2 days ago
Fury as Walmart shopper discovers another 'ridiculous' product locked behind glass: 'What on earth?'
A Walmart shopper was furious when she discovered the store now keeps socks locked up behind plexiglass.
Serena, who goes by ladyluckk on TikTok, discovered the shocking find while shopping at a location in New Hampshire.
'You can't even get socks because it's locked,' she said in a video, adding that it was 'so sad.'
Most of the socks locked in the case were unisex socks, and nearly all of them cost less than $20.
Multiple TikTok users were surprised to see the change to the store, which one branded as 'ridiculous,' while another asked 'what on earth?'
Over the past few years, major retailers including Walmart, Target and pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS have increasingly resorted to locking up everyday items to reduce the chance of shoplifting.
The practice has sparked customer frustration, with many complaining about the inconvenience of waiting for an employee to unlock basic necessities.
Items which have been kept behind plexiglass have tended to be on the more expensive side, such as deodorant or laundry detergent.
Walmart and several other retailers have been locking up everyday products to lessen the chance of shoplifting
One Target store in San Francisco went the extra mile by locking its entire product range behind security glass.
The TikTok video is not the first time social media users have noticed socks and underwear locked up at Walmart and Target stores.
The chains have not revealed how many stores keep underwear locked up, but consumers found items behind plexiglass while shopping in California last year.
'It comes to the point of how ghetto does it look that they have to lock up the socks or whatever it is that they have under the key,' shopper Olga Leon told NBC Bay Area.
Another item customers went crazy over being locked up at a Walmart in Nevada was $1.50 nail files.
'This is the future of Walmart. I can't even walk into Walmart and pick up a nail file worth $1.50 because it's locked up,' TikToker Victoria Damor said in a video last year.
'And of course, because it's all locked up, there's an employee waiting there to assist everybody that needs it to be unlocked.'
Following furious responses to the locked cabinets, Walmart began exploring the idea of customers unlocking display cases with their phones.
The technology is currently being tested at a few hundred Walmart stores, and the company has not announced plans for a nationwide rollout.
Walmart has recently been implementing a range of changes aimed at boosting profits, increasing customer traffic, and enhancing customer satisfaction.
The company unveiled over 100 revamped stores in 2023 as part of a $9 billion investment to upgrade US locations.
Around 650 stores have been updated so far, but it's unclear how significant plexiglass cases are for the store makeovers.
It comes as Walmart launches its annual savings event, which this year coincides with the first day of Amazon's Prime Day sales event in an increasingly ferocious battle for consumers' loyalty.
Walmart began its sales days on July 8 last year but Amazon denies strategically choosing this year's dates to clash.
