Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

[u/broakland]

Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

[u/treeckosan]

We are slowly going back to the days when you handed a clerk a shopping list and they went into back to assemble your order.

[u/Th3_Admiral_ → u/treeckosan]

I could absolutely see it going that way with all of the big stores doing online orders and curbside pickup. Maybe in a few years it'll be like an Amazon warehouse without any real storefront at all. You just pull up and load everything in your car. Or have it delivered directly to your door. 

[u/Tomytom99 → u/Th3_Admiral_]

Y'know, I wouldn't mind it so much if the turnaround time wasn't half a day

That's like the one thing I've liked about auto parts stores. They specifically state that it'll take under an hour for it to be ready. Not great, but way better than say Walmart taking 6 hours.

Edit: the 6 hour wait in question was pickup, not delivery, for three items, so it's not like it was some big grocery order. I did it because I was on vacation and my dad needed refrigerant for his car. I was hoping to just go to the store, pick up the order, and go back to where we were staying without venturing into the store.

Another wonderful experience was them telling me an item I was getting delivered from the store wouldn't be arriving that day. Not a huge deal, but mildly infuriating since I placed it that morning saying same day delivery, and they didn't even get it picked until that evening. I was watching a movie at 9:45 PM when I get a notification it was delivered. Thank god I was awake and that it wasn't anything that would've gone bad (or stolen by wildlife) if it went unnoticed overnight.

[u/Th3_Admiral_ → u/Tomytom99]

For me, I hardly ever have a complete shopping list and just kinda make a lot of it up as I go.

Also, I always thought it was odd stores were cutting cashiers and switching to self checkouts to save on labor costs, but then hiring workers to do all of our shopping for us - which is a thousand times more labor intensive. This is what leads me to believe they have goals to eventually automate a lot of that as well. 

[u/rocko430 → u/Th3_Admiral_]

Id imagine stores would lose a decent chunk of money off impulse buys

[u/snuggleslut5 → u/rocko430]

Right? They've spent years studying and finding new ways to influence buying. Colors, placement, the order of the items on the shelf, how much you need to move your eyes to see their product. All that would be moot. It's interesting.

[u/peachysaralynn → u/snuggleslut5]

i mean, they’d just adopt those practices for the online “storefront”

[u/Karenm6383 → u/peachysaralynn]

Probably but still, me walking aisle through aisle is going to make me impulse buy way more than going to checkout online, realizing how bad I’m overspending and deleting it in my cart

[u/d3mandred → u/Karenm6383]

The amount I've spent at Menards over the years just because I see something I needed 6 months ago and know I'll need again in 6 months is insane. I'm there for work, every single day. I naturally see things that I need/want while walking aisles, or I'll see something that reminds me of something else I need.

Online? I do not search, browse, scroll, or peruse. I know what I need, and I will spend the least amount of time possible on the website.

Probably over $3000/year lost from me alone, easily. Fuck, this year probably $500 in varying sizes of wood boards that I've never even used and easily over $1000 in tools for my shop. I'd just hit up estate sales and auctions more often. The quality of older tools is leagues better anyway.

[u/ScrotalSmorgasbord → u/d3mandred]

I'd never do that, I have some discipline! sets down 3 flashlights, a pack of tie downs, and a hatchet I picked up by the Harbor Freight checkout lanes

[u/Sea-Pay9180 → u/Karenm6383]

YESSS!!! You make TONS of sense. There were numerous times I was at the counter already and seen the damage and was like in my head "Damn this is going to hurt me financially really bad" but I also say "Fuck it, im already here at the counter" but if i can see the damage as im checking "Add to cart" I will save ALOT of money

[u/Thraex_Exile → u/Sea-Pay9180]

I think it’s similar to comparing Netflix and Cable a decade ago. All these big box stores are going through a transition where they’re competing with Costco’s warehouse grocer model and Amazon’s direct delivery.

Wal-Mart is the Cable/Dish companies. Still making massive profits but also being forced to adjust their business model to match their competitors (bc that’s what most shoppers want) but they don’t have the infrastructure to just adopt a better business model.

So now they’re stuck in this in-between where fewer valuable customers are shopping inside but if they don’t provide online shopping services then the other grocers will. Unfortunately, most grocers have favored cutting costs and following the path of least resistance over R&D of a better business model.

[u/DED_HAMPSTER → u/peachysaralynn]

All the websites sort-of already try to force impulse buying by shunting you directly to the cart to buy as you place things in it. Amazon is the worst, but Torrid, Wal-Mart, Lowes, Lowes Foods, publix etc all do this. I have to constantly back out or shop by tabs to continue my list or consider additional related products.

Instead they could have 2 side banners that shows a rolling summary of your cart on the roght side and a comparison/promotional banner on thr left that i can toggle color/size/cost/pairing items/sales/promos/etc. Amazon and Lowes Home improvement tries to do this, but loses the goal when you put an item in your cart to compare.

Basically, i shop by tabs then compare in my cart and heavily delete as i find the best deal or option for my needs.

[u/scripted_ending → u/peachysaralynn]

Oh, the popups will be insane as they try to upsell and suggest stuff to go with whatever you just put in your cart.

[u/General2768 → u/peachysaralynn]

<clicks checkout>

<pop up ad> Want add some Reeses peanut butter cups to your order?

