Two Walmart stores remove self-checkout machines as retail giants re-think the self-service option
Retailers such as Target, Dollar General and Five Below have reduced their self-service check out machines
A Walmart associate operates an autonomous forklift around the distribution center. (Credit: Walmart)
Walmart is scaling back on its self-checkout machines at two stores, as more retail giants are reducing the self-service option at their stores, citing an effort to combat theft.
A Walmart in a suburb of St. Louis, Mo, recently began removing self-checkout machines, CBS News reported on Friday. Another location in Cleveland also did earlier this month.
The retail giant pointed Fox News Digital to a statement to the media.
"As part of our announced plans for additional investments and improvements to facilities across the country, we’ve decided to remove self-checkout lanes and replace them with staffed lanes at select locations including at our Shrewsbury, Missouri, store," the statement said.
Self service checkout, Walmart megastore, North Carolina. (Self service checkout, Walmart megastore, North Carolina. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
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"These decisions were based on several factors, including feedback from associates and customers, shopping patterns and business needs in the area. We believe the changes will improve the in-store shopping experience and give our associates the chance to provide more personalized and efficient service," the statement continued.
"We believe the change will improve the in-store shopping experience and give our associates the chance to provide more personalized and efficient service," a Walmart spokesperson told Business Insider about the changes.
Five Below announced in March that it would be cutting back on its self-check out machines in an effort to reduce theft.
The company has "now evolved" to associate-assisted checkout across its over 1,500 locations, CEO Joel Anderson said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. He said Five Below locations susceptible to more "shrink," an industry term referring to lost or stolen merchandise, are mostly offering cashier-run checkouts. The retailer is also adding receipt checking, extra employees and more security guards at such stores, according to Anderson.
Target converted its self-checkout option to "express," which requires 10 items or fewer at all self-check-out registers.
A shopping cart outside a Walmart store in Richmond, California, on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The managing director for retail at GlobalData, Neil Saunders, told CBS that stores wanted to see how pulling back on self-checkout would play out.
"Self-checkout is an area of the store people can steal things," Saunders said. "Retailers are very actively trying to reduce it, or in Target's case, put more restrictions around self-checkout to try to reduce the losses they incur from it."
Dollar General is also pulling back on self-checkout machines, Fox News Digital previously reported.
A sign hangs above a Dollar General store on August 31, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The company announced last month it is set to remove the self-checkout option from 300 stores experiencing the biggest loss of merchandise.
Dollar General, in addition to providing an assisted checkout option, is also limiting self-checkout to transactions consisting of five items or fewer.
Fox News' Aislinn Murphy and Danielle Genovese contributed to this report.