Could Self-Checkouts Be Disappearing In Texas?

It’s safe to say that every Texas shopper has a love-hate relationship with self-checkout at grocery stores.

I enjoyed being able to use the self-checkout lane whenever I just didn’t feel like socializing with people or if I had only one item and needed to be in and out of the store quickly.

However, whenever I had to do my monthly grocery shopping I was not a fan of the small space provided for groceries when I was using self-checkout, and I hated when a product wouldn’t scan correctly so I had to wait until an employee would come to my lane to help me out!

Well, for those of you who are not a fan of self-checkouts, they may be a thing of the past- but wait, it’s only in California, for now.

According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, sticky-fingered shoppers cost retailers a jaw-dropping $112 billion in losses in 2022. Many California businesses that use self-checkouts are blaming these self-checkout lanes for that huge loss in inventory!

According to an online news report, a social media post from a Walmart in West Hills showed the self-checkout lanes roped off with the post reading, “All Wal-Marts have removed self-checkouts due to theft.”

The article went on to say that they reached out to a Walmart spokesperson to see if self-checkout lanes were going away forever and the only response they received was:

“We’re always looking at ways to innovate and improve our stores. We have nothing to announce related to self-checkout removals at this time.”

Other chains, including Costco, have been dealing with the issue, saying that “shrink,” or the measure by which chains track retail theft, has increased in part due to the rollout of self-checkout.

So, who knows if self-checkout lanes will eventually fade out? I know that self-checkout lanes in El Paso are still going strong. So strong that sometimes I even wonder why grocery stores even have regular registers when I rarely see them being used!

But, all we know is that shoppers who take advantage of the self-checkout lanes are going to be the reason self-checkout lanes could become a thing of the past! So, next time you want to “accidentally” forget to scan that pack of gum, THINK AGAIN!