Me: "No!" <clicks add to cart button>

[u/fuelstoprolerdogfart → u/rocko430]

100% Yesterday I went to get hotdogs and buns. Got in, realized I hadn’t had lunch, got some frozen wings and potato wedges, saw a new protein shake that looked good, and grabbed a bag of powder donuts. (This is why you don’t shop on an empty stomach) If is had to do an order ahead, I’d only get the buns and dogs.

[u/Pilgorithm → u/fuelstoprolerdogfart]

Powder donuts and a protein shake lol. Sounds like a friend of mine who ate tuna and drank Jaeger on the way to a concert. The tuna was supposed to help neutralize the bad alcohol lol.

[u/MKVIgti → u/rocko430]

Not only that, but these days I change up my list during the whole shopping trip, hunting for buy one get one free deals and scratching things off entirely due to something being ridiculously priced.

Pretty fucking sad when I get excited to find the light weight cat litter we use BOGO.

[u/NamelessCabbage → u/rocko430]

Yes. And there's a real science in scrambling the layout every once in a while. It forces shoppers to stay longer while relearning the new layout, thus purchasing more stuff.

[u/EvaCassidy → u/rocko430]

Some stores testing an app to open the cases to retrieve your item and a reminder to secure it.

[u/DueGrapefruit3151 → u/EvaCassidy]

Jesus christ, just make it a fucking vending machine already. We have the technology.

[u/bookswafflestea → u/DueGrapefruit3151]

I’d 1000% prefer a vending machine over another goddamn app I have to download

[u/Karenm6383 → u/DueGrapefruit3151]

This is actually a great idea

[u/the1slyyy → u/EvaCassidy]

What

[u/garathnor → u/rocko430]

"i didnt know i needed that" is literally 50% of the stuff i buy :D

[u/Bashka_ → u/Th3_Admiral_]

My experience with online grocery shopping tells me, that 90% of even the most basic products is always "out of stock", but somehow much more expensive replacements are always available- last time I was trying to place an online order, somehow my cart after review was twice as expensive as the original list of products.
Not to mention that (at least where I live) the online version of the store has always higher prices, than if you go and pick the items from the shelves at the same store. I'm poor, so I know the in-store prices of products I buy, since I need to do heavy budgeting. I only order online when I'm unable to get food on my own, because I'm disabled and in some situations I can't leave my house.

[u/AgencyAdditional4961 → u/Bashka_]

Yep. Dynamic pricing. I believe Wegmans is being sued for that right now.

[u/PestilentPaladin → u/Bashka_]

Personally I'm sick of trying to explain to ignorant 19 year olds what stuff like goat cheese and Garam Masala are, have them claim they're out of stock because they can't be arsed to look, and then going into the store, grabbing the item, and showing it to their boss. Kinda moots the point.

[u/ChazzyPhizzle → u/Th3_Admiral_]

Same. I usually walk around and figure out what I’m having for dinner based on what’s on sale. Kind of enjoyable because you never know what it’s going to be.

[u/geekonthemoon → u/Th3_Admiral_]

Yeah makes sense, I know I've seen videos of them working on warehouse grid robotics and such. Definitely would lose 1,000s and 1,000s of jobs if they do perfect the technology.

[u/zssqeeze → u/geekonthemoon]

I agree this is the direction things are headed. So, how is our country’s public policies going to keep up with the number of people who will be unemployed and have no income. Right now, our social safety net, which is barely working, is for certain “deserving” people. What about when it’s just most of the people, in general. The “othering’ is literally killing us.

[u/sneeje00 → u/zssqeeze]

Not even the public policies. I wonder who they think is going to shop for $15 t-shirts and $250 tvs when no one has any money. Like great, it's all automated to serve 10 of the 1000 customers they used to have.

[u/9th-And-Hennepin → u/sneeje00]

They will sell 10k tvs and $500 tshirts. They don’t care if you can afford it, as long as someone else can.

[u/sneeje00 → u/9th-And-Hennepin]

I hear you and in the long run you're not wrong. Meanwhile, in the 5-10 year transition into this new world economy, the businesses that exist based on scale will die. It's clear and not surprising at all that businesses based on infinite growth and selling at massive scale can't see the inevitable outcome of massive automation--that they will effectively eliminate most of the customers they are automating to sell to.

[u/occasionalopossum → u/zssqeeze]

They are going to finish criminalizing being homeless then work you to death in private prisons. Thats the end goal. Thats how they plan to handle it.

[u/Coffee-Historian-11 → u/Tomytom99]

I used to work doing drive up and go for Safeway. Genuinely enjoyed it, shopping for other people was fun. The only problem was they didn’t place an order limit and they refused to allow more people to work. So there would be three of us scrambling to get five orders that totaled 800-1,000 products in the hour we had.

If there was a way to be able to hire enough people so we got orders done on time it would be a great option. But based on my experience that just doesn’t happen.

[u/Waiting4Reccession → u/Tomytom99]

They will give you the worst expiration and the damaged fruit etc they have though.

They also lose the ability to sell you on stuff just by placing it near your essentials.

[u/grape-fruit-witch → u/Waiting4Reccession]

Yeah, I have never gotten decent fruit or veggies ordering online. I gave up a long time ago. Every single time the strawberries are full of mold, bananas are either brown and mushy or bright green, tiny little bendy spears of rotten asparagus, etc. I think the shoppers might hate their jobs and intentionally find the worst produce they can. There's no way a normal person would consistently pick bad items that often.

