Roughly one in three young shoppers in the U.S. has admitted to giving themselves five-finger discounts at self-checkout counters, a new survey shows.
According to loan marketplace LendingTree, 31% of Gen-Z consumers have stolen items from self-checkout kiosks, compared to 15% of consumers of any age. Those figures come as businesses work to combat shoplifting, which some retailers have blamed for hurting their financial performance and even for store closures.
“Ultimately, retailers need to decide whether the self-checkout terminals are worth the risk,” LendingTree chief credit analyst Matt Schulz said in a statement. “That’s a question lots of retailers are likely wrestling with.”
LendingTree based its findings on a survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers between the ages of 18 and 77.
Although some respondents to the poll said they regretted having sticky fingers, 44% planned to continue stealing from self-checkout kiosks, while 37% said they would do so to save money on groceries or health care goods, according to the survey. Of those who had stolen at kiosks, only a third said they had ever been caught, the data shows.
Read more at CBSnews.com
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