Tesco joins Sainsbury’s in major change to self-service checkouts | Personal Finance | Finance

Tesco has installed cameras above its self-service tills in order to catch out shoppers who fail to scan items. The video assistant referee (VAR) technology is AI-enabled and constantly monitors the screen of the till to make sure items are all accounted for. If someone fails to put an item through the till, it plays a message on the screen, telling shoppers to re-scan the goods.

The technology is already being used by Sainsbury’s, The Sun reports, where is it believed to have helped cut down on self-checkout theft. The news outlet reports that it was unclear when the technology was installed at Tesco tills, but any would-be robbers attempting to take from the stores – or people mistakenly not scanning an item correctly – now see the message: “The last item wasn’t scanned properly.

“Remove from bagging area and try again.”

The installation of the technology mean security measures including lock-boxes and security stickers may be removed from everyday goods like teabags and chocolate.

A retail source shared hopes that thieves who were attempting to steal goods may choose instead to pay rather than get caught, although they admitted it may not deter all shoplifters.

The British Retail Consortium, said shoplifting cost UK retailers £2billion a year.

A Tesco spokesperson told The Sun: “We are always looking at technology to make life easier for our customers.

“We have recently installed a new system at some stores which helps customers using self-service checkouts identify if an item has not been scanned properly, making the checkout process quicker and easier.”