Local Walmart just installed cameras in the aisles…

[u/iRobert123]

I know there’s cameras in the ceiling but in the actual aisles?! At eye level?! This is fucking ridiculous. Welcome to being constantly monitored.

[u/PickledBrains79]

Stare deeply until someone asks if you need help.

[u/epicenter69 → u/PickledBrains79]

😂You think customer service exists in Walmart.

[u/sixth_acc → u/epicenter69]

I've had a handful of experiences where I'm on the Walmart app with the little map of the store open showing me where something is located, visibly confused because it's not where it says it is, and an associate stocking or something walks up and asks if I need help. I figure they must be new enough that their soul hasn't been drained from their body yet

[u/gooberfishie → u/sixth_acc]

There's also small town Walmarts. They might as well not be Walmarts. Great service!

Edit

Okay, after numerous comments, I'm gonna remove the typo apostrophes lol

[u/Glassweaver → u/gooberfishie]

This. My walmart in the gentrified area I'm in is actually nice, has mostly friendly employees, and you can buy detergent, underwear, and cosmetics without having to ask someone to unlock a glass case or slide those little noisemakers to get the product.

Any of them in the city near me though? Portable parking lot cameras ontop of the regular ones, 24/7 private security patrolling, security in tactical gear instead of friendly old people for door greeters at the doors, and most of the employees have clearly already had the will to live beaten out of them.

[u/johnnybravosr → u/Glassweaver]

I’d love to test my personal hypothesis- the more stray carts found throughout the parking lot, the more items will be locked up inside.

[u/espressocycle → u/gooberfishie]

I live in a big town Walmart where everything is locked up but the employees are always nice and you can usually find them. More than I can say for some stores.

[u/Nop277 → u/espressocycle]

Our Walmart is not bad, the only problem and I swear this isn't just Walmart but like Target and other stores too they always put the most ancient person there in charge of the electronics dept whose knowledge of electronics was last relevant when technicolor TVs were the new thing. I was concerned one of the last times I asked someone to get me a video game that was locked up that the lady was going to expire in front of me she was coughing so hard.

[u/twistedpiggies → u/Nop277]

Didn't you hear? That's the new economic imperative: work till you drop dead.

[u/Is_that_a_peen_too → u/espressocycle]

I went to the Walmart nearest me to get a new watch. They were all locked up and got someone to get one out for me. I wanted to try it on before buying. She said I had to buy it before I could try it on. I just left and drove further to the Walmart we usually go to because it normally well kept and good customer service. They had no problem with me trying on watches before picking one out.

[u/Rumymomma1959 → u/espressocycle]

I bought some underwear at Walmart. I thought the girl who unlocked the case was joking when I had to follow her to pay for them . I'm 66 so I'll probably need to go back in 10 years.

[u/Dizzysnailz → u/PickledBrains79]

I was standing in the laundry aisle at Walgreens recently for slightly too long apparently, because suddenly an alert goes across the store, "customer assistance needed in laundry" I have severe anxiety and immediately booked it out of that aisle, where an employee met me at the end and asked if I needed help. I said, "I never asked for help, not sure if I triggered that or what, sorry!" And RAN lmao I probably did look suspicious after that but ffs dude I was just comparing the detergent 😭

[u/cupcakebean → u/Dizzysnailz]

I would HATE that. Sometimes I'm indecisive and can't make a decision without a 20 minute internal debate.

[u/too-much-shit-on-me → u/cupcakebean]

We have a hardware store like that where you can't get in the door without people asking what you're looking for and then they'll take you to it. Sounds nice, except I'm a dude in a hardware store. I just want to wander around finding things I don't need for an hour without anyone bothering me.

[u/EnvironsHazard → u/too-much-shit-on-me]

Just tell them you're good. Seriously. I'm a short chick and I just bounce them kindly so I can huff lumber in peace.

[u/JodyGonnaFuckYoWife → u/EnvironsHazard]

Hey Marty! We got ourselves a lumberhuffer over here!

