Will new tech halt organized shoplifters in their slick tracks?

TLDR:

• Shoplifting is a serious problem in America, with retail stores losing billions of dollars each year.
• Shoplifters are no longer just teenage girls, but organized crime rings with sophisticated operations.
• The Loss Prevention Research Council has created a prototype store to test new technology to combat shoplifting.
• Some of these technologies include facial recognition and the need to enter a phone number or scan a QR code to access products.
• While these solutions are innovative, they may be seen as an inconvenience and invasion of privacy for consumers.
• Questions arise about whether these solutions are simply temporary fixes to a larger problem and why people turn to shoplifting in the first place.

Shoplifting is a significant problem in the United States, causing retail stores to lose billions of dollars each year. The days of teenage girls casually shoplifting clothes from the local mall seem to be over, as shoplifting has become a highly organized and sophisticated operation conducted by large groups of people. The Loss Prevention Research Council has developed a prototype store to test new technology to combat shoplifting. Some of the technologies being considered include facial recognition technology and the necessity to enter a phone number or scan a QR code to access products.

The implementation of such technologies, however, raises concerns about privacy invasion and inconvenience for consumers. Some may hesitate to provide personal information like their phone number or email address to a store. Additionally, these security measures may only be band-aid solutions to a larger problem. It is worth questioning why people turn to shoplifting as a means of making money and whether these innovative solutions will actually solve the underlying issues.