Tesco is trialling giant trolley scales at its Gateshead Trinity Square Extra store, sparking mixed reactions from shoppers.
The scales are designed to verify purchases made using the Scan as you Shop service, which allows Clubcard members to scan items as they shop.
The new technology weighs trolleys to identify any items customers might have missed or scanned twice during their shopping trip.
The system works by having shoppers push their trolley onto the scales after scanning their items. If the weight matches what they’ve scanned, customers can pay as normal and continue with their day.
The scales are designed to verify purchases made using the Scan as you Shop service
However, if there is a discrepancy between the weight and scanned items, a staff member will perform a manual rescan of the entire trolley contents.
The process aims to verify that all items have been properly accounted for during the self-scanning process.
Customer reactions on Reddit have been divided, with some praising the scales as “10x more convenient and faster.”
Others have been more critical, with one user asking: “Am I at border control or Tesco?”
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Some customers feel the technology treats honest shoppers with suspicion, with one user saying: “More and more the honest shopper is treated like a thief.”
Others speculated the system aims to “save on staff” rather than improve shopping experience.
Business retail consultant Ged Futter told the BBC the scales are about loss prevention and staffing costs, not customer convenience.
“It’s supposed to be scan and go – this is scan and stop while your trolley is weighed,” he said.
Retail criminologist Professor Emmeline Taylor noted similar scales are used in European supermarkets.
She warned the scales appear “quite foreboding and reminiscent of security scanners”.
“You can lose a customer for life if they feel they’ve been wrongly accused of something,” Taylor cautioned.
The British Retail Consortium has described shoplifting as “out of control” in the UK.
A 2022 global study found 43% of scan and go baskets had at least one error
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Their annual crime survey found customer theft incidents rose by 3.7 million to 20.4 million, costing retailers £2billion.
Office for National Statistics figures show shoplifting offences reported by police in England and Wales increased by 23 per cent to over 492,000.
This represents the highest figure since current recording practices began in 2003.
A 2022 global study found 43 per cent of scan and go baskets had at least one error.
Some retailers are taking different approaches to the self-service debate.
Some chains have removed self-scan tills entirely in August. Meanwhile, Asda and Morrisons have increased staffed checkouts.
