Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
My statement does not "assume that customers are criminals." It merely states the realities of the product market. How many stores do you know of that have no locks or security?
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Quite a few, actually. Around here a lot of the big stores (grocery stores, hardware stores, etc) are going to the "self checkout" model. You walk up to a machine, scan your own products, and then pay via an ATM type interface. There is no human working the register, and usually no security staff standing by the door checking bags. The whole things is based on the "honor system".
Such companies have publicly stated that yes, they do see an increase in theft, however they rely on the fact that most people are honest. In the end they end up making more money, even with the increased theft, because of cost savings that the automation provides.
Some people will always steal from them, but they know that lowering costs and increasing value to their customers will mean the ones who do pay will keep coming back.