Self-service checkout technology may offer convenience and speed, but it also helps turn shoppers into petty thieves, according to a new retail study.
In a study of retailers in the United States, Britain and other European countries, Professor Adrian Beck and Matt Hopkins of the University of Leicester in England said the use of self-service lanes and smartphone apps to make purchases generated a loss rate of nearly 4 percent, more than double the average. The study examined nearly 12 million shopping trips from four retailers in Britain, two in the United States and one each in Belgium and the Netherlands between December 2013 and February 2015.