in 2023 that found 15% of shoppers said they never paid for items they cart through self checkout. Some of those who took part in the study say they felt pressure to shoplift because of skyrocketing prices for everyday items like coffee, beef and fruits and vegetables like apples, bananas, and tomatoes.
In the survey of over 2,000 U.S. adults Lending Tree found Millennials (41%) were most likely to skip scanning items followed by Gen Z adults (37%). Just 2% of Baby Boomers said they stole from grocery stores while checking out. Men (38%) were more than twice as likely as women (16%) to admit theft. The biggest surprise for researchers were that households with incomes over $100,000 were more likely to steal (40%) than those making under $30,000 (17%)
So, what are retailers and grocery chains doing to stop or even slow down the thefts? Some stores have ripped out all self check out registers from their stores because the losses have been so large. For Dollar General that meant self checkout was removed from 12,000 stores across the country. Some Target stores will now only let customers with 10 items or less use self checkout. Even Amazon, which prided itself on their “Just Walk Out” cashierless stores have begun pulling back on that strategy.
Psychologists say they are fascinated by the rise in theft in checkout lines, that more often than not are being carried our by shoppers who would never dream of stealing an item while walking the aisles. So why do they feel comfortable doing it at self check out? Some observers say it just the lax oversight that emboldens shoppers to feel like they can get away with it. While others say they feel they are owed something for free for being a loyal longtime customer.
Police departments across the Tri-State say they regularly respond to calls for shoplifting and point out that stealing an item while in line is a serious crime. They say they have cuffed many a shopper in recent years who were shocked to be busted for shoplifting in the self checkout line.