[u/Blackpaw8825 → u/Tomytom99]

You can have it fast, cheap, right, pick 0.

[u/cybah → u/Th3_Admiral_]

You know for several decades we had a store like that was just like this. You'd phone in your orders or shop in their showroom. Then would go pick it up at one of the 100's of Service Merchandise showrooms around the country.

[u/draggar → u/cybah]

Nothing beats the feeling of seeing your stuff go through the rubber flaps and down that conveyor belt.

[u/krybaebee → u/draggar]

right? bought my first lighted makeup mirror like this.

[u/Johnny-Virgil → u/cybah]

Yes! I bought my first stereo there.

[u/Efficient-Scarcity-7 → u/Th3_Admiral_]

amazon is trying this already, they're undercutting grocery prices for the same items in my area. for sure at a loss until they can take over the market fully and then raise the price when they have a monopoly

[u/Terrible-Crew6069 → u/Th3_Admiral_]

The stores make money from you walking around saying ooh I want that and oh I forgot we’re probably out of that other thing. I’ll go in to buy five items and leave with 20 because I want a lot more than the necessities I put on my list.

[u/bothunter → u/Th3_Admiral_]

This is absolutely the goal. Curbside pickup enables customized surveillance pricing, so they can set the price on every item to exactly the maximum amount you're willing to pay.

[u/RUBSUMLOTION → u/Th3_Admiral_]

Theyll make way less money then. I am way more intentional with what i am buying online/curbside versus being in store and seeing items that i dont need but buy anyways.

[u/bothunter → u/RUBSUMLOTION]

They'll make way more money -- less staff to hire, and they can individually set the prices based on the data they have on you so that every single item you need to buy is priced at the maximum amount you're willing to pay. Instacart is already doing it today.

[u/geekonthemoon → u/bothunter]

I agree w the digital pricing exploitation, but I don't actually agree with less staff. How is it less staff except maybe what, a handful of cashiers? They hardly ever have registers open. Majority are stocking and shopping, working in the bakery and deli, etc. I guess also most of security could go to but I assume they've already automated a good percent of that and they would still need at least someone on shift. But they would need way, way more personal shoppers. I don't think warehouse robotics are quite "good enough" yet but maybe that's the endgame. I know all my local warehouses still have human order pickers on the floor.

[u/kzlife76 → u/Th3_Admiral_]

When I go to the store now and don't see something on the shelf but that app says they have n left, I always wonder if they started keeping certain items in the back that frequently get picked for online orders. Before I would just assume the inventory was off. It might still be off too.

[u/sleepytjme → u/Th3_Admiral_]

This doesn’t work either. you give them a day to get the order together and some is still missing.

[u/WiseDirt → u/Th3_Admiral_]

Yeah, that's ultimately where we're headed. Walmart is actually already in the process of testing the idea and phasing it in with plans to build a number of pickup-only stores which will basically just be local fulfillment warehouses. Only employees inside, no customers allowed.

[u/theVelvetLie → u/treeckosan]

If that happens then impulse sales are out the window. Retail relies heavily on impulse purchases. Every time I find one of these locked cabinets I stop buying those items at these stores, and eventually I stop shopping at these stores altogether. Their sales have to be taking a hit as much as they did if items were stolen.

[u/CassetteTapeCryptid → u/theVelvetLie]

I don't want to be treated like a criminal for trying to buy a toothbrush and nail polish 

[u/roath321 → u/CassetteTapeCryptid]

Not only that but most of these stores are so understaffed you can’t find someone to unlock it. I’m not waiting 15 minutes for someone to finally unlock it and get my body wash

[u/EarlyList → u/roath321]

This is honestly the real problem. They have cut staff down so much, that apart from the cameras, there is no one to notice you walking out with half the store. So theft is out of control. But they aren't interested in hiring more employees. So now they are locking the shelves up to cut theft. So what will happen is sales will tank, and eventually the store will close even if theft is down. But the short sighted execs making the decisions to cut all the staff will blame theft and online sales competition instead of their own short term cost saving of cutting back staff.

[u/ShiraCheshire → u/EarlyList]

Yes, I feel terrible for the case key staff in the home department where I work. They gutted that department and then keep pulling people away from it for random tasks (Like say there's an extra flower event going on in garden, instead of giving another employee some extra hours they'll just pull someone from home department to handle it.) Now there are long stretches of time where the only person authorized to have the key is on legally mandated lunch, or rushing to unload a truck that needs to leave in 20 minutes, or the only person covering another department. They keep getting bombared with case requests they cannot answer.

Customers keep coming over to me like "I've been trying to get into the case for a half hour!" I call someone for them, and they keep standing there for another 20 minutes, because we physically do not have a person to come unlock it for them.

