Lidl is making major change to self-service checkouts in new crackdown – is your local store affected?

Scottish Sun

4 days ago

Lidl aren't the only retailer using the technology to crackdown on shoplifting either
CHECK IT OUT Lidl is making major change to self-service checkouts in new crackdown – is your local store affected?
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LIDL is making a major change to its self-service checkouts in a new crackdown against shoplifters.
In a bid to tackle theft, the discount supermarket is trialling cameras that can spot when a shopper fails to scan an item.
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Lidl is making a major change to its self-service checkouts in a new crackdown
Credit: Getty
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The discount supermarket is trialling cameras that can spot when a shopper fails to scan an item
Credit: The Grocer
The "non-scan detection" technology is currently being trialled in two London stores, reports The Grocer.
If a shopper doesn't scan an item, the technology can capture the moment and play back footage on the self-checkout screen.
An assistant is then required to intervene before the customer can pay for their shopping if the omission isn't corrected.
It has not been revealed which two London locations are taking part in the trial.
Lidl aren't the only retailer using the technology to crackdown on shoplifting either.
Home Bargains uses a similar technology to tackle "skip scanning" - where thieves intentionally avoid paying for particular items at self-checkouts.
The retailer has also launched trials in two stores using technology from UK-based SAI (Storewide Active Intelligence) and AI company Everseen, based in Ireland.
But it's not yet known who is providing the technology for Lidl.
According to Lidl's latest customer privacy notice: "Some of our cameras may also use non-scan detection technologies as part of the checkout process.
"Any cameras using non-scan detection technologies are only active at our store checkouts and self-checkouts."
It adds: "Any non-scan technologies used on our checkouts and self-checkouts cameras are only used to identify non-scanned items, prevent inventory loss and will always involve human intervention.
"All facial images collected as part of our non-scan detection cameras are pixelated and no facial recognition technologies are used."
There are currently no plans to roll out the non-scan detection checkouts more widely at this stage.
Lidl introduced self-service checkouts in its UK stores in 2017 as part of a broader strategy to enhance customer convenience and streamline the shopping experience.
Moment Co-op worker grabs fleeing shoplifter by the THROAT to stop him making off with arms full of stolen items
The standard self-checkouts feature an eye-level screen with some playing a message asking whether shoppers have remembered to scan all their items.
Tesco has also recently introduced VAR-style replays at self-checkouts after rivals successfully used them to stop brazen thefts.
The move is thought to have already cut some self-checkout thefts at Sainsbury's, where the footy ref aid-inspired cameras were quietly introduced last month.
Supermarket bosses believe thieves who can see their illegal actions have been caught red-handed are far more likely to pay for them instead.
A record 516,971 shoplifting incidents were logged by police in 2024 — up from 429,873 in 2023.
Yet only a fifth resulted in a charge, while more than half of the investigations ended with no suspect identified.
Tom Ironside, of the British Retail Consortium, said the crime is costing firms £2billion a year.