Tesco introduces ‘big brother’ style self-service checkouts to stores

Many shoppers are critical of the new technology (Picture: Getty Images)

Tesco has become the latest supermarket to install cameras on self-service checkouts, with one major difference, you can watch yourself back. 

The new VAR-style tills record shoppers as they scan their items, then playback video clips where you’ve failed to scan an item properly. 

Any shoppers trying to sneak past products or even a 25p bag at the tills will receive a warning, stating: ‘It looks like that last item didn’t scan. Please check you scanned it correctly before continuing.’

Tesco has not confirmed when the feature was added to the tills, but it joins a number of supermarkets cracking down on shoplifters, including Sainsbury’s, who introduced the technology to its stores earlier this month. 

Supermarket bosses believe thieves who can see their illegal actions have been caught are far more likely to pay for them, but customers haven’t taken to them so easily. 

What do customers think of VAR checkouts?

Tesco confirmed to Metro that the technology has been introduced, but not across all of its stores. They did not confirm when the feature was introduced, or how many shops it has been rolled out in so far. 

A spokesperson said: ‘We are always looking at technology to make life easier for our customers.

Tesco has introduced the technology across certain stores (Picture: Getty Images)

‘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.’

After Sainsbury’s introduced the self-service checkout change, one disgruntled shopper took to social media, declaring the move ‘more big brother tactics with more surveillance’. 

Others called for a boycott and urged supermarkets to lower the price of their products. 

Author and social commentator Carl Vernon recently posted a YouTube video about the new Sainsbury’s checkouts to his 51,000 subscribers.

One viewer, @TheRailwayTourManager, accused the supermarket of punishing ‘law-abiding members of the public’.

‘It’s like a bad manager at work, who, because ONE person has done something they shouldn’t, everyone gets tarred with the same brush and has some sort of restriction or sanction imposed on them,’ he said.

User @_indrid_cold_ added: ‘I would never dream of stealing, but I detest and deeply resent what’s happening now in supermarkets.

Some shoppers have likened the tech to ‘big brother’ style surveillance (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I just wish that the public could be a bit more organised and properly boycott them until they get the message and take their intrusive spyware away.’

Sainsbury’s did not directly respond to criticism of the new tills, but a spokesperson previously told Metro: ‘We regularly review the security measures in our stores and our decisions to implement them are based on a range of factors, including offering our customers a smooth checkout experience.’

Why are supermarkets cracking down on theft?

Recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the number of shoplifting offences in England and Wales rose by 20% last year.

A total of 516,971 offences were recorded, compared to 429,873 in 2023. In London alone, offences rose from 58,000 to nearly 90,000 in 2024.

The rising cost of living will explain some incidences, but Metro recently spoke to ‘casual kleptos’ who can afford food, and steal from big businesses, such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s, regardless.

‘I can definitely afford my food shop without shoplifting,’ 25-year-old Matilda said. ‘But prices have gone crazy. I just feel like, why should I have to pay that price when big supermarkets are making the profits?’

‘I’ll take things that are quite small and will go in my bag. Like cheese or halloumi or toothpaste. Just things that are quite small but kind of expensive,’ she says.

‘I like to give myself three for two deals. I’ll pay for two things and steal one.’

Imogen, a 25-year-old therapist, also targets big shops like Asda Tesco and Sainsbury’s. 

‘I’ve stolen haircare products like oils because they’re stupidly expensive and I want them. It’s the sort of thing I wouldn’t get otherwise,’ she says.

‘Like this is a luxury item that I’m not going to be able to justify buying myself, but I can take it.’

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].