Woolworths introduces changes to self-service checkouts

Woolworths is implementing cutting-edge AI security technology at its self-serve checkouts, in an effort to deter thieves attempting to bypass scanning.

The camera technology can accurately detect instances where an item has not been scanned through the self checkout. 

When an item has not been scanned, it notifies the customer through an on-screen alert, while simultaneously notifying a staff member. 

Woolworths says the system has been designed to safeguard shoppers’ privacy. 

‘This is it’s not viewed live, and any faces inadvertently detected are blurred when the footage is reviewed by a person so the customer cannot be identified,’ Alisha Moore, the assistant state manager for Woolworths in WA, told the ABC.  

 ‘And then there’s privacy around the pin pads as well, so we actually don’t have the technology overviewing the pin pads, it is all blacked out.’

Woolworths says they have been forced to introduce the technology amid a rise in thieves who don’t scan items. 

Woolworths is rolling out surveillance cameras at self-serve and operator-assisted checkouts to reduce incidents of fake swiping 

‘We are seeing  an increase in retail crime and theft,’ Moore said.