WALMART has rolled out new anti-theft technology to help ease shoppers with its most time-consuming and frustrating complaint.
Retail corporations have continued to seek resolutions that would help mitigate the escalating retail theft crisis gripping the nation.
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One of the top complaints infuriating shoppers is the anti-theft plexiglass displays that require the assistance of an employee.
For a customer to buy a product locked behind a display, shoppers must either press a customer assistance button near the display or track down a store employee who can unlock the shelf.
However, shoppers have voiced their frustrations on social media about the new norm at department stores, with some customers outright abandoning their shopping carts due to extreme wait times to access items behind the locked shelves.
Now, Walmart has begun testing new technology to soothe its customers’ shopping experience.
The new technology lets employees use an app on their work devices to unlock anti-theft displays for customers from anywhere on the floor.
The system is currently being tested at several hundred Walmart locations, according to Bloomberg.
Walmart has also considered the possibility of giving customers access to the feature.
Walmart+ subscribers could potentially have access to the feature, the outlet reported.
Walmart+ subscribers already have several perks, such as free shipping and Scan and Go functionality, which allows members to bypass checkout lanes and pay directly from their mobile devices.
“Most decisions that Walmart makes – most big decisions – check more than one box,” retail strategist Carol Spieckherman told Business Insider.
Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The U.S. Sun.
The technology is the latest effort by US retailers to clamp down on shoplifting, which cost businesses more than $121 billion in 2023, according to Capital One’s Shopping statistics.
US retailers like Target and Walmart have begun limiting the number of items customers can purchase at self-checkout lanes.
Some companies have also installed more cameras and hired additional security guards at exit posts.
Walmart company Sam’s Club has recently installed new artificial intelligence technology at its exits.
Sam’s Club said the new AI system automatically scans all of a shopper’s items and confirms their proof of purchase on their way out.
The high-tech system, which has been rolled out at all of Sam’s Club’s locations, significantly reduces wait times.
Retailers across the US and Canada have rolled out strategies designed to combat theft. The U.S. Sun has compiled a list of measures that have been implemented at stores.
