Stores drop popular feature as losses add up

NewsBig stores like Target have been cracking down on self-checkouts for years now. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)APBy Claudia Dimuro | cdimuro@pennlive.comIt seems like it was just yesterday that retailers were excitedly touting self-checkouts as cost-saving measures.Recently, though, not so much.Fast Company reports that — according to an April survey from Toast — 36 percent of small and midsize retailers confirmed they were using self-checkouts this year. This is a decline from the 43 percent seen in 2025, indicating a seven-point year-over-year decline.As for why, ECR Retail Loss states that self-checkouts might be costing stores more than they’re worth: Grocery stores in particular suffered a 22 percent increase in merchandise losses a year after installing the technology due to retail theft and check-out errors such as missed scans. The report notes that stores that had self-checkouts experienced up to 147 percent more losses than those without. Stores have been struggling with self-checkouts for quite some time now: Retailing giants like Target have tested out limiting the amount of items scanned at self-checkouts in order to mitigate such issues. One Walmart in Philadelphia got rid of them entirely. Interestingly, Scripps News notes that 77 percent of people who have expressed their preference in using self-checkout like doing so because it’s faster. “For someone buying a few items, self-checkout can be convenient,” professor of food distribution at Dalhousie University, Sylvain Charlebois, tells Inc. “For a full grocery cart, repeated alerts and requests for assistance can make it frustrating.“My interpretation is that some retailers expanded the technology beyond the transactions it handles best.” Amazon sees huge grocery growth despite store closuresTaco Bell recovers after cyclospora outbreak: ‘Continuing to play offense’Cult chicken chain to open 12 new spotsClaudia covers trending and breaking news stories across the United States. She previously worked as a digital reporter for PennLive.com, where she covered a range of topics from metal music to consumer news to...