Beloved northeastern grocery chain Wegmans is doling out disappointment to its cult-following of customers. The retailer is doing away with its popular self-checkout app, Wegmans SCAN.
The app, which rolled out in 2019, allowed shoppers to check out quicker, by scanning items as they were placed in the cart, allowing guests to forego the checkout line. An added benefit was customers could keep track of the running total as they shopped.
Though Wegmans SCAN might have been quick and painless for customers, it has proven to be less so for the company. Wegmans has experienced heightened levels of shoplifting as some customers have scanned cheaper items than what they put into their carts or skipped scanning altogether.
I received this email about #wegmansscan from @Wegmans today. This was an amazing program that allowed me to check out in under 15 seconds. Unfortunately, there’s always some bad apples who ruin it for everyone else. Hoping Wegmans finds a way to resurrect this in the future. pic.twitter.com/VfX7JNvaav
— Katelyn Meow (@aKatelynMeow) September 12, 2022
To combat serial scan-and-go shoplifting (try saying that three times fast), Wegmans is halting the use of SCAN indefinitely. “We’ve made the decision to turn off the app until we can make improvements that will meet the needs of our customers and business,” the company said in a statement. Only time will tell if the company can find a solution to allow the app to be reintroduced down the road.
