// Sainsbury’s under fire for making customers scan their receipts before exiting
// The requirement to scan receipts has been introduced at a “small number” of stores
Sainsbury’s is facing backlash for making customers scan their receipts before they can exit the store.
The grocer has introduced the requirement for shoppers at the self-service checkout area of selected stores, with proof of purchase needed to open the exit barriers.
Although Sainsbury’s told Retail Gazette that the technology was not new and was only used in a “small number” of stores, it has only recently been noticed on social media and has angered some shoppers.
One user wrote on Reddit yesterday: “I noticed yesterday my local Sainsbury’s supermarket is now making us scan our receipt to exit the barriers. Why are they doing this? I’ve never had to scan a receipt to exit a supermarket before.
“This has really put me off going back considering I have a large choice of supermarkets.”
https://twitter.com/wowpeachy/status/1602338324693262337
Scan your receipt to exit Sainsbury's … Another step closer to a cashless society and control..https://t.co/fTfCO5dYFQ
— R o c k y Investor (@ROCE1900) December 11, 2022
Another user on Twitter called the decision an “appalling” way to treat customers.
In Sainsbury’s just now I had to scan my receipt to get out; an appalling way to treat customers!
— Bill Tyler (@Stroodvalen) December 10, 2022
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The requirement to scan receipts is evidently taking place at the grocer’s Islington and Dalston stores in London after PwC’s retail strategy director Kien Tan posted images on social media.
According to Tan, the grocer has been forcing Dalston shoppers to scan their receipt for the last few months, while its Islington store has blocked off all but one exit – and is implementing a “scan receipt to exit” requirement from today.
Tan said that the initiative “totally defeats the purpose of self scan”.
It’s catching. Not content with forcing Dalston shoppers to scan their receipt for the last few months, @sainsburys Islington has blocked off all but one exit, and is announcing “scan receipt to exit” from tomorrow on the PA https://t.co/EH4z67C05f pic.twitter.com/HYVFOWqyqr
— Kien Tan (@kientan74) December 11, 2022
It appears that Tesco is also using similar tactics, with a Reddit user sharing that they were required to scan their barcode before exiting its Express store near Old Street, London.
The initiatives have been introduced as shoplifting soars amid the cost-of-living crisis.
According to Freedom of Information requests by The Telegraph, shoplifting cases have surged 16% in the past three months as shoppers steal essential products.
The newspaper found that Sainsbury’s and Tesco accounted for 40% of overall cases.
88 Comments. Leave new
It also happens in Coventry primark scan the receipt to come out even you already paid and all good to go
World gone crazy with new ideas
This has also been implemented in the Sainsburys superstore in Sydenham, London
If everyone stops going to sainsburys, problem solved
What would happen in an emergency ie Fire?
So it atops people stealing stuff as easily? Why are people outraged? Scan a receipt? “Oh we are oppressed and my anxiety and rights, blah blah…it’s hardly asking much
What is the fuss all about? It’s a good thing if it deters thieving bastards!
If that happens at my store, I would take my shopping and demand a refund.
Sainsburys in Wolverhampton has used this scanning system for over a year
Remove self checkouts and problems solved.
Absolutely! They want rid of people but then get the hump when a till can’t stop scrotes from thieving…
Never going to happen, self service checkouts account for approximately 70% of shoppers in supermarkets.
Some people don’t have the confidence or they might have anxiety and can’t interact with the people at the none self checkouts
I agree with Stefan, get rid of the self checkouts and bring back the good old fashioned customer service with more manned checkouts!
It will die out before or after Christmas as it’ll cause too much problem with the Christmas rush, never to return
I thought this was at all stores but I guess my area was just unique. I’ve had to show my receipt or scan it 3 or 4 times since it got introduced a few years ago. Makes me wonder if it’s due to the high number of thefts happening as the stores I go to do have quite a high theft figure.
Deplorable measure from Sainsburys but you can guarantee it will quickly spread to the other bug supermarket chain not challenged
I’m not remotely bothered as I don’t and can’t afford to pay for the shopping of the shoplifters and if you don’t steal you shouldn’t be bothered about it
Also at the Whitechapel store. I had stuffed my receipt in the bottom of my bag and had bags of shopping to carry, which then spilt when I had to put them back down on the floor to look for the receipt so that I could leave.
So what happens if you go in and they don’t have what you want? Forced to buy something just to be let out of the store? Best reason to avoid shopping at these places!
Surely it’s only a problem if you don’t know it’s a requirement at the store and you’ve already put your receipt away in your purse mixed in with 50 other receipts and put your purse in your bag and closed it up so you’ve got get it all back out again, or you’ve gone into the store for something in particular which they’ve sold out of and you want to leave empty handed …or, of course, you’re trying to make off without paying! What would defeat self-scan is if they stood at the exit and checked the contents of every bag off against each receipt
Only an inconvenience if you happen to be stealing.
Business slashes costs by reducing staffing levels.. tries to find solution to ‘customers’ gaming the system…. Easy solution, just increase staffing numbers and open till positions.
