Bargain store Action to ditch self-scan checkout after shoplifting increase

Budget supermarket chain Action has started removing self-scan checkout counters at several branches. Employees told RTL Nieuws that the store decided to do so due to increased shoplifting, but a spokesperson for the Action headquarters said that is “not so much” the reason.

In recent weeks, the self-scan checkout counter disappeared from Action branches in The Hague, Lelystad, Amsterdam, Purmerend, and Hoofddorp, among others. A customer of the Action on Zeedijk in Hilversum told RTL: “I asked an employee why that was, and I got the answer that it was decided because there is so much stealing. So I had to get back in line.”

An Action spokesperson confirmed to the broadcaster that it removed the self-scan counters, which the chain started using in 2019, from some stores. “We are constantly looking at how we can improve the customer experience. The self-scan is relatively new, especially for Action. We, and our customers, still have to learn from this, and by testing it, we learn what the best way is,” the spokesperson said.

Shoplifting has increased since the introduction of self-scan counters, but according to the Action spokesperson, that is “not so much” the reason for the counters’ removal.

Shoplifting incidents increased by 30 percent in 2022, according to recent police figures. The police did not look specifically at shoplifting via self-scan counters, but retail experts link the increase directly to it. It’s relatively easy to scan only every second product on your way out of the store.

NOS also recently reported that young supermarket employees feel unsafe when working the self-scan counter. They report customers throwing products at them, calling them names, or even threatening them when they ask to check their baskets.