New self-checkout cart will have huge impact on retail theft with two cameras, alerts to employees and tons of data

THEFT from shops will drop once new smart-cart technology is being used in all major retailers, its creator has told The U.S. Sun.

With shoplifting numbers rising dramatically in the post-pandemic era due to the increase of self-checkouts in the likes of Target, Walgreens, and Walmart, the retail industry is facing up to a $100billion nightmare.

But Israeli company Shopic has a solution - and it could be coming to a store near you very soon.

Their new tech - which simply involves snapping their specially made computer onto a normal cart - has two cameras attached that monitor everything the shopper does during their trip down the aisles.

Everything is scanned automatically ensuring anything untoward - and not recognized by the onboard computer - will send off a series of alerts.

Shop workers, who can see the process develop in real-time via a tablet, will be notified and be able to approach the customer to ascertain exactly what the problem is.

Shopic CEO Raz Golan thinks his product - which is being tested in two Wegmans stores in the U.S. as well as in Israel, Europe, and South America - will act as a huge deterrent for shoplifters.

"Retailers, and specifically grocery retailers, have to contain their shrinkage because their profit margins are so small," he told The U.S. Sun.

"But what differentiates us from other self-checkout solutions, like the traditional registers, is we have two cameras that look at the cart.

"Once you connect your device, every item that you place in or take out will be automatically recognized with a technology called computer vision that basically knows how to recognize the items automatically.

"So, you don't have to scan the barcode, you just naturally insert the item, and like magic, it tells you: 'Oh, great, you inserted one bottle of water.'

"The fact that we have cameras allows us to provide this very frictionless way of shopping, but also to tell everything that has happened around the cart."

The U.S. Sun revealed last month that organized shoplifting has increased by 26 percent, with desperate people struggling to hold onto jobs resorting to stealing goods from the likes of Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS.

Moves to deal with the increase in thieving have been instigated - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Chuck Grassley recently continued their push to help protect small businesses by reintroducing legislation to provide law enforcement with resources to crack down on organized retail crime.

However, the situation has become so dire, many places have started locking normally accessible items, which has angered shoppers.

Shopic, however, is desperate to help turn the tide and make shopping stress-free once again.

"Everything that's happened is monitored," continued Golan, a former cyber security specialist with the Israeli Defence Force.

"So, even if you entered an item, and it wasn't recognized, maybe we had an error with our algorithms, we still know that something happened and you won't be able to check out before you resolve this alert.

"With self-checkout, you mostly see mistakes and not intentional theft. And what we see as well is, due to the fact that shoppers know that there are cameras, it's a massive deterrent.

"They know everything is monitored, so therefore, you're not likely to see people playing with the cart too much.

"As a rule of thumb, the more when you look at self-checkout, you want to give freedom to shoppers, but also to give the same level of control for the retailer. Once you have both, it's the ideal solution.

"We have 100 percent coverage of the cart and the surroundings, and when monitored in real-time, if a cart has too many issues and mistakes, then it's flagged.

"A store associate can check this card at the exit."

Furthermore, thanks to the smart cart soaking up all the data concerning the products bought, store bosses will get a much clearer idea of what items are more at risk.

"Everything has lots of data and visibility throughout the shopping session itself," said Golan.

"So, we can know what's riskier and what's not, unlike self-checkout, where it's much harder to monitor. Usually, you have a person in attendance in the self-checkout area, and there is much less visibility.

"The tablet monitors every session live in the store. And the idea is to assist, to have the checkout experience as smooth as possible.

"This kind of approach would see that something is not right so we can have a much smoother checkout.

"And it helps both sides too - the shopper and the stores. The whole experience will be quicker and more efficient."