Major retailers such as Costco and Walmart have incorporated tech such as self-checkout counters to make shopping more convenient. But they didn't anticipate that shoplifters would find their way around that, much like cyber crooks. In an attempt to contain issues such as membership sharing and shoplifting, both stores deployed additional security measures, which have triggered outrage among customers. Reports suggest that the recent anti-shoplifting measures at Walmart lead to more hostile interactions between workers and shoppers. This was abundantly highlighted when a Walmart shopper was left in tears after a security guard kept following her around the store for more than 20 minutes.
The Walmart shopper named Sarah (@sarahde932) took to TikTok the talk about the harassment that she faced while shopping with her toddler. In her viral video, she shared she was minding her own business, pushing her cart around when a security guard or a 'floor walker' randomly started following her. “For the past 20 minutes, this security guard kept following me. He’s made me feel like I’m a shoplifter," Sarah said in the video while wiping her tears. She then panned the camera to her cart to show that she had put a ton of stuff in her shopping cart which was sitting alongside her daughter.
She said that the security guard kept following her, even though she looked like any normal shopper. "I purposely did a figure eight to double check to see if he’s actually following me, and he kept following me," she said. She then went on to share that she confronted the security person but that didn't work either. “I said, ‘You know what? If this is what you think is happening, you’ve got the wrong person," she said recalling the interaction.
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She even complained about the issue to the store manager, but that didn't work out. “He literally just shrugged me off. He said, ‘Just go shopping. I’m not following you, you’re following me,'" she recalled.
Further in her caption, she elaborated how the experience was harrowing to her. "When you’re a female with your 3-year-old daughter being watched by a 6’5 man AND followed in every aisle isn’t a nice feeling. To have the managers just watch and stay silent when I was crying for help, they just gave stickers to make the problem “better” was a slap in the face," she wrote.
She further urged the big box retailer to do better, saying "Not a nice way to treat your customers who spend 100% of their baby bonus. I refuse to support and shop at a company that does this to their customers every day." Viewers in the comments came out in support of the shopper, urging Walmart to address the issue immediately.
"Wow how awful. I’m sorry this is happening to you." Ally Mae said. "I had the same thing happen to me at the Walmart in Scarborough Ontario at the Walmart on Eglington and Warden," @MandieAndie79 recounted.
Sarah's observations are not isolated as last year, Business Insider reported that the store's anti-shoplifting methods had led to a surge in “hostile” encounters between hourly workers and shoppers.
To make things worse, the latest hostile move that the retail giant has been testing is body cams, according to The Vice. The report showed that Walmart is running the pilot program at a few select stores where employees wear bodycams like they’re cops.
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“This is a pilot we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions," a Walmart spokesperson told CNBC regarding the pilot program.
For more updates and videos, follow Sarah (@sarahde932) on TikTok.
