Target Stores Self-Checkout Has Changed Big Time! Is It Better?

Was it the Pandemic that started the "self-checkout" craze at Target? Who knows for sure, but Target did notice that because you didn't have to interact with someone at checkout, people felt safer and used it a lot.

Now that the pandemic is over, how's that working for you?

Target has changed their policy for self-checkout and there is a limit.

It began as a test in some stores, and Target noticed that self-checkout was a lot faster when the limit was 10-items or less. No kidding.

If you had a cart full of things then you had to use an attended checkout lane.

It's been Target policy since March, and a current survey of customers says they are generally happy with the change. Target has added more cashiers to their checkout lanes so things seem to be moving smoothly.

Truth be told, is this really all about customer satisfaction? Probably not. It's more about theft.

Our sister station, KIX 105 in Missouri  said according to Forbes, Target closed nine stores in four states in response to theft and retail crime. It wasn't just Forbes who reported the story, either. In November of last year, Yahoo! Finance reported that inventory shrink and retail theft were still weighing on the store.

While Yahoo! Finance outlined various measures the store was taking to combat theft, nothing was mentioned about problems with dishonesty at the self-checkouts.

By the way, you may have noticed Wal Mart followed close behind. And Costco changed their policy, too. Today.com reported the company launched a program to crack down on non-members using others’ membership cards at self-checkout registers.

Costco's new policy requires shoppers to present a photo ID along with their membership card in order to use self-checkout.

Happy Checking Out!