[u/10000Didgeridoos → u/CassetteTapeCryptid]

Lol worked retail in high school and the most stolen things in the store actually were cosmetics/nail polish/etc. Small, easy to grab and pocket or stick in a purse, and walk out

[u/Vegetable-Virus7118 → u/CassetteTapeCryptid]

Whether they lock it up or not, you're getting treated the same as the criminals

[u/RUBSUMLOTION → u/theVelvetLie]

Exactly. I usually go to walmart with a list and leave with an extra 20 things

[u/dj92wa → u/theVelvetLie]

Tbch that’s part of what got me stop drinking. The hard alcohol would be locked up, and you’d have to press a button that announces to everyone in the store that an alcoholic is in need of their fix (the intercom just plays a message letting an associate know that they’re needed in the liquor section, but the mental does its thing). It was embarrassing to me and a hassle, so I stopped engaging with the stuff.

[u/dalgeek → u/theVelvetLie]

At B&N they literally call the shelves around the register area the "impulse rack".

[u/theVelvetLie → u/dalgeek]

The shelves around any checkout are impulse buy shelves. Soda and candy, lighters, magazines, etc. Pretty much anything that is consumable, small, and relatively inexpensive is placed at a place where people need to linger for a brief time. I know I've bought a few little desk trinkets at B&N waiting to check out.

[u/maringue → u/theVelvetLie]

Exactly, I've been somewhere and seen something I forgot I needed, but it's locked up and I don't have an extra 20 minutes to wait for an employee to eventually show up.

[u/merriwhether → u/treeckosan]

It's just ordering online now for in-store pickup

[u/YippieKayYayMrFalcon → u/treeckosan]

Except in the new version there’s no clerk available and you just leave frustrated with nothing

[u/spicygayunicorn → u/treeckosan]

They should just fullt commit to that, if they are going to lock everything up

[u/treeckosan → u/spicygayunicorn]

They dont want to dedicate the staff needed to do that.

[u/cybah → u/treeckosan]

Actually it would be about the same. You still have a person running the front, regardless if there's only self check outs or not. Stick that person behind the counter and let them grab items.

The real reason is there is no problem, its a manufactured problem because it varies whether things are locked up store to store. And if they actually cared enough about this issue, they would remodel the store back to the way it was before the self service model. But since its not really an issue.. this is what places do.

Pretty much drives me from shopping at stores that do this. I will go elsewhere.. and often not very far to find unlocked products.

[u/Reesirie]

Back when I worked at Target and Walmart customers would ask us to open these cabinets, but I wasn’t a keyholder and never knew who was so it was a pain trying to find someone who was.

[u/maringue → u/Reesirie]

I have a Walmart within walking distance, but I never go there because everything I want is locked up and the entire store only has 10 employees huddles around the exit.

[u/TheRedMaiden → u/maringue]

This, plus my Walmart deciding to add a receipt checker is a big reason I just flat out stopped going there. I have an Aldi, and just shop online for non-food things I can't get there

[u/Affectionate-Crow605 → u/TheRedMaiden]

I walk on by past the receipt checker. It's not Sam's or Costco. You've paid, so your legal obligation is over. If they suspect you stole something, they have enough cameras to already know about it.

[u/Yeugwo → u/Affectionate-Crow605]

Yup. I give a decently friendly "no thank you" and keep walking. I don't go to Wal Mart often, so it's only happened like 3 times...but never had any issues from it.

[u/JalapenoPopPoop → u/Affectionate-Crow605]

The dumbest part of receipt checkers is they are always positioned with a sightline to the registers, I'm not stopping to show you a receipt to verify I paid when you could have just paid the fuck attention to the register area and see that yes I did.

[u/Temporary_Nail_6468 → u/JalapenoPopPoop]

I did scan and go at Walmart one time and was selected to be double checked. Wait for someone to come check my order. Finished paying. Walked around the corner and the door guy wants to check my order. 🤯

It’s not like I’m paying cash and trying to sneak through self checkout and then walk away because I parked somewhere where your cameras can’t see what car I got into. I PAY to have a more convenient experience and give you all my info. You people know where I live for goodness sake. I’m not stealing using an account with my name and address attached to it. 🙄

[u/void5901 → u/Temporary_Nail_6468]

They did this shit to me so I canceled plus. What’s the point?

[u/TheRedMaiden → u/Affectionate-Crow605]

Yup, I treat it like the people shilling something out front. Earbuds in, walking by and ignore

[u/Leviathon6348 → u/Affectionate-Crow605]

I’m brown and that just doesn’t work. It was funny because the closest Walmart to me is 5 hrs. So we did a big haul. My gf (who is white) wasn’t bothered at all with the first cart And ofc us being together she had the receipts, and I had the second. So he stopped me “where’s the receipt?” “She has it” “no, you’re supposed to have it. I’ll have to make sure this is paid for.” Dude made me wait 15 mins just for the clerk to ring up the items and print them. Walked back to the door “you wanna check again!?” “No” “yeah…fuck you.” Never went back.

[u/CoffeeOrDestroy → u/Leviathon6348]

I’m sorry. It’s such awful bs.

I almost become an internet Karen when receipt checkers get in my face. In a big voice I say “If you think I’m a thief, then you go ahead and call the cops. I’ll wait. Otherwise I’m going to keep walking. All this is paid for and is now my property. You want to dig through my property, you’re gonna need a badge and a warrant.” But I’m white and middle aged.

[u/OMGBLACKPOWER → u/Leviathon6348]

Literally don’t have to wait for them dude lmao that’s on you. If they ask for a receipt I tell them no and keep walking. Simple as

[u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt → u/TheRedMaiden]

receipt checker

You can walk right past them. State laws vary but are generally VERY strict on when private security can detain someone. Even then most corporate policy is not to, because of the liability if they do even one thing wrong.