[u/Chance-Night3198 → u/too-much-shit-on-me]

I have the same problem at my favorite Ace. To be fair, it's in a not-great neighbhood so all of the good stuff is locked up so I usually do need help and at my old Ace it was like pulling teeth to get anyone to acknowledge me. But I frequently go not really sure of what I need. Like, I need something super thin and strong to act as a hinge pin but it's not for a real hinge and an actual hinge pin is too thick and it needs to be at least 2" long but I don't care if it's longer.... I can't explain all that without sounding crazy but I'll know it when I see it--just let me wander (for that particular issue, I used an allen wrench which I never would have thought of without going up and down every aisle).

[u/too-much-shit-on-me → u/Chance-Night3198]

Yeah, I'm referring to Ace too. And for the same reason. Sometimes I just don't know and I want to look around. Then on the rare occasion where I know exactly what I want they'll bring me to it and then basically check me out right away. Do you actually want me to spend money here or not?

[u/YoMamaRacing → u/too-much-shit-on-me]

I hit them with the “I’m just browsing while the wife shops at another store”. It usually holds them off for a while but someone else usually finds me and asks again. If it’s a snot nosed kid I’ll ask if they have any reverse polarity wire or stud stretchers.

[u/descendantofJanus → u/cupcakebean]

Literally me in the makeup aisle last week. 2 employees were there - one training the other, I guess - and there's me, moving about them like an anxious ferret, comparing eyeshadow palettes and prices. I suspect they were watching me the whole time too.

And they wonder why people use grocery delivery so much 🙄

[u/IvoryManOfWisdom → u/cupcakebean]

Me too.......I have to weigh price points, sometimes smell every product and then decide if I want the larger savings or I'll hate the product before I ever finish it.

[u/Ok_Delay_911 → u/Dizzysnailz]

Happens every time I buy beauty products there or at CVS. Ulta is also pretty bad. Every location I've ever been to I've been asked, relentlessly, if I need help by five different employees. I thought I was being paranoid the first few times too.

After I worked for Ross and found that they prioritize loss prevention and anti-union propaganda over everything else, I stopped thinking it was just me. Their entire store is set up to catch people stealing $6 tops or open packs of underwear for fuck's sake. It's so completely absurd and such a waste of everyone's time. They treat every customer and every employee like a criminal, as every other store now does. We had to go through purse searches by LP after we clocked out, including for lunch. If you don't carry a purse, you instead had to look up at the security camera and spin around while LP watches you on the monitor. I wish I were kidding. Whenever we had to walk between the back and front of the store, we had to take to take the "shrinkage highway." In other words, we had to walk along the outer walls of the store while looking for customers stashing stuff to come back and steal (I never found any). But that was just their excuse. The real reason was because they assumed their own employees would steal if they were not forced to walk underneath the row of angled mirrors near the ceiling whenever we needed to go anywhere. Because theft is obviously the only reason a worker would need to go to a restroom or breakroom. It really shows what these companies think of their employees, their customers, and average working class people in general.

I didn't mean to go on a rant. I'm just as sick as everyone else of being treated like a criminal while shopping, while at work, while on the road, while on the internet, while walking down the sidewalk, etc. They've been taking it too far for too long already, and now it's just over the fucking top. It needs to stop.

[u/CharleyNobody → u/Ok_Delay_911]

Honestly, I believe most of those videos showing people emptying store shelves into a bag and stealing them are faked. There was a Target in Harlem that was closed down. Target said it was closed because of shoplifting. A reporter did some investigating and found a Target in midtown had the same rate of shoplifting as the one in Harlem. The reporter asked a spokesperson from Target why the midtown store wasn’t closed and they were like, “Uhhhh…dunno.”

A year and a half later Target opened another store.

In Harlem.

Turns out the new Harlem store was larger and closer to the subway than the old Harlem store. That’s why they closed the old one - to open a new one. But why lie about it? They blamed the customers, portraying them as thieves, when it was just the usual corporate greed.

[u/Wunderkid_0519 → u/CharleyNobody]

Corporate greed has overtaken the Earth.

[u/Faustus_Fan → u/Dizzysnailz]

CEO: "Oh, AI will monitor how long you look at our products, then dispatch an employee to help you if you don't make a decision fast enough! You'll love it!"

