Survey Reveals Over 25% of Shoppers Confess to Theft at Self-Checkout Stations

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Self-checkout lanes are designed to streamline the shopping experience, but they also seem to be encouraging an uptick in theft. More and more shoppers admit to taking advantage of these systems to leave the store with items they didn’t pay for.

A survey by LendingTree reveals that 27% of Americans using self-checkout confessed to intentionally skipping the scan on certain items. This marks a noticeable increase from just 15% who admitted to the same behavior in 2023.

The demographic breakdown shows that Millennials are the most likely to engage in this activity, with 41% acknowledging their actions, followed by 37% of Gen Z adults. In stark contrast, only 2% of Baby Boomers admitted to such behavior. Men are also more prone to this type of theft, with 38% confessing compared to 16% of women.

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When asked about their motivations for stealing, 47% pointed to financial struggles in the current economic climate as a driving factor. Close behind, 46% blamed rising prices, which they often linked to tariffs. Additionally, 39% expressed that they find today’s prices to be unfairly high.

About a third of those who’ve stolen said they don’t feel remorseful, and a similar share (35%) see self-checkout as “unpaid work,” so taking small items “feels like compensation.”

Interestingly, those with household incomes of $100,000 or more were the most likely (40%) to say they’ve intentionally taken an item without scanning it. Just 17% of those making less than $30,000 said the same.

Stores rethink how widely they use self-checkout

Self-checkouts have become more common in recent years, but major retailers have started to pull back.

Aldi shoppers in the Chicago area recently noticed that some stores had removed their self-checkout stations, prompting several frustrated customers to post about it on social media.

“Nothing scarier than the line at Aldi after they took out all the self checkout kiosks,” a Chicago TikToker said in a video.

Another shopper blamed theft for the change, saying: “We can never have a good thing because people just ruin it.”

Aldi did not respond to NewsNation’s request for comment. The grocer told Axios the stations were removed to “ensure we’re offering the best shopping experience possible while delivering exceptional value,” and said self-checkout will remain available at many stores.

Dollar General said last year it had removed self-checkout from 12,000 stores, citing the “ongoing challenge from shrink,” the industry term for inventory lost to theft and other non-sales factors.

Target rolled out express self-checkout in March 2024 at most of its stores, but limits the option to 10 items or fewer. Meanwhile, Amazon has largely removed its cashierless Just Walk Out technology from Amazon Fresh stores.

LendingTree’s findings underscore why self-checkout remains a complicated tool for retailers. Most respondents (55%) said they liked self-checkout machines for their speed and convenience, but among those who admitted stealing, the same share — 55% — said they think they’ll do it again.

“I get that people are frustrated, but no one should encourage people to walk away from a retailer without paying for something,” Schulz said.

The online survey of 2,050 U.S. consumers was conducted in October.