Major Retailers Reverting To Human Cashiers After Noticeable Inventory Loss

Major U.S. retailers are reverting back to the traditional means of checking out items from stores, using employees rather than self-checkout counters after suffering from a noticeable drop in inventories.

After many years of investing in self-checkout counters to reduce labor costs, retailers are switching back to the tried-and-true method now that declining inventories have proved cost prohibitive.

NBC News reported that Dollar General, one of the major retailers in the U.S., has eliminated self-checkout counters in about 12,000 of its locations. The retailer started the process of eliminating the counters from majority of its stores during the first quarter of the year.

Also following suit is Five Below. It is now working on removing self-checkout counters in areas considered as "highest-risk" after also seeing inventory disappear due to shoplifting.

Another retailer that seeks to revert to having their employees handle checkout counters is Target, which has already announced steps to eliminate self-checkout options at a number of stores this year.

In April, The Sun reported that Walmart also opted to eliminate self-checkout counters from a number of stores. This return to the traditional way of checking out is happening among retailers that once touted the perceived benefits of fully-self service stores.

In 2022, Dollar General touted the self-checkout technology as having the capability to "enhance the convenience proposition, while enabling our associates to dedicate even more time to serving customers." The company tested stores, providing 100 self-checkout kiosks in hundreds of locations before making the move nationwide.

The U-turn made by retailers comes amid their efforts to curb the loss of inventory, or "shrinks," which could be through theft, whether by employees or shoppers, or through error. A number of companies making the shift point to shoplifting as the primary reason behind the shrinkage.

Claire Tassin, an analyst at Morning Consult said that the occurrence of shrinks at self-checkout counters can be intentional or accidental. She explained that there may be people who would just pretend to scan something and bag it in. A survey by LendingTree last year revealed that 15% of the respondents admitted to stealing while using these self-checkout counters.