EXCLUSIVE

SUPERMARKET giant Coles is restricting the number of items at self-serve check-outs to just 12, just months after it ordered a crackdown on theft at self-scanning points.

Coles told news.com.au it was trialling “a 12-item limit on self scanning check-outs” in a number of stores with a Coles staff member on duty at the lanes.

“We have found customers with small baskets can generally complete their shopping faster by using self-scanning check-outs,” a Coles spokesperson revealed.

Coles also said customers with more than 12 items could use “traditional belted lanes” staffed by their checkout team members.

The announcement comes four months after news.com.au exclusively revealed Coles was cracking down on self-serve theft.

media_camera Coles is cracking down on self-serve check-outs, reducing the number of items in the self-scanning lanes to just 12. Picture: Mark Brake.

media_camera Coles is trialling the 12-item only restriction on self-scanning check-outs at a small number of stores. Picture: Mark Scott.

media_camera The 12-item rule follows Coles’ crackdown on self-serve check-outs with NSW Police, like Sgt Tony Doherty and Constable Ryan Hall (above) on duty at Coles Erina. Picture: Mark Scott.

This followed research that found shoppers were more likely to steal at a self-serve machine, partly because customers were distanced from the human face of the business.

Supermarket theft is compounded by the ease with which self-serve machines allow shoppers to pass off more expensive fruit, vegetables and bakery products as cheaper products.

The “swipe everything as carrots” mentality was prevalent among young customers, who confessed to supermarket research body Canstar Blue that they had ripped off supermarkets at the self-serve.

Canstar Blue told news.com.au that while younger customers had embraced self-serve because they actively tried to avoid interaction with others while shopping, they also practised the “five-finger discount”.

media_camera Customers using the self-serve checkout at Coles will have to restrict their purchases to just 12 items. Picture: Mark Scott.

media_camera Loyal Coles customer Grace Ursini, 83, uses the self-serve checkout at a Coles supermarket in South Australia. Picture: News Corp.

media_camera Shoppers with a small basket of food can use the 12-item restricted self-serve check-outs, while customers with a trolley full will go to the belted lanes with checkout staff. Picture: News Corp.

In early October, Coles called on NSW police to help them target self-serve checkout theft, and reduce its annual overall theft debt which retail industry experts estimate at $1.1 billion.

Coles says it was tired of shoppers who either didn’t scan products to avoid paying, or scanned cheaper items to get a discount on more expensive products.

Supermarket theft is compounded by the ease at which self-serve machines allowed shoppers to pass off more costly fruit, vegetables and bakery products as cheaper items.

“We have had a lot of interest in self-serve check-outs and what is being done to reduce theft,” Coles spokeswoman Martine Alpins said.

She admitted there had been “a normalisation of theft at self-service check-outs”.

Superintendent Murray Chapman said police would get serious about targeting thieves.

Canstar Blue found that one in six customers aged in their 30s said they had deliberately not paid for an item at a self-service checkout.

Almost one in 10 shoppers of all ages admitted they had cheated supermarkets in the self-serve section, Canstar Blue found in its survey. Men were more likely to steal than women.

Coles has already used technology to recalibrate machines in its Victorian stores to speed up self-service shopping.

media_camera Twelve items or less can still be checked out in the self-serve lanes at Coles supermarkets. Picture: News Corp.

Originally published as Coles’ new rules for self-serve checkouts