At supermarket chain Jumbo, more than 100 million euros worth of groceries are stolen every year. This is partly due to the high prices and the self-checkout. This is what supermarket expert Paul Moers tells us. “The Netherlands has 1 million poor people. If groceries become 32 percent more expensive in two years, people are more inclined to steal.”
Annual figures for 2023 from the family business from Veghel show that a lot is stolen from the store shelves. In many Jumbo branches this is more than 1 percent of turnover. Employees have to deal with unpleasant situations and tensions due to the thefts. The company wants to thwart shoplifters by installing additional security cameras, among other things.
Paul Moers attributes the increasing thefts to, among other things, the more expensive products and the self-checkout. According to him, it also has to do with the 1 million Dutch people who live in poverty. Because if people with a small budget scan the more expensive groceries themselves, they are more likely to steal, according to Moers. With so many people in financial trouble, we should not be surprised. Although there are also people who can afford it, but don’t do it.
“People sometimes don’t realize that a product is not being scanned.”
The theft does not always happen consciously, he says. “People sometimes do not realize that a product is not being scanned. Not all customers immediately notice that the self-checkout has not beeped for every message.”
Moers also points to a broader problem in society: the blurring of norms. People find it easier to not follow the rules. “You don’t just see that in the supermarkets. Just look at New Year’s Eve and the people who throw fireworks at the police.”
According to Moers, all major supermarket chains are suffering from an increasing number of shoplifters. Jumbo wants to install extra cameras to combat shoplifters. The company is less open about other measures, but Moers expects that Jumbo will help people more when paying at the self-checkout to prevent errors.
“In the future, shoplifting will become almost impossible.”
If the measures are effective, Jumbo believes it can lower prices, because losses due to theft will decrease. After all, all the groceries that are now stolen are paid for by the people who pay properly.
The supermarket expert believes that the self-checkout does not last forever. Moers expects that there will be a new system within 5 years. “With your own customer card, everything in your basket or cart is paid for automatically. This makes shoplifting almost impossible.”
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Jumbo says that theft is increasing