If given the chance, would you take something that doesn’t belong to you? And would that choice feel different if the “victim” weren’t a person, but a machine? Over the past ten years, retailers throughout the United States have installed tens of thousands of self-checkout kiosks to cut labor expenses. While these automated systems reduce staffing costs, they also introduce new and sometimes expensive problems. One of the most serious issues is theft. By exploiting system loopholes—such as the well-known “banana trick”—shoppers are costing stores significant losses.
The Banana Trick
Voucher Codes Pro, a coupon website, surveyed 2,634 consumers. Nearly one in five admitted they had stolen from a self-checkout machine at least once. More than half said they did so because they believed the risk of being caught was very low. Shoppers commonly rely on several methods to fool the system:
1. The Banana Trick
Scanning a costly product as if it were a cheap piece of produce. For instance, entering a banana code to pay for an expensive T-bone steak.
2. The Pass Around
Placing an item directly into a bag without scanning it.
3. The Switcheroo
Removing the barcode sticker from a low-cost item and attaching it to a more expensive one.
The Financial Impact
How much damage does this cause? In 2015, criminologists from the University of Leicester analyzed one million self-checkout purchases over a year. Total sales reached $21 million, yet nearly $850,000 worth of merchandise was never paid for.
Why Do People Steal?
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