A Walmart shopper shamelessly filmed himself shoplifting at a self-checkout and being caught on the company's AI-powered camera, but posted the embarrassing clip on TikTok anyway.
“POV: Usually I don't get arrested, but now I've been banned from every Walmart in my area for 2 years,” TikToker Nesha wrote in the video, which has been viewed more than 2.2 million times.
The clip shows a woman scanning and bagging several items at a Walmart store's self-checkout system, then pretending to scan her backpack before placing it in her shopping cart without a barcode. is reflected.
Immediately, the computer screen lights up with a pop-up notification that says “Associate is departing,” and you are unable to scan or check out additional items.
When the employee comes over and scans the card, the screen changes to a “scan error detected” message and includes an overhead video recording of the customer dragging the backpack over the scanning area without scanning the barcode. Masu.
Nesha then points the camera at the employee, who is smiling while covering her mouth.
“Even though she laughed…she called her manager and the police and took us outside,” Nessa wrote in the caption, “#stealinggonewrong.”
In one study, about 15% of shoppers admitted to intentionally stealing one or more items from a self-checkout, but only 33% of them were caught. 2023 LendingTree Survey.
Walmart is reportedly increasing its anti-shoplifting measures after theft reportedly costs the company an estimated $3 billion a year. According to Gitnux. Artificial intelligence is one of the tools the Arkansas-based retail giant has deployed in recent years to catch potential thieves.
“Miscan Detection” uses AI-powered cameras to reduce theft and inventory loss and was first introduced in Walmart stores starting in 2017. According to Business Insider.
Recently, the megastore chain implemented near-invisible barcodes on store-branded products, allowing products to be scanned by passing through a scanning area instead of having to scan a single barcode directly. I did. This new technology is part of a $3 million deal with Digimarc.
But even with the additional measures, some Walmart stores have seen a high number of thefts, and self-checkout areas have been completely eliminated. But the company said this was part of a broader effort to improve the “in-store shopping experience.”
A Walmart spokesperson said in a statement to the Post that the company “does not publicly disclose safety measures in its stores.”
