Bargain supermarket chain makes major change to self-checkouts in all UK stores in new crackdown

A BUDGET supermarket is cracking down on shoplifting by bringing in a major change to self-checkouts.

The retailer is attempting to stamp out theft after stats show a staggering increase in over the past few years.

is deploying AI cameras that will automatically spot items leaving the shop that haven't been scanned.

If anyone leaves the store after using the self-checkout, without having scanned a product, the hi-tech cameras will flag to staff that something is being stolen.

Home Bargains is collaborating with tech firm SAI, Storewide Active Intelligence, and AI-business Everseen to install the software into its CCTV.

SAI described the as converting regular security cameras into “specialised and capable in-store AI assistants.”

As of right now, there are only four Home Bargains branches with self-checkout services.

In these four sites, there are six self-checkouts per staff member so employees can keep an eye on them.

This is to keep shoplifters at bay, as customers have been spotted sneakily placing items in their carrier bags without scanning the barcode.

Another attempts includes an act known as “sweet-hearting” where a shop assistant will turn a blind eye to friends and family who don't scan items.

However this new anti-theft software can detect “misscans” and catch any item that has passed the checkout without being included in the basket total.

Paul Rowland, Home Bargains Operations Director, told The Grocer the chain found the tech had a stronger impact than security guards.

He said it was their priority to protect staff from crime by eliminating it before it happens.

AI isn't the only tech Home Bargains is implementing to clamp down on shoplifting as it has also teamed up with Facewatch and Auror.

Facewatch takes profiles from a large database and is able to detect shoppers who have been known to steal items.

Auror pulls together evidence of theft across a range of retailers to show the when an individual is thought to have stolen more than £200.

Supermarkets have been seen slapping extra security on a range of items in-store including cheese, cosmetics and even Easter eggs.

With higher costs of living, and the continued effects of lockdown there has been a nationwide increase in shoplifting.

Stores are therefore taking extra precautions adding anti-theft devices, security officers, and CCTV.

The described the UK's shoplifting epidemic as “out of control.”

In a report released in January, they revealed that violence and abuse have skyrocketed by over 50 per cent in the past year and a shocking 340 per cent since 2020.

Levels are now at over 2,000 incidents every single day with a total £2.2 billion in losses as a direct result of customer theft in total.