Walmart removes self-checkouts and swaps back to 'traditional' lanes - but it's not because they care about customer service

Walmart is continuing to remove self-checkout machines from its stores in what it claims is an effort to improve the 'in-store experience' for customers.

In two stores - in Shrewsbury, Missouri, and Cleveland, Ohio - the retailer said it would replace kiosks with staffed checkout lanes which will 'give our associates the chance to provide more personalized and efficient service.'

In reality, many retailers are ditching self-checkout kiosks because they are especially vulnerable to shoplifters - and the biggest retailer in the world's U-turn could be a landmark moment.

'Most of the rollback of self-checkouts is due to retailer concerns over theft,' Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told DailyMail.com.

'Theft rates at self-checkouts are reasonably high both because of deliberate actions and accidental mistakes. Forcing more customers to used manned checkouts resolves a lot of these issues and saves retailers money,' he added.

'We've decided to remove self-checkout lanes and replace them with staffed lanes at select locations,' a spokesperson for Walmart told DailyMail.com.

'The decision was based on several factors, including feedback from associates and customers, shopping patterns and business needs in the area.'

They added that there is currently no plan to restore traditional lanes entirely in more of its more than 4,500 stores in the US. 

Self-checkout lanes are also more vulnerable to customer errors while scanning or weighing items.

Some produce - such as fruit, meat and freshly baked goods - do not have barcodes and need to be manually entered into the system. Customers can either intentionally or accidentally key in a cheaper product code creating losses for stores. 

It comes after three stores in Albuquerque, New Mexico, did the same thing last year, the Albuquerque Journal reported at the time.

And a whole host of other retailers are making similar moves, Dollar General is taking the lanes away altogether, while it was recently revealed that Target was introducing sensors to detect thieving.

A new system uses cameras and sensors to detect items that shoppers fail to scan and will notify them with audio and visual cues.

But the secretive technology - known as TruScan - is different to simply having CCTV cameras trained on the area that security staff watch. Instead, it is thought to use computers powered by artificial intelligence to monitor shoppers as they scan items.

Target started rolling out the cameras several months ago and will equip all stores in the US with them by the end of the year. 

Last month, Dollar General announced it was pulling self-checkout stands entirely from 300 of its stores with the highest level of shoplifting and improperly scanned items.

In 9,000 other locations it said it is converting some of its self-checkout registers to regular cashier checkouts, and limiting self-checkout purchases to five items or less in a further 4,500 stores.

The company said the changes would help reduce 'shrink'. This is the retail industry jargon for merchandise losses due to theft, damaged items and administrative errors.

'We believe these actions have the potential to have a material and positive impact on shrink,' Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos told analysts.