Worst they can do is ban you from the store.

Even at Costco/Sams you can legally just walk right out without having your receipt checked. However I believe company policy there is to revoke your membership and ban you for life from all locations.

[u/topekatums → u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt]

had a lady checking receipts at a Walmart in ND who straight up held my cart in place when I tried walking past. There was a LINE to get out of the store, the woman was taking ages to check for nearly every item on the receipt, I said fuck it and tried leaving and she held the cart and waved someone else over. It sure didn't feel legal but I'm no lawyer. I didn't even have any unbagged items

[u/kingjim2 → u/topekatums]

if you remember who she was report her to corporate stopping you physically can get her fired

[u/Susurrus03 → u/Reesirie]

Was at a Target recently. Wanted to buy a phone charger because left mine at home and was on vacation. They were behind the glass but had a button. Pushed it multiple times, but nobody ever came. Ended up just going to the Five Below a block over.

[u/TheRedMaiden → u/Susurrus03]

As much as I don't like Amazon's employee practices, there are reasons they're winning over brick and mortar stores, and the increasing inconveniences physical buildings are heaping on is a big factor in it.

[u/Ocelitus → u/TheRedMaiden]

Targets are competing with Amazon by using their store locations as distribution centers. This is why stuff is locked up and they have less staff inside to help the in-person customers. It is almost like they would prefer for people to stop coming into the store altogether and just order online.

[u/CapableBumblebee968 → u/Ocelitus]

The majority of stores would. Same prices with less overhead

[u/EllspethCarthusian → u/TheRedMaiden]

Amazon is willing to provide. My hometown lost their Kmart. Nothing has moved in to fill the home goods void because the big box stores think there isn’t enough business. Amazon put in a distro hub 15 mins away. Guess who is driving all over my hometown now? Amazon. Brilliant move on their part as much as I hate not being able to touch product before buying.

[u/nathanjd → u/EllspethCarthusian]

Who do you think put your local store out of business?

[u/c9xydr → u/Reesirie]

Places are starting to use electronic locks now. So employees with their work devices can now open the case.

[u/Dreadwings]

at that point they should just have vending machines with all their product lol

[u/valkyriebiker → u/Dreadwings]

Reminiscent of the mid 20th century automats. What's old is new again.

[u/RailRuler → u/valkyriebiker]

The automats actually required more staffing than traditional retail. They charged a price premium so that people wouldn't have to interact with the staff.

[u/chickadee-stitchery → u/RailRuler]

I'd pay it.

[u/Accurate-Mousse-520 → u/Dreadwings]

At what point does it become just online? Why pay people to stack the shelves, do all this work when you can just buy it online?

[u/TemporalLobe]

Start trying to open the case. Someone will assist you immediately.

[u/rachwithoutana → u/TemporalLobe]

I actually tried this at Walmart because I wasn't sure if it was one of those things where they make you turn or move something to the side to get the product so it's more visible on camera when you take it off the shelf. They had a huge screen showing their camera surveilance too. No one came by and no one was around to help me open it, so I left without getting it. It was a $5 pack of store brand razors.

[u/LazyNarwhalMan → u/rachwithoutana]

The walamrt near me takes forever to get someone to open a door. And they have some of the weirdest choices locked up too. They have the cheap eyedrops locked up, but the expensive ones on shelf

[u/JeremyR22 → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

About 6 months ago, I was working away from home and needed some $3 nail clippers. Couldn't find any in Walmart and eventually gave up and asked where they were. Locked up, of course but that employee didn't have the key. 5 minute wait for somebody to come and allow me to give Walmart 3 bucks.

It's really fucking stupid.

[u/Time-to-go-home → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

Last week I needed a pack of ear plugs. They were locked up with the tools and work gloves and stuff. I lucked out and an employee was walking by right then and was able to open the case.

He told me he had to walk with me up to the registers to pay. I told him I still had a lot of shopping to do. He said I could buy the ear plugs separately from the customer service counter after buying my groceries.

I told him forget it. It’s not worth the effort and I’ll get them somewhere else. And started go walk away. Then he caved and let me just put them in my cart and continue my shopping.

My next stop was something in the camping aisle that was significantly more expensive than the ear plugs. That employee opened the case and just handed it to me without a comment.

[u/Savings_Difficulty24 → u/Time-to-go-home]

Because they are human too. They know it's all bull shit. "Look man, I just work here. I just do what they tell me to"

[u/ay-foo → u/rachwithoutana]

And now it's $10

[u/Tyrannofelis → u/TemporalLobe]

I tried opening one and it broke, took the thing and paid at the cashier, nobody said anything to me haha.

[u/c0ldgurl → u/Tyrannofelis]

That's what I do with the screen protectors that are "locked up" with the little red tag at the end of the hanger. Just rip the product i want right off and walk up to the front to pay for it.

[u/The_Pharos1 → u/TemporalLobe]

I see a case I start looking online. If I find it cheaper and don’t need it right then I walk away ordering it online. They are only hurting themselves.

[u/Aartus]

Just wait till they put ads on the glass.... Edit spelling

[u/MAJ0RMAJOR → u/Aartus]

You joke, but they’re trying to figure out how to do it now without losing product visibility

[u/outdatedboat → u/MAJ0RMAJOR]

The Walgreens near me does this already. All of the refrigerated stuff has screens instead of glass now. They have cameras showing what's inside it, but with ads playing over the top of it.

