WALMART shoppers have been left confused after the retailer apparently abandoned one of its anti-theft strategies.
A Walmart patron shared a photo of an aisle of products while asking other customers, “Anyone else’s store give up?”
In the photo posted on Reddit, the doors to glass cases where products are typically locked up were wide open.
“Our shelves have been consistently unlocked for a while,” the person who shared the pic wrote.
“I can only assume it’s because the buttons never work and nobody wants to open them.”
The post was flooded with comments from Walmart staff and customers.
An individual shared that he is employed at a high-theft, high-traffic site where only specific items such as electronics, sporting goods, and flea and tick collars are secured behind cases.
“They took the doors off the makeup cases last week,” another worker wrote.
“Diabetic case has been unlocked for a month now.”
Some claim it’s not a glitch but a corporate test to measure whether theft losses are outweighed by better sales.
An asset protection team leader reportedly told one employee the doors were left on “so they can just put the locks back if it fails.”
Another commenter said staff are exhausted from constantly opening cases, especially with only one set of keys in the whole store.
“Half your day is helping customers get into cases,” they wrote.
Another user chimed in, “Skeleton staff with 1 set of keys for the entire store. Failure was pre-ordained.”
Some stores now rely on nearby lockboxes, but employees admit no one wants to take time to use them.
One shopper said the whole process is so bad, “I as a customer have given up.”
Customers also slammed the company for locking up $1.12 facial wipes.
“Customers could never steal enough $1.88 facial wipes to make up for the lost sales,” one user posted, later correcting the price to $1.12.
Anti-theft measures rolled out by retailers
Various retailers in the United States and Canada have introduced tactics to deter theft occurrences. The U.S. Sun has put together a compilation of strategies that have been put in place at various retail outlets.
- Locking items in cabinets
- Security pegs
- Security cameras
- Signs warning about the impact of theft
- Receipt scanners
- Receipt checks
- Carts with locking technology
Social media users in Louisiana uploaded images showing Walmart steaks enveloped in steel wire. This was part of an earlier initiative to safeguard high-theft products, including meat.
Walmart’s move follows rising incidents of creative self-checkout thefts across its stores.
In April, a Florida school principal was busted for a $37 “skip-scan” scam at a Winter Haven store.
Gregory Lewis allegedly rang up cheap goods but skipped scanning others like frozen shrimp and bacon.
He told cops he wanted to try the trick after hearing about it from friends.
He was charged with petit theft and now faces serious career consequences.
Meanwhile, Target has pulled self-checkout from all 2,000 of its stores after a year of fully committing to it.
Back on Reddit, workers said the constant lock-unlock process kills impulse sales and frustrates customers.
“Corporate needs to decide,” one worker posted. “You can’t have it both ways.”
Walmart didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by The U.S. Sun.
