Home Depot, one of the largest retailers in the country, is making headlines for its use of a futuristic-sounding new weapon to stop shoplifting at its self-checkouts.
The company is utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision technology to constantly monitor customers and prevent theft. This comes as other major retailers, such as Walmart and Dollar General, are removing self-checkout lanes due to rising thefts and customer complaints.
Unlike its competitors, however, Home Depot has found a unique solution to the problem. Instead of completely abandoning self-checkouts, the company has turned to AI and computer vision to combat theft. This technology involves an array of cameras monitored by computers that can detect potential theft and alert staff at the store. Ann-Marie Campbell, a vice president at the chain, revealed the move during a recent earnings update, where Home Depot reported a fall in sales for the year so far.
The company has not publicly announced the use of this technology, and signs have not been placed in stores to warn customers. The use of ‘computer vision’ is a drastic shift from simply having security staff keeping an eye on standard CCTV cameras. According to Campbell, the technology was initially developed to help staff keep track of stock, but it has now been expanded to other applications, including targeting theft, or ‘shrinkage’, as retailers call it.
The success of this technology has been echoed by another major retailer, Target, which has implemented a similar system called TruScan. This system also uses cameras and sensors to detect items that customers have failed to scan and notifies them with audio and visual cues.
Target began rolling out the cameras a few months ago and plans to equip all stores in the US with them by the end of the year. Like Home Depot, Target has not provided many details about the move to customers but has instead shared more information with investors.
The use of AI and computer vision by Home Depot and Target highlights a growing trend among major retailers to rethink or even ax self-checkouts. In April, DailyMail.com reported that Walmart was removing self-checkouts from two more stores due to increasing thefts at the kiosks. Dollar General also announced in March that it would be removing self-checkout stands entirely from 300 of its stores with the highest levels of shoplifting and improperly scanned items.
In the remaining 9,000 locations, the company is converting some of its self-checkout registers to traditional cashier lanes and limiting self-checkout purchases to five items or less in a further 4,500 stores. Kroger, another major retailer, has also made adjustments to its self-checkout system by adding traditional checkout lanes at a store in Texas and placing additional staff in self-checkout areas to supervise shoppers and ensure proper scanning of items and membership cards.
The move towards AI and computer vision technology highlights the growing problem of theft at self-checkouts and the need for retailers to find effective solutions. However, some critics have raised concerns about the potential invasion of privacy and the impact on customer experience with the use of this technology.
Home Depot and Target have not yet addressed these concerns, but it will be interesting to see how the implementation of AI and computer vision technology at self-checkouts evolves and the impact it has on theft and customer satisfaction in the future.