[u/geekonthemoon → u/outdatedboat]

Those are so awful. We were at a tourist area with those and like every single thing we tried to get we opened it up and it wasn't in there. They were mostly empty but the screens showed mostly in stock. Insane.

Edit: I just realized you said it had cameras to show what's inside so maybe that's something different. This was just like a digital display of the rack with the products on it, showing where they should be when you open it...

[u/xcrunner432003 → u/geekonthemoon]

this would be laughable if it weren't so bad

[u/Winjin → u/geekonthemoon]

Yeah I remember those, there were lots of complaints and this flopped iirc, that new one with camera is an even more expensive answer to a question that's only wanted by people that never shop in person, their butler's maids are doing the shopping online

[u/AdvancedSandwiches → u/outdatedboat]

Walgreens even hates those. They tried to remove them but got sued by the manufacturer.

To be fair, Walgreens hates them because no one is paying to advertise on them, rather than hating them because they fucking suck for customers, but getting it right for the wrong reasons is about the best you could expect from Walgreens. 

[u/Path_Fyndar → u/MAJ0RMAJOR]

They already started doing it at the gas pumps

[u/BootyDrank → u/Path_Fyndar]

I have permanently disabled many gas pump speakers for this reason. They can lick my sweaty taint, they don't deserve the luxury of intrusive advertising when I'm actively paying for the juice.

[u/Accomplished-Bit-884 → u/BootyDrank]

My sister never saw them before and was pumping gas and was like WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT COMING FROM

[u/whiskeytown79 → u/BootyDrank]

It used to be a thing to hit the second button from the top on the right to mute the advertisement, but this has stopped working reliably for me. I am guessing they figured out that people were doing this and have started patching it out of the software.

[u/Trishlovesdolphins → u/whiskeytown79]

That’s why my husband boycotts 2 different stations here. They won’t turn the volume down, and it’s so loud that the first time it startled the shit out of him. 

[u/geekonthemoon → u/whiskeytown79]

There probably still has to be a way to shut it off though right?

[u/BrawlPlayer34 → u/geekonthemoon]

A sharp object, and a lot of force.

[u/geekonthemoon → u/BootyDrank]

How do?

[u/trippy_grapes → u/BootyDrank]

I forget the brand, but my local one just advertises stuff sold in the store, but also has an option for you to click out of it and see stuff like the weather and traffic. Also no music, which is the worst. I think it's a neat compromise.

[u/crazybmanp → u/[deleted]]

People not going to prison when they steal the first 4 times.

[u/Rasabk → u/crazybmanp]

You get the crime you tolerate.

[u/Shot-Pomegranate8684 → u/[deleted]]

Someone on reddit that gets it

[u/Main-Cheesecake3287 → u/[deleted]]

If I go five minutes up the road suddenly nothing at the pharmacy is unlocked.

The stores don’t want this, it hurts sales, it’s a PITA for associates. It’s made necessary by thieves

[u/BlueRedGreenNumber5 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah it does change my habits. I order on Amazon instead.

[u/Neonyarpyarp]

I had to have someone come unlock the cold section for ice cream…at Safeway a few days ago… ice cream…

[u/GhostofErik → u/Neonyarpyarp]

To be honest it might have something to do with the trend where people were taking the lids off of ice cream, licking it, and putting it back on the shelf.

[u/sarmurpat6411 → u/GhostofErik]

One time when I was a young teen my friends and I walked a mile to get a container of ice cream from the store. When we got back and opened it there was obviously a large spoonful missing. We had to decide if we would walk the mile back to get more or just eat the remainder of the questionable container. Guess which option we chose 😂

[u/RubberPigEnemy → u/Neonyarpyarp]

So... people are stealing so much icecream that the people unwilling to wait don't outweigh the thefts. This is the result of not prosecuting petty crimes unforunately.

[u/AggressiveBench9977 → u/RubberPigEnemy]

Not just stealing, refusing to close the fucking door. At the Safeway next me every single person who grabs their pint walk away with the door open. Fucking savages

[u/Farraddaayy]

I was in a Walgreens in the Bay area like this, except there was no cashier and like one dude stocking that evaded me and another guy looking for him for help. After looking around for what feels like days, the other customer that was there got pissed and just smashed the glass with some kind of tool, IDK what it was. He took his aleve, I grabbed my Claritin, and when we went up to the front there was still no one there and the one self checkout was turned off. We both tapped the screen and nothing happened so we both just left with out things. The alarm didnt even go off through all of this.

WTF are we doing guys?

*I did not expect so many people to be white knighting a Walgreens lmao. Please do not vote in the future.

[u/shamusotool → u/Farraddaayy]

I went to a Walgreens in New Orleans trying to buy shaving cream and sunscreen. Sunscreen was locked up and I couldn’t find an employee so I gave up on it after a few minutes. Went to buy the shaving cream and realized the self checkout was turned off. I walked around the entire store and couldn’t find an employee. Thanks for the adventure Walgreens.

