this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
31 points (100.0% liked)
Technology
37712 readers
187 users here now
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
Top supermarket chains like Woolworths (WOW.AX) and Coles (COL.AX) have flagged a pickup in store theft and hostile behaviour, in line with global trends, as higher fuel, housing and grocery costs squeeze shopper budgets and tempers.Customer-facing staff at Coles and Woolworths, which together make up two-thirds of Australian grocery sales, have started wearing body cameras to record threatening behaviour, while trolleys are being fitted with wheels which automatically lock if a shopper tries to leave without paying.
"Unfortunately the data suggests it's continuing to occur," added Thomson, whose firm counts Coles and Woolworths as clients.
Reports of store theft surged 23% in Australia's three largest states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, home to three-quarters of the population, in the year to March 2023, according to the latest available government statistics, as COVID-related restrictions ended.
Store theft and customer aggression are both higher, but "we are more concerned with ensuring the continued wellbeing and safety of our team", Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said on an Oct. 25 sales call, in which he linked changing shopper behaviour with living cost pressures.
Gerard Dwyer, National Secretary of the Shop Distributive & Allied Employees Association, the country's main retail union, said while security technology was being upgraded it was up to the justice system to act as a deterrent by imposing tougher penalties.
Saved 55% of original text.