The goal is to add more staffed checkout lanes and limit self-checkout to 10 items for customers. The company, which has more than 2,000 locations in the United States, announced that the change will take effect over the weekend.
“Checkout is one of the most important moments of the Target rush, and we know that a quick and easy experience, both at the self-checkout and in the lanes staffed by our friendly team members, is critical to getting guests there quickly,” Target said in a company statement.
The chain will also expand traditional checkout lanes in all of its stores.
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The company said it piloted the limited self-checkout lanes last fall and that customers were able to check out “twice as fast” as with traditional methods.
Target will also now allow store managers to set specific self-checkout times that “work for their store,” but noted that during peak hours, express self-checkout will be available.
Target did not mention theft issues in its statement about the checkout policy changes, but in September 2023 the company closed nine stores in four states in what the company said were high theft areas.
“We cannot continue to operate these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” the company said in a statement at the time. “We know that our stores play an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for everyone.”
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Target CFO Michael Fiddelke said in a third-quarter 2023 earnings report that the company was estimated to have lost about $500 million due to retail theft, and in 2022 the company lost about $700 million. dollars because of the problem.
As of Monday afternoon, the target was up just over 2% year over year.