Overview
- An Edeka in Bamberg intermittently locks its self‑checkout lanes when no staff are available to monitor them, citing elevated theft and stressing the move is site‑specific.
- A Rewe in Plettenberg restricts access largely to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and only under staff oversight, with the company calling it a location‑level arrangement presented as a service measure rather than confirming theft as the driver.
- Reports from a Berlin Lidl say student groups were directed to staffed tills after repeated mis‑scans, while Lidl maintains there is no blanket ban on any customer group.
- Retailers are expanding surveillance at self‑checkout with cameras, AI image recognition, intelligent rescans, exit barriers and algorithmic risk checks that can trigger inspections.
- Industry figures cite roughly €3 billion in annual retail losses in Germany and estimate 15–30% higher shrink at self‑checkout, as customers—especially older shoppers—complain about access limits, complexity and queues when errors occur.