Brilliant, I don’t mind having to scan my receipt to get out of the store as it will cut down on shoplifters who are making us genuine shoppers pay more
something is up with Sainsbury’s their online site keeps selling items that stores stock but won’t send. their site has no dietary advice for months so people with allergies and health issues have no advice. tut tut. do better please.
I don’t see any problem with
Harpenden Sainsbury’s been doing it for months!
Why are people so angry about this?
Theoretically this could be interpreted to be illegal imprisonment. A customer has paid for his/her purchases and the items now belong to that person. The shop has no reason to detain a person unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that he/she has items which have not been paid for.
What happens when self scan asks if you want a receipt & you say no? Are you stuck in the shop forever?
What is the outrage over this? Why are some people stuck in perpetual outrage over anything or everything?
I wish I had their copious amount of personal free time to be able to sqander it away on typing endless Twitter feeds of feigned outrage but I am just too busy with managing important day to day things to before allocating scarce time on drivel. Get a life.
If people didn’t steal then Sainsburys wouldn’t need to introduce this measure. Nothing about the high uppers in the world controlling you. Anyone who works in retail will tell you this. Scan & go is known as scam and go amongst staff in all supermarkets which offer scan & go.
A) Copying bg things people say on Twitter is not journalism
B) What’s the problem with measures to stop shoplifting?
I know why they’re doing that. As a shopper before working in retail I’d understand peoples anger and frustration at this, but working on the other side you can’t show complete trust to customers – everyone is a potential shoplifter. Sure, there are some decent people out there who will honestly pay for what they have bought but there are so many people who take advantage over the systems that they kind of spoil it for others. The stores are just protecting themselves. It’s a crying shame it’s come to this but stores have to try and protect against theft because it’s a loss to the store. Working in retail you have to be super aware to the tricks some customers can and will pull
Some people have nothing better to do than moan and complain how long does it take to scan a receipt 1,2,3 seconds
Why would anyone be bothered by this. If it reduces shoplifting it is only positive. Costco stores require you to produce your receipt and they check through your trolley. If you’ve nothing to hide then there’s no problem. If your distressed or bothered go where the shoplifters go.
Remove self scan service problem solved don’t treat people like criminal or they never have customers
You go in, they haven’t got what you want, you go to leave the premises, as is your right, and you don’t have a receipt as you purchased nothing and you are stopped and prevented from leaving. Is that legal?
What happens if you don’t buy anything?
If I am am honest then I’ve got nothing to fear. An excellent idea. Then we need harsher punishment for thieves instead of a pat on the back and off they go again.
I’ve been scanning my receipts at my local Dulwich Sainsburys for a while now and can’t see anything wrong with it. It’s better than having the random search which takes much longer. The scan and go is meant to be a quicker service rather than queing at endless staffed tills. It’s a way of stopping theft which is better for all customers in the end, if not we will all get charged more to offset the increase in thefts. Customers don’t have to use this facility as it’s not compulsory. Also the gates should close quicker as I’ve had a customer going through the gate after me as he hadn’t scanned his shopping or paid!!
Common practice in France, nobody bitches about it
What happens if you click the no receipt button?
I don’t get it … why is it an issue if you bought something. The issue is, if you went in looking for something specific and you left empty handed and no receipt to get out
Unless your a shoplifters I fail to see the problem.
If you have your receipt it’s not really a hard task to scan it. All the supermarkets are trying to do is stop shoplifting, I just hope we don’t have another word war as half of society wouldn’t survive if scaning a receipt is so difficult ♂️
If u dont trust people get rid of of self service an put tills back
I would never use Sainsbury’s or Tesco. They don’t give a sh*t about their customers
…or their staff
No problems for honest people
And what about for the handicap or people with children and bags if shopping??? Not to mention the environmental issues. Ridicules. If the security guards did their job rather than watching people leave who set off the alarms then we wouldn’t need it
If it’s to stop theft, then it won’t. Scan some don’t scan some- how will m they know what you haven’t paid for? And people stealing don’t just walk in and walk out- sure they would buy something first- so it’s not obvious.
Some large superstores in Italy have the same system
Why is scanning a receipt in order to exit such an issue? If you have nothing to hide the problem is what exactly? It seems to me that people are far too easily offended & looking to create problems where there are none. Shoppers should get used to this anyway because Primark is already doing this in their Kingston upon Thames branch & it works very well unless of course you’re a shoplifter. People just need to get used to obtaining a receipt to exit. Good job Sainsburys, Tesco, Primary & anyone else doing this, time to clamp down. Shoplifting ends up in higher prices for all which I resent, it is also a criminal offence.
I will try to explain why printing out a receipt is an issue. Firstly, what resource do you think is used for the receipts? Yes paper!, And where does paper come from- yes that’s right, Tree’s, you know, those big bushy things that help absorb C02 from the atmosphere and then turn this into oxygen, so that we can breathe. We have to chop down these life giving resources, for paper. If someone, who proport’s to have an environmental conscious, then dictates that we should waste a valuable life giving resource on protecting the shop from shoplifters, then that is their problem. I for one, do not want to feel like a criminal, insulted and held against my will because of this dictate
Good for you.
