Sainsbury’s has become the latest supermarket to install cameras on self-service checkouts, with one major difference: you can watch yourself back VAR-style.
The new tills record shoppers as they scan their items, then playback video clips where you’ve failed to scan a barcode properly.
Customers will receive a warning, stating: ‘It looks like that last item didn’t scan. Please check you scanned it correctly before continuing.’
On social media, one disgruntled shopper called the move ‘more big brother tactics with more surveillance’ while others called for a boycott.
The update has been introduced in a bid to tackle the rising problem of shoplifting faced by supermarkets.
Why are supermarkets cracking down on theft?
Recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the number of shoplifting offences in England and Wales rose by 20% last year.
A total of 516,971 offences were recorded, compared to 429,873 in 2023. In London alone, offences rose from 58,000 to nearly 90,000 in 2024.
The rising cost of living will explain some incidences, but Metro recently spoke to ‘casual kleptos’ who can afford food, but feel entitled to steal from big businesses.
Matilda, 25, from London, told us: ‘I’ll take things that are quite small and will go in my bag. Like cheese or halloumi or toothpaste. Just things that are quite small but kind of expensive.
‘I like to give myself three for two deals. I’ll pay for two things and steal one.’
Cases like this add up though. Crime cost retailers £4.2 billion last year, according to data from Grocery Gazette. That figure includes £2.2bn from shoplifting losses and a further £1.8bn spent on crime prevention measures, such as CCTV, additional security personnel, anti-theft devices and body worn cameras.
Interestingly, grocer chain Booths pledged to remove its self-service checkouts last year to improve customer satisfaction and tackle losses. MD Nigel Murray recently said the reversal has actually caused a reduction in theft, because so-called ‘middle-class’ shoplifters had been incorrectly scanning or weighing goods, sometimes inadvertently.
What do customers think of the new checkouts?
Author and social commentator Carl Vernon recently posted a YouTube video about the new Sainsbury’s checkouts to his 51,000 subscribers.
One viewer, @TheRailwayTourManager, accused the supermarket of punishing ‘law abiding members of the public’.
‘It’s like a bad manager at work, who, because ONE person has done something they shouldn’t, everyone gets tarred with the same brush and has some sort of restriction or sanction imposed on them,’ he said. ‘Deal with the person causing the issue, not make everyone else suffer for something they didn’t do!’
User @_indrid_cold_ went as far as calling for a boycott, saying: ‘I would never dream of stealing, but I detest and deeply resent what’s happening now in supermarkets.
‘I just wish that the public could be a bit more organised and properly boycott them until they get the message and take their intrusive spyware away.’
Dozens of commenters said they refuse to use self-service checkouts full stop, with @lairdkilbarchan joking: ‘Sainsbury’s should offer a bonus for shoppers who also stack their own shelves. Do a pallet of beans and double your points!’
Sainsbury’s did not respond directly to the criticism of the new tills, but a spokesperson told Metro: ‘We regularly review the security measures in our stores and our decisions to implement them are based on a range of factors, including offering our customers a smooth checkout experience.’
MORE: Full list of supermarket May Day bank holiday 2025 opening times including Tesco, Aldi and Morrisons
MORE: Supermarket own-brand Coke hailed ‘as good as real thing’ — and it costs just 49p
MORE: Full list of supermarket opening times on May Day bank holiday 2025 including Tesco, Aldi and Morrisons
#Sainsburys #customers #deeply #resent #upgrade #selfservice #checkouts
