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Walmart joins other big retailers in scaling back on self-checkout

Retailers are ditching and limiting shelf-checkout at some stores, particularly those hit by theft and customer complaints.

Self-checkout increased in popularity among retailers and customers during the pandemic, allowing shoppers to limit their contact with others and helping to relieve a labor shortage that made staffing registers more difficult. Walmart revenue up, Home Depot sales down in 4th quarter reports05:12 Still, rising theft — part of what retailers call "shrink" — is the primary reason self-checkout is being ditched in some stores and restricted in others, according to Saunders. "Self-checkout is an area of the store people can steal things," said the analyst, who noted that shoppers also make genuine mistakes, such as not scanning items properly.

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