What if you say no when till asks ‘ do you want receipt’?
They do this in French supermarkets. It’s not a problem.
Blame the small percent of shoppers who use self scan as a way of stealing goods from the Stores! Other options are no self scan and longer queues, or self scan and even more expensive goods as shops try to make up on some of their losses due to theft!
What if you don’t print out a receipt as you do get that option at self checkout points how can you exit then merely impossible if you ask me without the assistance from staff to key they gate to open come on what’s with the gestapo style working in shops these days get a life
The option is no longer offered the receipt prints automatically, only today the customer in front of me didn’t take her receipt the assistant took it she came back with the security man and I confirmed that it was in the machine when I arrived and the assistant confirmed that she had left without, all ok
I used this system in Norway and as a customer assistant who has often worked at Self Check Out Tills I thought that we should bring it in on an instant. People tap their cards and think they’ve paid but don’t worry about waiting though the till says please insert the card…
Never come across this in my local Storr? I wouldn’t agree with scanning my receipt, if they don’t trust people to scan and serve themselves, then they should abolish this system! They need to get more staff on the check outs. After all, they usually have to have someone hovering around the Self Service area, for when something goes wrong!
How do people get out if they bought nothing
Been in Norway for years, significantly deterring theft. No Norwegians have rioted over this.
It’s not the self-service checkouts at my local one… its the entire store as the barriers at both entrances
In the event of an emergency such as a fire this will likely cost lives and may be illegal
I noticed yesterday the barrier had been ripped off and is now constantly beeping as people can just walk past
This may be lawful to do in your local store if the barrier poses a danger to life and limb in the event of an emergency (where it blocks emergency escapes)
The sainsburys I go to is one of the stores that have this and honestly its not THAT bad as this article is making out. I haven’t seen a single person complain to staff over it. It’s just an added security thing. After paying you are automatically given a receipt as normal (the same whether you pay by card or cash). Bottom of the receipt is a barcode, on leaving you simply scan the barcode (less than 10 seconds) and you’re off on your way. This article is pure clickbait and isn’t as its making it out to be. You’re not barred from leaving the store unless you have a receipt, if you haven’t bought anything lol
I have now stopped going to aldi as they have more self serv than proper checkouts I think the next step will be unloading the truck making delivery of stock. Al in the name of profit.
Backlash from a few idiots on social media. How can you base a serious story on this and who really cares!
They lose a lot of money on self checkout tills. Not always intentional theft. Customers pack there bag and forget to pay or u get the ones who touch their card and don’t wait to see if their contact payment has gone through before walking off. I sometimes man the self checkouts so I do have first hand experience. I don’t see a problem with it. If u paid it’s no big hardship to scan your receipt on way out. After all alot of shoppers use the phone app and scan every item as they shop so I really can’t see a problem with this.
If you have nothing to hide you need not worry. If theft is eradicated by this then you should be happy as you won’t pay higher prices to compensate for stealing. Quite simple really. It’s hardly an inconvenience.
What a bunch of whining morons
Why do self scan checkouts give the option of not getting a receipt? What happens if you decide not to get one?
The cost of the equipment, servicing it, the litter it causes , the ongoing paper costs, the loss of customers as it loses trust with honest customers. The fact that actual shoplifters will just go out the entrance and or straight through the flimsy barriers as shop staff are not allowed to physically stop them anyway. A totally pointless, environmentally unfriendly, loss making venture..well done the salesman of these ridiculous things!
I’d be leaving through the nearest fire escape
This is a thing in so many European countries and really isn’t an issue, it takes all of 2 seconds
About time supermarkets took a stand this will stop some of the shoplifters. Only guilty people would object to this
Sainsbury’s Castle Vale, Birmingham, has this system too. Been installed for maybe up to six months.
What’s that point when this actually encourages stealing?
Scan only half the stuff you picked up. Use the reciept to get out. Sweet.
Completely understandable during a shoplifting epidemic. Do you want to have to pay higher prices for other people’s thieving?
What’s the fuss about? You have to scan your ticket as you leave the railway platform IICR.
One shopper said “This has really put me off going back considering I have a large choice of supermarkets to steal from”
What if you don’t buy anything?
Can I suggest that the stores actually bring back the manned tills. This will reduce shoplifting and negate the need to scam the receipt on exit. Why should customers do the stores job for them?
Useless tactic. If you’re going to steal you will just walk straight out the shop or just not scan all your items at the checkout. It doesn’t check what’s on the receipt, just that you have one.
They are absolutely right, they suffer from shoplifting and they must protect their interest.
Alcampo in Spain have done this for years, no problem.
Scanning to exit, doesn’t prove what’s in your bag or hidden in your jumper. Only that you paid for 1 item. How does this stop shoplifters?
And what if they didn’t have what you wanted and you want to leave without purchasing anything?
Elderly or disabled people can’t make it out in time before the barrier shuts and you can’t rescan your receipt, even the staff can’t release it. I think its terrible.
Don’t trust me to do the cashiers job, then decide to check if I’m being honest, reinstate cashiers instead