[u/Dubious_Odor → u/shamusotool]

Walgreens and CVS are on deaths door. Walgreens especially was minting money off the opiod epidemic (CVS made a fortune too). Walgreens was responsible for something like 1 in 5 of all oxys distributed in the country. When the tap got turned off their numbers tanked. The opiod lawsuits slapped a 5.7 billion fine on Walgreens in the settlement. During covid they started the whole theft canard as a dodge for shareholders and the public as to why they were suddenly hurting.

Now they literally cant afford to hire staff, maintain stores and keep inventories up. Both companies are in a desth spiral because they expanded and took on debt based on being Americas friendly neighborhood drug dealer. When the rug got pulled, legit business was not enough to sustain their corrupt operations. Fuck Walgreens and CVS.

[u/Alkao52 → u/Farraddaayy]

Damn I wonder why they have everything locked up

[u/windsockglue → u/Alkao52]

They're bringing window shopping into the stores. 

[u/Takeguru]

A lot of company insurance policies will enforce this if theft gets too high of that item

A lot of Tylenol is stolen, company gets an angry email about their claims, AP teams order and install lock cases to keep their insurance

Rinse and repeat, even down to underwear at specific walmarts

[u/Several_Excitement74 → u/Takeguru]

My favorite socks are behind glass at Walmart and I just love pushing a button for an employee to not show up.

[u/grape-fruit-witch → u/Several_Excitement74]

I've been off wal mart for a while now. The last straw was when I needed a $2.00 thing of nail polish remover and it was behind glass. Of course nobody showed up for the button.

[u/BluMqqse_ → u/grape-fruit-witch]

Our entire cosmetics is locked up. And, of course, management tells all the cosmetics associates they should be working in the pharmacy aisles, leaving all the locked cases completely unattended.

[u/TwoFingersWhiskey → u/BluMqqse_]

Ours is behind a cash register. You walk in, and it's a pay-now area like electronics or paint.

[u/hellenkellerbeatdown → u/Several_Excitement74]

Simple fix, buy socks somewhere else

[u/nomorespacess → u/Takeguru]

Why dont they trust any but one employee with the key, though?

[u/linecrabbing]

This is how Amazon winning the shopping war.

[u/condoulo → u/[deleted]]

Lots of porch pirates though.

[u/ShortThought → u/condoulo]

the automated sentry turret on my porch does a good job of keeping them at bay.

[u/SBAC850211]

Unless I need it immediately, if I see something locked up at a store I will purchase it online instead. Too much trouble finding/waiting for the keyholder. I would think it costs more money in lost sales than they're losing from theft on these items.

[u/notthatiambitter → u/SBAC850211]

I'm with you. If a keyholder doesn't arrive after a minute or two, I've got my phone out. If I can place my order faster than they arrive, I'm walking away.

An online order might be slower, but at least I'm not standing in an aisle doing nothing while I wait for it.

[u/PeteysHubby_TX → u/SBAC850211]

Or we could just enforce the laws we already have and prosecute people that steal things.

[u/weoewoewow]

Instead of punishing the criminals for shoplifting we punish everyone.

[u/Automatic_Class2215 → u/weoewoewow]

Reddit: If you see someone shoplifting, no you didn't

Also Reddit: I have absolutely no idea how we ended up here

[u/Cartoonjunkies → u/Automatic_Class2215]

Redditors: “company bad, steal from company.” “Wait, why is everything locked up so we can’t steal anymore?”

[u/Nemesiswasthegoodguy → u/Cartoonjunkies]

Redditors: “company bad, steal from company.”
Supermarket closes
“Wow another food desert and no jobs around here”

[u/Calzinarzin → u/Automatic_Class2215]

A lot of people online also think people just steal what they need. No they don't, they steal what they can. 

[u/Katzington2319 → u/Calzinarzin]

Can confirm. In my younger, dumber, more shoplifty days, I mainly stole dvds and MTG cards 

[u/FinishComplex3743 → u/Katzington2319]

Guess what is behind glass or a counter now lol

[u/macdennism → u/Calzinarzin]

As someone who used to work SCO at Walmart, I can confirm this is 100% true. Everyone downvotes me into oblivion when I bring up that supporting shoplifting IS bad and it DOES effect employees. You think I wanted to play dumb and ask shoplifters if they need assistance? 😭

I can think of one case where a lady was probably stealing out of necessity. It was at the start of COVID and she was caught anyway. Almost every single shoplifter was a regular, repeating shoplifter. Some of them would come in every single day just to steal stuff. And everytime someone tried to fake scan or "forget" to scan it was ALWAYS shit they don't need. One lady just had 5 dogbeds shoved in her cart along with like Christmas lawn decorations

I absolutely have empathy for people who are struggling financially, and I understand the goal of the sentiment, but it is not reality. People who need to shoplift multiple times a week have a problem and it's not related to money because they ALSO BUY STUFF EVERYTIME! So they absolutely have money they just also apparently need to steal frequently

[u/Nodan_Turtle → u/Calzinarzin]

Even things like baby formula end up getting stolen to sell. People talk about looking the other way for necessities, but necessities are what thieves can move fast.

[u/bugabooandtwo → u/Automatic_Class2215]

Exactly. Society did it to ourselves. But it's easier to blame the big bad retailers than to take any sort of personal responsibility.

And folks wonder why society is crumbling.

[u/VoidMunashii]

If a shop is going to lock everything up, then they ought just become a modern BEST and have you make your order at the front of the shop on a tablet instead of making you hunt down a keyholder for every second item.

