If you thought the security line was bad at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, wait until you see the queue of customers just trying to leave your local Loblaws.
Driving the news: Loblaw-owned grocery stores, including Superstore and Zehrs, are now testing receipt scanning systems at four locations in Ontario, part of the company’s efforts to beef up security as thefts at grocery stores and retailers rise across Canada.
- According to the CBC, the new systems block the self-checkout exit with a metal gate and only let customers leave after they’ve scanned the barcode on their receipt.
- If customers “forget” to scan their receipts, alarms ring. One shopper said that at his local Zehrs in Woodstock, he heard an alarm going off every couple of minutes.
Why it’s happening: Retail theft in Canada is up 300% since 2019, according to one estimate, collectively costing retailers ~$5 billion a year. Increasing security aims to stop the problem from getting worse.
Why it matters: The beefed-up security efforts may offend customers who are just trying to shop for groceries in peace, but unchecked petty and organized shoplifting can force businesses to raise prices and pass part of the financial burden of thefts onto consumers.
Big picture: Other major grocery stores, like Sainsbury’s in the U.K. and Safeway locations in the U.S., are already using receipt scanners, and with Loblaw already teasing the system here in Canada, other grocery chains getting hit hard by thefts could soon follow suit.—LA