- Home Depot Introduces New Cameras to Identify Shoplifters at Self-Checkout Kiosks
- Theft is a problem at stores in these areas.
Home Depot is using a futuristic-sounding new weapon in its arsenal to prevent shoplifting at its self-checkout counters: AI to constantly monitor customers.
Major retailers such as Walmart and Dollar General are removing self-checkout lanes in response to rising theft and customer complaints.
But Home Depot has a different solution: what it calls “computer vision.” Simply put, it’s a series of cameras monitored by computers equipped with artificial intelligence.
If there is a risk of theft, the computer will send an alert to staff.
This technology is very different to simply having security staff monitor a standard CCTV camera pointed at the area.
Home Depot Vice President Ann Marie Campbell quietly revealed the move to analysts on a recent earnings call, when she reported a sales decline this year.
Home Depot has not publicly announced the move or put up signs in its stores to warn customers.
Ann-Marie Campbell of Home Depot said “computer vision” will be used to thwart shoplifting at self-checkout kiosks.
The “computer vision” technology was initially developed by Home Depot to help its staff manage inventory.
Campbell said the service has been so successful that they are now exploring other uses for it.
“What’s really exciting is that we’re also leveraging computer vision for other applications throughout the store,” she said on a May 14 conference call.
One is a system that alerts staff if shelves are untidy or stock appears damaged, and the other targets theft, what retailers call “shrinkage.”
“We have also implemented this technology in our self-checkout facilities to mitigate losses.”
“Computer vision can identify complex or expensive carts and send signals to cashiers to help organize the customer’s cart and ensure every item is scanned and recorded.”
Home Depot’s new move: Similar works by Taraget It’s a very similar sounding technology.
Target The new system, called TruScan, uses cameras and sensors to detect items shoppers forget to scan and notifies them with audio and visual cues.
Target began rolling out the cameras several months ago and plans to have them in all of its U.S. stores by the end of the year.
Like Home Depot, Target has only shared limited details about the move with customers, preferring to provide updates to investors instead.
Major U.S. retailers are reassessing or eliminating self-checkout.
DailyMail.com reported in late April that Walmart would be removing them entirely from two more stores.
Self-checkout machines are particularly vulnerable to theft because shoplifters cannot scan items or scan low-value items.
Target is rolling out new scanners to prevent theft at its self-checkout machines, with all stores expected to have them in place by the end of the year.
Some major retailers have taken steps this year to reverse failed experiments with self-checkout machines that were designed to cut labor costs but led to increased theft.
The move is not aimed at improving customer service but is linked to an increase in theft at the kiosks.
Dollar General announced in March that it would completely remove self-checkout stations from 300 stores where it had the most incidents of shoplifting and improper scanning of items.
The company said it was replacing some of the self-checkout stations at another 9,000 stores with regular checkouts and limiting self-checkout purchases to five items or less at an additional 4,500 stores.
Kroger has also added traditional checkout lanes to stores in Texas that previously only offered self-checkouts, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Meanwhile, Costco has begun deploying extra staff to self-checkout areas to monitor shoppers and ensure all items are scanned properly, as well as to ensure membership cards aren’t shared.