AI Theft Prevention Is Coming to Your Local Grocery Store

Supermarket giant Kroger is spearheading a novel approach to fighting theft and errors at self-checkout lanes by deploying AI and camera technology, sparking a debate on customer experience, ethics, and privacy even as prominent chains dealing with massive shoplifting problems carefully watch how technology contributes to solving the problem.

The Street reports that Kroger has taken a major step in leveraging AI technology to scrutinize customer activity at self-checkout lanes, a move that is as innovative as it is controversial. The technology, developed by Everseen Visual AI, employs cameras to monitor how customers scan and bag their items, flagging discrepancies and abnormal patterns to store personnel. If a customer neglects to scan an item, the system alerts them, and upon a second missed item, staff are notified. The initiative has been rolled out in over 1,700 stores, with plans for a chain-wide implementation across 2,800 stores in 35 states.

Kroger claims that this technology has significantly reduced errors at self-checkout, with a reported decrease of over 75 percent. “We’re already reporting fewer errors at self-checkout. Not only does this translate into reduced retail shrink, it also gives us a much more accurate view of what stock is going out of the store,” stated Chris McCarrick, Kroger’s senior manager of asset protection, highlighting the tangible benefits the technology has brought to the chain. However, this technological advancement doesn’t come without its share of criticism and concerns, particularly regarding customer experience and privacy.