You cannot buy prime rib in the self-serve checkout at the WinCo supermarket where I shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently at the Fairview Avenue WinCo supermarket there was a sign telling customers they could not buy prime rib in the self-serve checkout. That store has about the same number of self-serve checkouts and conventional ones. I find that their eight debit-card-only self-serve checkouts often are quicker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But shoplifters can abuse them, commonly by a method known as The Banana Trick. An article by Pedro Ramos at Agilence on October 29, 2020 is titled How to identify and reduce self-checkout theft and fraud. He discusses three common methods:

 

The banana trick (substituting an inexpensive bulk food)

The pass-around (skip scanning)

The switcheroo (barcode switching)

 

A more recent article by Kate Fowler at Newsweek on August 17, 2021 is titled Walmart worker shows how they know when customers steal from self-checkouts. And an article by Alina Dizik at Money on October 9, 2019 is titled Yes, self-checkout machines encourage shoplifting. Here’s why stores love them anyway.

 

An image of two self-serve checkouts is from Wikimedia Commons. The image of a banana by Renee Comet came from the National Cancer Institute.