A survey of 2,600 people showed 57 per cent take about £15 of items a month, with more than half saying they became frustrated and were confident they wouldn’t be caught. Read On
The top five reasons people gave for stealing items from self-service checkouts were:
1. Gave up trying to scan something that wouldn’t register – 57 per cent
2. Less likely to get caught – 51 per cent
3. The machine is easy to fool – 47 per cent
4. Didn’t have enough money – 32 per cent
5. At the time I didn’t realise it hadn’t scanned – six per cent
The top items people admit stealing from self service checkouts:
1. Fruit/vegetables 67 per cent
2. Bakery 41 per cent
3. Confectionery 32 per cent
4. Toiletries 26 per cent
George Charles, spokesperson for VoucherCodesPro.co.uk which did the survey, said: “I’m sure most of those who now admit to stealing via self-service checkouts didn’t initially set out to do so – they may have forgotten to scan something and quickly realised how easy it could be to take items without scanning them.”
Some admitted they decided to pilfer goods from scanners because they believed they were less likely to get caught.
When asked why they stole items 32 per cent said they realised they didn’t have enough money to pay for the goods while 41 per cent said the machines were easier to fool.
Mr Charles added: “Supermarkets need to increase the number of staff who monitor the self-scan checkouts, even though the point of these checkouts is to reduce the need for staff, as well as increase their security measures to ensure this comes to an end.
“It’s not worth getting into trouble with the police over the matter of a few pieces of fruit and veg.”
The latest crime survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found theft reached its highest level in nine years last year, with the average value increasing to £177 per incident.
The BRC estimates there were around 2.7 million incidences of theft, adding a direct cost to retailers of £511 million.