Self-checkout theft causing problems for retailers — and shoppers who despise receipt checks

For Brian Simpson, a recent routine shopping trip to a Canadian Tire store in Toronto turned into an unsettling experience. He says after paying for his items at a self-checkout, a security guard blocked him from exiting and demanded to see his receipt.

"It made me feel like a suspect, like I had done something wrong," Simpson said. "I don't like that they're ... painting us all with the same brush, that they're assuming that everyone who uses self-checkout is going to steal."

The Retail Council of Canada (RCC) told CBC News that shoplifting is on the rise and that it's working with retailers on solutions. Some major retailers have adopted random receipt checks in selected stores, but the practice has sparked backlash from shoppers, who say they shouldn't have to pay the price for self-checkout theft.

"It's treating us like criminals because of the changes that they made to the store because of this expansion of self-checkout," said John McCracken, who encountered a receipt check warning sign last month at a Loblaw-owned Superstore just outside Halifax.

"If you've ever used the self-checkouts, you know how unbelievably easy it is to rip them off."

So just how bad is the self-checkout theft problem — and is it the driving force behind receipt checks? CBC News put those questions to Canadian Tire, Walmart and Loblaw Companies Ltd., which have each incorporated the checks in some capacity. None directly answered the questions.

Canadian Tire said in an email that receipt and bag checks, which are left up to the discretion of individual store owners, are commonly used in the industry for "inventory control." Walmart said receipt checks can be used for theft prevention, but it didn't specify what type of theft. Loblaw directed comment to the RCC, but the retail council said it doesn't track self-checkout losses.

So CBC News turned to criminologist Adrian Beck, who has studied self-checkout theft for more than a decade. He said it's a growing problem due to the expansion of self-checkout machines and the fact that thieves feel the risk of getting caught is low.

"We've got a larger proportion of people using them, and quite a lot of people now are feeling more comfortable about how you might be able to use and abuse these systems," said Beck, an emeritus professor at the University of Leicester in England.

As part of an industry-funded study published in 2022, Beck surveyed 93 retailers (he wouldn't provide names) spread across 25 countries that have incorporated self-checkout technology.

According to the study, retailers estimated that as much as 23 per cent of their store losses were due to a combination of theft and customer error at self-checkouts.

Two-thirds of the retailers said self-checkout-related losses were a growing concern.

Sometimes customers make honest mistakes at self-checkout, such as accidentally failing to scan an item. Beck said that can embolden thieves to steal, because they feel they have a good excuse if they get caught. 

"I can simply say, 'You know what, I'm sorry, I've obviously made a mistake. The machine was difficult to use,'" he said. "The real issue that retailers have is they find it very difficult to prove that I am a thief as opposed to a poor scanner."