Target's checkout changes stop retail theft at a heavy cost

Target has limited self-checkout to 10 items or less in many stores
Many traditional checkout lanes are not being manned.
This has led to long lines in some cases.

Retailers want self-checkout to work because it saves them money. They may not come out and say that, and some may pretend it’s about giving customers what they want, but the reality is that it’s a cost-saving move.

The problem, and it’s a big one, is that self-checkout leads to increased theft. Some of that is unintentional, as people honestly try to scan something and it does not scan properly.

Some percentage of self-checkout shrink comes from honest people who struggle to get the technology to work.

A bigger problem is that the possibility for mistakes and missed items opens the door for bad actors. It’s really easy for people to intentionally not scan their most expensive items.

It’s a bit of a Catch-22. You can save money on labor by not hiring as many cashiers, but your theft goes up.

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Or, you could place limits on self-checkout and hire more people. That raises your labor cost, but lowers the amount of theft.

What you can’t do is cut back on self-checkout and not have very many manned cash registers. That creates a terrible customer service experience where not only are people waiting in long lines, but they also can see multiple empty registers with nobody working there.

Self-checkout has caused some issues at Target as well.

Image source: Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Target wants its cake and to eat it, too

I’m a huge fan of Target. We live about a mile away from an okay Target in our main home, and our weekend place is walking distance from a remodeled location.

In most weeks, when I am not traveling, I visit both Target locations at least once. Sometimes, probably more often than not, I’m not going in for any reason.

I will buy a coffee at Starbucks and walk around the store looking for things I might buy. Invariably, as is the case with this chain, I find something I want, which leads me to buy a few more staples from the grocery area.

I’m careful, however, to not buy more than 10 items. That’s because most Target stores have a 10-item limit on their self-checkout.

For the record, I am not a fan of self-checkout. If the option of a person exists and it’s a reasonable wait, I would always prefer to use the person.

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The problem is there are rarely people. In most cases, there are just a few traditional checkouts open, while many are closed due to lack of staff.

This is fine during slower times of the day, but when you see people stacked at the traditional checkout lanes, you know Target has a problem.

Target needs more workers

I’m generally very hesitant to write about something based on my personal observation. Perhaps my two locations are outliers, or maybe I just go at a time of day when staffing is not typical.

Social media is filled with reports about Target not having enough staff. The one that inspired this post was on LinkedIn, where the poster noted that Target had about 4,000 s.f. devoted to regular checkouts.

“Only two were operating, and both had long lines,” shared the private post.

That sentiment is echoed all over social media.

“Went to the Target in Oak Lawn, Illinois today. There was a distinct lack of employees: I saw only four employees distributed around the entire large store. None of them must have been scheduled for cashier work, because none of the 14 checkout lanes were open,” wrote @SpicyComb on the Target Reddit.

That was an extreme example, but many posts point out that Target has limited self-checkout to 10 items, but only has limited actual checkouts open. That creates long lines and a terrible customer experience.

Target has reached a crisis point here. It can either bet big on self-checkout and accept increased theft, or it can pay more cashiers.

Limiting self-checkout to 10 items or less and having very few cashiers seems like the worst of all worlds in a way that will drive customers away.