Safeway Is Removing Self-Checkouts in California

Grocery chain Safeway is removing self-checkouts at several stores in California due to rising theft levels.

Safeway, which operates 918 stores throughout the U.S., will remove self-checkout facilities at some of its Bay Area stores, according to a report by KTVU Fox 2. The move follows other major retailers like Walmart who have reduced or removed self-service options from some stores.

“Operational changes have been made at select stores throughout the Bay Area given the increasing amount of theft,” a representative for Safeway told the network. “Self-checkout kiosks have been removed at a few stores. Like other local businesses, we are working on ways to curtail escalating theft so we can ensure the well-being of our employees and foster a welcoming environment for our customers.”

The company has not clarified which stores will be removing self-checkout services. Newsweek has contacted Albertsons, the parent company of Safeway, for clarification via email outside of normal working hours. According to the KTVU report, the Safeway on Pleasant Valley Road in Oakland has already removed its self-service kiosks.

Issues with self-checkouts causing losses for supermarkets are not unusual. In November 2023, Grabango, a startup that provides checkout-free tech for retailers, found that self-checkout machines are “a significant driver of shrink, with losses amounting to 3.5 percent of sales.”

Shrink refers to unknown or unaccounted loss of inventory, which includes thefts of all kinds. “Partial shrink is the most common and costly form of shoplifting, where a shopper pays for some of their purchase, but not the full amount,” Grabango said. “For example, a shopper might have three cans of soda but only scan two of them, or might type in a code for a lower-priced item.”

The losses incurred from self-checkout thefts amount to higher than 16 times the loss from traditional cashier lanes, according to the study which tracked 5,000 transactions across U.S. stores. The study does not clarify if the thefts were intentional or accidental.

“You have to take out the self-checkouts because you can’t make money,” Patrick Penfield, Syracuse University professor of practices and supply chain management, told KTVU Fox 2. “This is a real conundrum for these retailers trying to offer the best customer service, the best customer satisfaction, but still trying to make money.”

Research into whether shoppers prefer using self-checkouts or a cashier has yielded mixed results. Stores having regular checkouts staffed by an employee have been found to improve customer loyalty, according to a January 2024 study published in the Journal of Business Research. Researchers at Drexel University in in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, found that customers feel more rewarded by a store and “feel like they were treated more valuably” when using regular checkout versus a self-checkout due to less effort needed by the customer as “cashiers handle the scanning, bagging and payment process.”

However, a separate poll conducted in 2023 by the gambling news site Play USA found that 66 percent of shoppers preferred self-service kiosks to being served by a cashier.

How do you feel about self-checkouts? Have you ever been accused of theft while using a self-checkout? Email a.higham@newsweek.com