Shopping
Walmart shopper demonstrates store’s AI tech catching her ‘shoplifting’ at self-checkout in TikTok skit
A Walmart shopper shamelessly filmed herself “shoplifting” at the self-checkout and getting caught by the company’s AI-powered cameras — in an apparent skit posted to TikTok.
“POV: When you usually don’t get caught and now you’re banned for 2 years from all Walmarts in my area,” TikTokker Nesha wrote over the video — which has over 2.2 million views but was actually all for show with no real ban.
The clip shows the woman scanning and bagging a few items through the self-checkout system at a Walmart store and pretending to scan a backpack before putting it in her shopping bag without dinging the barcode.
The computer screen soon lights up with a pop-up notification that says, “Associate is on the way,” which prevents her from scanning additional items or checking out.
When an alleged worker comes over and scans her card, the screen changes to a “Missed Scan Detected” message that includes an overhead video recording of the customer dragging the backpack over the scanning area without scanning the barcode.
Nesha then pans her camera over to the woman, who is covering her mouth as she laughs.
“Even though she laughed … she called the manager, police and had us escorted outside,” Nesha wrote in the caption alongside “#stealinggonewrong.”
But Walmart said that never happened and the incident — along with the supposed police response and two-year ban — was all made up.
However, shoplifting at self-checkout machines is a common issue for many retailers.
Around 15% of shoppers admitted to having purposefully stolen an item or a few at self-checkouts — and of those, only 33% were caught, according to a 2023 LendingTree survey.
Walmart has increased anti-shoplifting measures as it reportedly loses an estimated $3 billion a year due to theft, according to Gitnux. Artificial intelligence has been one of the tools the Arkansas-based retail giant has introduced in recent years to catch possible thieves.
“Missed Scan Detection” uses AI-powered cameras to cut down theft and inventory losses and was first implemented at Walmart stores beginning in 2017, according to Business Insider.
More recently, the megastore chain has implemented nearly invisible barcodes on its store-branded items that allow items to be scanned by passing through the scanning area without the need to directly scan a singular barcode.
The new technology is part of a $3 million deal with Digimarc.
But even with the additional measures, some Walmart locations have seen high levels of theft and self-checkout areas were scrapped altogether. The company, however, said it was part of a wider move to improve the “in-store shopping experience.”
In a statement to The Post, a Walmart spokesperson said the company “does not publicly disclose security measures in our stores.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information from the retailer that the TikTok video in question was a skit.
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