Some major retailers are doing away with self-checkouts as legislators fight for stricter regulations on such systems.
Among those brands, Walmart is eliminating self-checkout machines as the retail giant continues its experiment with automation.
The company has been slowly removing the machines from its stores to go old school and bring back traditional cashier lanes. The latest location to dump its self-checkout was in South Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
A company spokesperson insisted to the outlet that the shift is about customer service, presenting it as a way to shorten lines and increase efficiency.
“These changes are guided by feedback from associates and customers, local shopping patterns, and the needs of the business in each community,” the spokesperson said, adding the change is aimed to “improve the checkout experience and enable associates to provide more personalized customer service.”
However, self-checkout kiosks are also extremely vulnerable to theft, and experts say the rise in shoplifting is the real reason they’re being cut.
A December 2025 Lending Tree survey found that 69% of people who use them believe they make it easier to steal, and many self-checkout users admitted to theft, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
A whopping 27% have purposefully taken an item without scanning. Meanwhile, 36% of users admitted they’ve accidentally left with an unscanned item, and though they didn’t intentionally steal, 61% of those who accidentally took something said they kept it.
“Largely unattended self-checkouts provide a potential opportunity for folks to help themselves,” Matt Schulz, LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst, said in a statement. “Even though people know that stealing is wrong and most understand the risk they’re taking, tough times require tough choices, and lots of people are clearly willing to take a risk.”
Retail expert Neil Saunders agreed that self-checkout stations have led to high rates of theft because of both purposeful actions and “accidental mistakes,” he told the Daily Mail.
“Forcing more customers to use manned checkouts resolves a lot of these issues and saves retailers money,” he noted.
“Walmart regularly reviews stores based on theft and customer experience and takes self checkout out of their highest theft stores,” retail expert Bryan Gildenberg told the Daily Mail. “I would not read much more into it than that.”
Walmart isn’t the only store to axe self-checkout. In 2024, Dollar General removed self-checkouts from 12,000 stores nationwide.
Last year, Sam’s Club, a subsidiary of Walmart, announced it would remove self-checkout machines in favor of AI-powered “scan and go” technology.
Costco has begun rolling out a similar technology, but they reportedly don’t have plans to get rid of self-checkout.
While standing in line for checkout, a Costco staff member will come to your cart and scan all of the items. Once you reach the register, you’ll scan your membership card and all of the scanned items will load on the screen. All you have to do at that point is pay.
The move comes as legislators in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington have been looking to enact laws that would require a balance between self-checkout stations and employee-operated stations, a certain number of employees per self-checkout and/or limits on the items that can be brought through self-checkout, USA Today reported.
Earlier this year, New York City Council member Amanda Farías (D-Bronx) introduced an amendment to the city code that would impose a 15-item limit for shoppers using the self-checkout lanes in NYC supermarkets and pharmacies.
It would also require stores to have one employee per every three self-checkouts.
“We’ve seen the consequences of removing workers from these spaces: increased retail theft, less oversight, fewer protections for both workers and customers and generally decreased safety,” Farías said while introducing the legislation.
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