Six million Brits are taking advantage of self-checkouts and using a common trick to steal from stores, a study has found.
One in eight shoppers choose a cheaper item than the one they are actually buying when selecting it on the screen, a poll of 1,099 people by Ipsos discovered.
Commonly known as the ‘banana trick’, shoppers put through an item through as a fruit or vegetable to pay a fraction of the price.
And the survey found that nearly half – 48 per cent – believed this trick shouldn’t be considered a criminal act.
Eight per cent confessed they have stolen something which cost up to £10 without paying, and 26 per cent said this shouldn’t be an offence.
Thirteen per cent of people admitted to taking something worth £1 or under, but 47 per cent believe this shouldn’t be treated as a crime either.
Commonly known as the ‘banana trick’, shoppers put through an item through as a fruit or vegetable to pay a fraction of the price. File image
An Ipsos survey showed a quarter of shoppers asked said they had not paid for an item
Others in the survey said that it should not be a crime to take an item up to £10 for free
It comes as shoplifting reaches a record high of 443,995 offences recorded in the past year – which is the equivalent of 50 offences every hour.
Retailers say shoplifting is adding at least 6p to every store transaction by customers owing to the cost of the £1.8 billion stolen each year.
As a result, shops have to shell out an extra £700 million on security measures.
Many blame the introduction of self checkout tills for the increase. In the UK, they have risen by 50 per cent from 53,000 to 80,000, but the US has began to return to staffed tills.
However, some big British chains have followed suit. Morrisons became the latest retailer to make a U-turn on its self-checkout policy with its boss admitting it ‘went a bit too far’ with the number of unmanned tills.
Rami Baitiéh, the chief executive of the company, said that it is ‘reviewing the balance between self-checkouts and manned tills’ as the company reveals plans to cut down on the numbers after installing too many.
Pictured is a sign at the Bournemouth Asda Superstores ‘checkout opening hours’
Asda recently said it will not replace self-service tills with manned units – but will ensure the remaining old-fashioned checkouts are readily staffed more often
Upmarket supermarket chain Booths became Britain’s first to return to fully-staffed checkouts
Asda has introduced self-checkout only hours at some of its supermarkets
Pictured are Morrisons self-service checkouts Holloway Road, Islington, London
It comes amidst a growing backlash against the technology, with northern retailer Booths announcing in November it was scrapping them and Asda announcing last week it was investing in staff instead.
But most of the big supermarkets have ploughed ahead with the controversial self-checkouts and expanded their use over recent years in the hopes of increasing efficiency and trimming costs.
However customers have been reporting frustrations with the machines, with many stating they prefer dealing with a human being when paying for their shopping.
The practice has also been attributed with the rise of ‘middle class’ shoplifting causing Morrisons, which prides itself on fresh produce and its fish and meat counters, to now re-evaluate the merits of the technology.
Last November, Archie Norman, the chairman of Marks & Spencer, said: ‘With the reduction of service you get in a lot of shops, a lot of people think, ‘This didn’t scan properly, or it’s very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time. It’s not my fault, I’m owed it.’… You see it with the self-checkouts, there’s a little bit of that creeping in.’
Morrisons has become the latest retailer to make a U-turn on its self-checkout policy (file picture of a Morrisons store in Bolsover)
Rami Baitiéh, the chief executive of Morrisons, said that it is ‘reviewing the balance between self-checkouts and manned tills’
Yesterday, MailOnline revealed that Asda has introduced self-checkout only hours in some of its supermarkets.
One of the bargain giant’s stores is closing its checkouts for between two and five hours a day, six days a week.
An upset customer of Bournemouth’s Asda Superstore shared a snap of its ‘checkout opening hours’ with MailOnline.
It showed for the first hour of every day, except Sunday, only self-scanning checkouts would be open.
Then on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday, tills would be closed for the final three hours of the day.
On Wednesdays the last four hours of the day would be self-scan only, and on Friday it would be the final two.
Checkouts would be open all day during Sunday’s trading hours.
One Bournemouth local said the cut-back checkout hours made for an ‘unpleasant experience’.
They told MailOnline: ‘For the first hour and the last 2-4 hours of the day, regardless of ones needs, only self service checkouts are available.
‘This combined with their facial recognition cameras makes shopping there a rather unpleasant experience. Fortunately Lidl is nearby.’
An Asda spokesperson said it was up to the individual store to decide when they opened their checkouts and said that should customers need a hand, they could approach staff.
The spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Like other retailers, our stores have the discretion to open or close checkouts at different points of the day depending on how busy the store is.
‘If any customers in Bournemouth would prefer to use a manned checkout during these times they should speak to a colleague who will be happy to help.’
