Loblaw has launched a pilot project where shoppers have to scan their receipts at four stores in Ontario.
Loblaw confirmed to CBC News on Wednesday, that it has been introduced with the hopes of tackling shoplifting.
Shoppers are required to scan their receipts to open a metal gate at the end of the self-checkout area which then allows them to leave.
“Organized retail crime across the entire industry is a serious issue, and has only gotten worse,” Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas told the news outlet.
“We are working hard to balance a need for enhanced security while at the same time preserving a welcoming and convenient customer experience.”
However, just 24 hours after it was announced, shoppers railed against the anti-theft measure with one arguing that it wrongfully detains innocent customers.
“I pay for my goods, I have a receipt,” Marshall Irwin told CBC.
“You can’t be detained against your will for no reason.”
Irwin even argued that retailers need to “bring back the first line of loss prevention” in the form of cashiers rather than turn to technology that insults customers.
“It’s very intrusive. It makes you feel like a thief,” added Paul Zemaitis, who recently discovered a scanner at his local store.
“It’s just not a customer-friendly tactic.”
The U.S. Sun previously reported on a Toronto-based lawyer who explicitly told shoppers what retailers could and could not do regarding receipt checks and detaining customers.
Business lawyer Daniel Tsai explained to CBC that retailers cannot detain shoppers unless they have evidence of wrongdoing.
A customer must have either been caught stealing or belong to a store membership where receipt checks are standard practice, such as Costco and Sam’s Club.
“If they’re stopping you and you feel like you don’t have an ability to leave, and there is no basis for them to detain you, that qualifies as false imprisonment,” Tsai told the news outlet.
“Customers already feel imprisoned enough by high prices,” the lawyer added.
“The fact that you make regular shoppers feel like criminals, that takes it a step too far.”
Late last year, the retailer received customer complaints from shoppers fed up with other anti-theft measures like security gates, locked cabinets, and time-delay safes.
Following the latest security measure, retail expert Sylvain Charlebois warned retailers in an interview with Global News to be “careful” about turning people away with their anti-theft tactics.
“I think from a PR perspective, grocers need to be careful with how they deal with loss prevention, essentially because, at some point, you may actually be making many patrons feel guilty for not doing anything really other than shopping in your own store,” he said.
Charlebois also accused Loblaw of “not reading the room properly,” agreeing with customers that the tactic is not targeting the correct people.
