Yahoo Finance Woolies reveals moves to catch shoplifters
Woolworths has revealed a raft of new controversial security measures that could be rolled out across its stores in a bid to curb what it says is rampant shoplifting.
The supermarket giant is trialling automatic gates and new hi-tech sensors at its Fairfield store in NSW, with other sites planned for expansion.
The new sensor technology would stop shoplifters dead in their tracks. The store says it’s an additional measure to reduce stock loss and keep staff and customers safe.
A Woolworths spokesman said the rollout would also include stores in Wentworthville and Randwick Metro in NSW, along with stores in Moorabbin, Millers Junction and Woodgrove in Victoria.
Sensors located on the roof would identify when someone enters the self-checkout area, assigning them a digital ID.
Alongside the digital ID will be a red marker until the customer has paid at one of the checkouts, at which point it will turn green.
Once green, the gate will automatically open when the customer has walked up to it.
The Woolworths spokesman said customers would be unidentifiable throughout the process and each digital ID would be deleted when they left the store.
Signage will be located at the front of the store and at the entry to the self-serve checkout area to notify customers of the trial.
In a demonstration to 7 News, Woolworths spokesman Mark van den Bosch showed how the gates remained shut when he tried to take goods he hadn’t paid for out of the store.
“We’ve seen an increased activity of non-paying customers,” Mr van den Bosch said.
A Woolworths spokesman said crime was increasing in stores.
“We continue to look at additional measures that will help reduce retail crime; however, we do understand that most customers do the right thing at the checkout,” the spokesman said.
Data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) reveals retail theft was up 23 per cent in the last two years to December 2022.
It follows large declines during 2020-21 from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, BOCSAR said crime volumes for retail theft were returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Woolworths’ new measures are in addition to the drastic announcement that customers would be filmed at self-serve check-outs as part of new security updates.
The trial, which began at Seven Hills in Sydney’s west last year but then expanded to hundreds of stores along the east coast, was to stop “accidental” wrong scans in case people were trying to scan expensive items as cheaper ones.
