Walk into certain Walmart stores today and you might notice something missing. Those familiar rows of self-checkout kiosks? Gone. Replaced with traditional cashier lanes and actual human beings ringing up your groceries. It’s not a temporary glitch or a store renovation. This is a calculated pivot from the world’s largest retailer, and it’s sending shockwaves through an industry that’s invested billions into automation technology. What started as isolated experiments in a few stores has evolved into a nationwide conversation about the true cost of convenience.
The Theft Problem Nobody Wanted to Talk About
Here’s the thing nobody likes admitting: self-checkout thefts are five times more likely than traditional cashier checkout theft. That’s not a small bump in the numbers. We’re talking about a massive spike that’s costing retailers serious money. Shrink rates with self-checkout represent 3.75% of average retailer inventory, with self-checkouts seeing up to 4 times as much shrinkage as traditional cashiers.
The real eye-opener came from Shrewsbury, Missouri. Shrewsbury Police responded to 509 calls from the Walmart between January and May last year, but after the self-checkouts were removed, the number of calls dropped significantly to only 183 calls during the same period this year, with arrests also halving from 108 to 49. Those aren’t marginal improvements. That’s a complete transformation in store security, and local police couldn’t help but notice the difference.
27% of self-checkout users have purposefully taken an item without scanning, a massive 12 percentage point increase from 15% in 2023. Let’s be real here. Whether people call it a mistake or intentional theft, the result is the same for retailers. Money walks out the door.
Where the Machines Are Disappearing
Walmart is removing self-checkout kiosks at select locations, including two stores in Shrewsbury, Missouri, and Cleveland, and already removed self-checkout lanes from three stores in New Mexico last year. These aren’t random choices. These are strategic decisions based on hard data about theft patterns and customer behavior at specific locations.
The decision was based on feedback from employees and customers, shopping behavior and business needs at those particular locations. Store managers now have more flexibility to adjust checkout configurations based on what’s actually happening in their aisles, not what corporate manuals say should work.
Honestly, it’s fascinating to watch how different each store’s approach has become. Some locations keep self-checkout during peak hours. Others have eliminated it entirely. Walmart is shifting toward location-specific checkout strategies that combine attended checkout, AI-assisted self-checkout, mobile Scan & Go, and checkout-free pilots depending on store format and shrink risk.
The Retail Industry Follows Walmart’s Lead
Walmart isn’t alone in this retreat from self-service technology. Walmart joins large retailers including Target and Dollar General in scaling back or amending self-checkout processes, with Target limiting self-checkout lanes to 10 items or fewer and Dollar General reducing self-checkout at thousands of locations and removing it entirely from 300 locations most prone to shoplifting.
Think about that for a moment. These are massive corporations that spent millions installing this technology. They’re not walking away from those investments lightly. The losses from theft and customer frustration have simply become too significant to ignore.
Research from Professor Adrian Beck from the University of Leicester published in 2022 gathered data from 13 major U.S. and U.K. retailers, including Walmart, and found that larger retailers with around half of their sales made through self-checkouts should expect losses in the millions of dollars. When you’re operating on the thin profit margins that grocery retailers do, those kinds of losses become existential threats pretty quickly.
The Technology That’s Replacing Self-Checkout
Walmart hasn’t completely abandoned innovation. Far from it. The company is testing Scan & Go technology at select Sam’s Club locations, using a mobile app to tally purchases in real-time, combining QR codes and AI to reduce shrink while offering speed and convenience to shoppers. The difference? This system requires membership and built-in accountability.
In 2025, only Walmart+ members and Spark delivery drivers can use this feature at select stores. It’s a clever compromise. Loyal customers who value speed still get their expedited checkout, while the company maintains better control over who’s using automated systems.
The technology upgrades go deeper than just membership restrictions. Walmart uses AI-powered cameras and software at self-checkout stations to detect missed scans and suspicious movements, with many products receiving RFID tags and invisible barcodes that ensure items are properly scanned during checkout. Some might find the increased surveillance uncomfortable, but retailers are betting most shoppers will accept it if it means lower prices.
What This Means for Shoppers and Workers
Reports indicate that customers are frustrated due to unexpected closures of self-checkout machines, which have resulted in long lines at traditional registers. The reaction from shoppers has been decidedly mixed. Some customers genuinely prefer the human interaction and appreciate having staff available to help. Others resent being forced into longer lines when they’re just buying a few items.
Here’s where it gets complicated. 73% of consumers prefer self-checkout over traditional staffed registers. That’s a clear majority who’ve gotten used to the speed and autonomy of scanning their own items. Yet retailers are pulling back anyway because the financial hit from theft outweighs customer preference.
For workers, the shift represents both opportunity and challenge. More staffed checkout lanes mean more hours for cashiers. Yet the industry hasn’t suddenly reversed course on automation altogether. The jobs that return might not look exactly like the ones that disappeared, and the long-term trajectory still points toward more technology, just different technology.
The real question is whether this marks a temporary correction or a permanent shift in retail strategy. Walmart’s decision carries enormous weight in the industry. When the company that practically invented the modern supercenter changes direction, competitors pay attention. What started as a quiet experiment in a handful of stores has become a full-blown reassessment of retail automation, with billions of dollars in technology investments hanging in the balance. Did you expect the self-checkout revolution to reverse course this dramatically?