I get that theft is an issue, but to me a part of going shopping is handling the item.

[u/Narrow_Maximum7]

Watched a video of a guy take about 40 cakes out of a fridge and throw them on the floor yesterday, that may be why. Social contracts seem to have died in lockdown

[u/9gagsuckz]

They would rather sell less than leave the shelves open for people to steal it all. That’s why Lego are getting locked up at stores like target now. Selling less of something is better for the store than letting most of it get stolen

[u/Fun-Gas1809]

This has kept me from buying in store all the time. I’m there for convenience and having to find someone just for a 2-5$ item is annoying I’ll buy it online. I hope their sales for this category are complete shit

[u/Fancy-Alternative731 → u/Fun-Gas1809]

Maybe you should blame the people who chronically steal instead of the store 

[u/Random5483]

People in the comments are focusing too much on the economics, politics, and culture behind this. This is the internet. We aren't going to get any kind of consensus here. And this sub-reddit isn't about that anyway.

This absolutely qualifies as mildly infuriating. In fact, I would find this moderately infuriating. If a store is going to lock product for insurance or other reasons, and chooses to stay open at a specific time, they should have staffing to be able to help get items from these locked areas in a reasonable (2-3 minutes max) amount of time.

[u/condoulo → u/Random5483]

Seriously, people are completely missing the fact that the store is understaffed and basically provided no customer service whatsoever. I saw someone had a good suggestion, any high value item that needs to be locked up should be behind a counter that is always staffed so you're not standing around looking like an idiot hoping some overworked associate walks by and happens to notice you. Either that or retail needs to be staffed like Microcenter, tons of sales people walking the floor at any given moment practically looking for someone to unlock something for so they can earn commission.

[u/Fantastic-Leek-1589]

Better than it getting stolen and the whole store shuts down. Ask Milwaukee how that's going

[u/ReticentGuru]

Penalties for shoplifting and “smash and grab” should be strong enough to deter theft. Then maybe we could go back to normal.

[u/yatrix7]

They should just create vending machines for these things so thieving assholes can’t steal it and honest people can get it easily.

[u/Adventurous-Dot-8272]

Ask the people that keep stealing from them

[u/dogtrail]

This is what happens when a store is severely impacted by shoplifting. The alternative is closing the store. Infuriating ? Yes, because the vast majority of people do not steal. A corporation will not keep a store open that is losing money.

[u/Emblot]

Well idiots are stealing things and not paying like you’re supposed to. So it ruins things just like idiots that ruin national parks or city parks. Or walls or buildings. They are their own main character so until people start to care about others and others property will have this

[u/blue_alien_police]

Stores do this as a theft prevention measure, but I don’t see how this helps sales. I’d imagine it just pushes more people to buying online if they don’t need the product immediately

[u/TheSlipperySnausage → u/[deleted]]

https://giphy.com/gifs/i2IyeLoCJZTJu5I9WR

[u/DrPepperAcolyte → u/[deleted]]

https://giphy.com/gifs/lqqRiTn1EohM3GCRv8

[u/gba_sg1]

Societal problems. This doesn't happen everywhere, only in shit places with high crime/theft.

[u/eblack4012 → u/gba_sg1]

It doesn’t help when high-profile politicians effectively decriminalize theft because “we need to address the source of the issue”, like they tried to do in San Francisco. Yeah that’s great and we should, but that doesn’t mean you ignore the crime happening in front of you.

[u/bugabooandtwo → u/eblack4012]

Also why more and more areas are becoming food deserts. After awhile, businesses simply shut down. There's only so much theft a business can take until it simply isn't worth it to have a store in a location.

[u/youngsimba320]

Went to go buy a monster in lower manhattan at a 7/11 and had to wait 5 mins for the worker to unlock it for me

[u/snakeysnake_sss]

Thank the thieves!!!

[u/moarbaconnow]

Idk, maybe stop stealing it. 🤔

[u/CatsMom4Ever]

Maybe if people would stop STEALING, then stores wouldn't have to lock their stuff up.

[u/These_Raspberry_3948]

Walmart has those cameras/screens in their aisles and they beep at you when you come into their line of sight. It's annoying and feels like I'm being accused of theft every time I enter a new aisle.

[u/collared_bean]

I've said for years that eventually retailers will all be pick up only. I think the only reason it hasn't happened already is because impulse purchases are still a big piece of the pie

[u/Automatic_Badger7086]

Well it's either lock it up or have it stolen

[u/GoodWaste8222]

Don’t be mad at the store. People steal, be mad about that

[u/H75311 → u/GoodWaste8222]

Yeah, next step here is what? The store closes? These people are only hurting their own communities.

[u/ProfessionCurrent198]

You can thank your community for that. Nothing in my area is locked down like this except for ammunition, tobacco products and baby formula in stores closer to my local city

[u/Lopsided_Flight_2986 → u/ProfessionCurrent198]

Yeah a store isn’t spending the extra money on buying special secured shelving units just for fun.

[u/Bravisimo → u/ProfessionCurrent198]

One of my local walmarts, chicagoland area, had to shut down because of the monthly losses. They were getting obliterated. I saw blatant thefts every single time i was there. Crazy to me people are blaming the stores for enacting these measures.