How a Walmart Store Cut Shoplifting With One Major Change
At the Shrewsbury Walmart, located just outside St. Louis, something unexpected happened after a simple tweak: crime rates went down. Not just a little, either. Police calls were chopped nearly in half after the store removed all self-checkout kiosks. Shoplifting, arrests, and even the overall volume of police visits all saw a sharp decline.
In early 2024, Shrewsbury had become one of the busiest spots for local police. Between January and May that year, the department responded to 1,915 calls. Over 25% of those were just from Walmart. Then, in April, the store removed all self-checkout stations. By the same five-month stretch in 2025, police calls connected to the store had dropped to only 11% of the total.
Shrewsbury Police Chief Lisa Vargas said in plain language, “That’s a huge change. We really appreciate Walmart taking the initiative to remove those self-checkers.” Her comments came during a city presentation, where the data made it clear that going back to human cashiers may have made all the difference.
The Checkout that Checked Out
Moving away from self-checkout might seem backward, especially when nearly every major retailer has implemented it over the past decade. But theft through self-checkout has been a known issue across retail chains. Sometimes it’s people “accidentally” missing a scan, scanning a cheaper item instead, or simply walking out without paying, assuming no one’s watching. A robot cashier doesn’t have great instincts for suspicious behavior.
Walmart hasn’t confirmed plans to make this change at more stores. In an email to People, Charles Crowson, Walmart’s Director of Global Affairs, said changes like this are based on feedback, business needs, and shopping habits. In other words, it’s not one-size-fits-all. Still, the Shrewsbury case is making a strong argument that maybe those self-checkout kiosks aren’t the retail magic fix they were once thought to be.
More Than Just Beeps and Scans
Image via Getty/Hispanolistic
Self-checkout has been around long enough that most shoppers either tolerate it or flat-out prefer it. For some, it’s faster and involves one less conversation in a day full of them. But stores have always had to deal with issues associated with it beyond just shoplifting. Sometimes it’s credit card fraud or technical hiccups that lead to long waits and frustrated customers flagging down the one worker overseeing a sea of blinking machines.
To tackle these problems, Walmart has tried a few things over the years. In 2024, it rolled out handheld receipt scanners at select locations. These allowed employees to check whether a customer’s receipt matched their cart before they left. The company has also taken steps to fight credit card skimming. In this growing concern, scammers hide fake PIN pads over real ones to steal card data, especially at unattended registers. At some stores, tape now covers parts of card readers to block tampering, and new tech is being tested behind the scenes.
Still, none of those efforts grabbed headlines like this one simple action in Missouri to get rid of the kiosks.
Not Just a Walmart Thing
Walmart isn’t alone in rethinking the checkout lane. Dollar General recently removed self-checkout at 12,000 stores after seeing a spike in shoplifting. The change reportedly helped boost the company’s net sales. Meanwhile, Sam’s Club, which Walmart owns, is moving toward AI-powered “Scan & Go” technology, where shoppers use their phones to scan items as they shop. Costco is testing similar tech, too, though they’re not pulling the plug on traditional self-checkout just yet.
The industry is in a bit of a checkout tug-of-war. On one end, there is automation and speed. On the other hand, there is control, accuracy, and, apparently, a significant drop in crime. Retailers are learning that shaving seconds off the shopping experience might not be worth it if it comes with stolen merchandise and constant calls to the police.
What’s Next?
For now, Walmart says it doesn’t plan to yank self-checkout machines at other stores, and that’s probably true in the short term. But if more locations mirror the success of the Shrewsbury experiment, things could change fast. The public response has been mostly positive, especially among employees who say the change reduces stress and gives them more face time with customers.
Maybe the answer to modern retail theft wasn’t another camera or an AI tool after all. Maybe it was just people doing their original jobs.