Sainsbury’s efforts to clamp down on fake discount coupons is causing friction at self-service checkouts.
The supermarket has been rolling out new anti-fraud measures to its self-service tills in response to a surge in the use of fake coupons across its stores.
However, the measures have had unintended consequences, with self-checkouts now unable to process the yellow barcodes added to reduced-to-clear items.
When scanning a reduced-to-clear item, shoppers are presented with an error message and need to wait for a store colleague to manually process the discount. They are unable to proceed with the rest of their shop until the item has been approved. The process has to be repeated for each individual item.
The issues have been reported by shoppers via social media, as well as being experienced by The Grocer in multiple stores on multiple occasions, over the past couple of weeks.
Store colleagues in at least two of the stores expressed frustration that there were “issues” with the system.
The Grocer understands Sainsbury’s introduced the measures in order to detect and block dodgy coupons after a viral TikTok hack led to a wave of fraudulent coupons being used at Sainsbury’s stores. The hack, dubbed ‘The Sainsbury’s method’ allowed users to share screenshots of genuine Sainsbury’s discounts, which were then scanned over and over in a single transaction.
The impact on reduced-to-clear stickers is a direct knock-on effect of the security measures, The Grocer understands.
“We have range of security measure in place in our stores, including processes to prevent fraud. We continue to accept genuine coupons, vouchers and reductions and are sorry for the inconvenience this slightly longer checkout process may cause,” a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman told The Grocer.
While the changes only affect shoppers who are buying reduced items or using coupons, they come as scrutiny grows over the increasing use of self-service checkouts, and the subsequent impact on customer service and experience in stores.
Like the most of its rival supermarkets, Sainsbury’s has been stripping out many manned tills in its stores in favour of more self-service machines. More recently this has included adding bigger packing shelves to some machines in order to cater for trolley shoppers.
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts has claimed that the changes have made stores “more efficient” by freeing up colleagues to focus on other areas of the store, like replenishment or shop floor service.
It’s not the first time Sainsbury’s counter crime measures have led to friction. The introduction of security barriers to self-service areas that require shoppers to scan receipts to leave has drawn criticism from some shoppers, who felt they were being treated “like criminals”.
Sainsbury’s began a major upgrade of its self-service till systems in June, as way of helping to clamp down on theft, while improving service at the tills. It included the integration of new AI computer recognition capabilities that identify when lower weight, or ‘suspicious’ items have appeared in the basket.
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