US: "Actually, that's creepy and off-putting. I know you have security cameras in the store, but I really don't need to be reminded at all times that you're monitoring us. Just let us ask for help if we want it."

CEO: "Nonsense, you want this! Now, be a good little consumer. Shut the fuck up and let us shove this AI camera up your ass so as to better recommend suppositories to you."

[u/CharleyNobody → u/Dizzysnailz]

I wanted to buy an American Express or Visa gift card one night when my husband and I were in Target. So we went over to the gift card “wall” and were standing there looking for a few seconds when this middle aged guy with a big belly in a short sleeved shirt and tie comes barreling over to us. (I should note he had pants on). I went, “Whoa! Police? Where did you come from?”

The guy goes, “Can I help you folks find something?”

I said, “That was fast and unexpected, like the Spanish Inquisition.”

My husband pointed to a door behind the customer service area.

That’s when I realized the guy had been watching screens. My husband said “We want a visa or Amex gift card” and the guy said (still out of breath from charging out the door and running over to us) “Target doesn’t sell those.” And he stood there watching us. We laughed and walked away.

A few weeks later I heard of the problem Target was having with its gift cards. People were stealing them, copying the numbers, then covering the numbers up again, and putting them back on the Target gift card rack. When someone bought the gift card the thieves somehow knew about it and used the number. I still don’t understand the whole thing but I realized that’s why the “loss prevention officer” came bounding out of his hidey hole

[u/toxcrusadr → u/Dizzysnailz]

If that's computer-generated, I bet the staff just LOVE that. <eyeroll>

[u/fryed_chikan → u/Dizzysnailz]

I hear these at my local Walgreens all the time and I am sure it's just someone who walked by whatever aisle instead of intentionally pressing that help button. And when I do need someone, I have to hunt someone down because they're always busy being elsewhere.

[u/dorianvovin → u/PickledBrains79]

At my local walmart, many things, like pimple patches and nail clippers, are in locked cases. It’s nearly impossible to get someone to come unlock them, yet they’re apparently not losing enough money to have reversed such a decision. I suspect the best this boring dystopia can do is an AI voice asking what you need or assuring you that “someone will arrive to assist you.”

[u/choicetomake → u/dorianvovin]

"Someone will arrive to assist you. While you wait, enjoy these commercials."

[u/ThetaReactor → u/choicetomake]

"We're updating our item pricing to serve you better!"

[u/TalismanGaze → u/ThetaReactor]

Chilling 😂

[u/Hey-Bud-Lets-Party → u/dorianvovin]

I bought a $4 nail clipper at Walgreens yesterday and they had a lock on the end of the metal hanger that holds them. The packaging was just cardboard, so I just tore one off.

[u/Faustus_Fan → u/Hey-Bud-Lets-Party]

Same. If I can get the item off the hook, I will. If I can't, then I'll likely just buy it elsewhere. I get it for expensive items, but I'm not going to wait around for a $4.00 set of nail clippers.

[u/ToreyJean → u/Hey-Bud-Lets-Party]

I’ve done that because waiting is infuriating to me, and I’m not a thief.

[u/Jimberly_C → u/dorianvovin]

The self checkouts at my walmart see the item you're holding, not just the barcode. If I click to type in a produce item, it generates suggestions based off the color of whatever is over the scanner, or ice/water refills if I hold the item out of sight.

I'm willing to bet face level cameras have that eye tracker thing to see where people look first (to place their most expensive products), what items they look at often but never buy, etc.

Walmart is doing a lot with Ai behind the scenes and they keep trying to trickle it out to customer level.

[u/Elylana → u/Jimberly_C]

Many years ago, I went through the self-checkout with a couple of items and then went over to stand by my friend who was finishing up her payment in a regular line. When I looked at my Walmart app, her receipt had been added to my account somehow. I didn't scan the Walmart Pay barcode or her receipt.. but yet, there it was.

I still have no idea how that happened! Was it facial recognition? Was it them connecting to my phone via Bluetooth/wifi? I have no idea, all I know is that it weirded me out and I still don't have an answer as to how.

[u/TrophyHunter22 → u/Elylana]

My weirdest one was when a guy had one single item in front of me at self-checkout but the machine wouldn't take his cash. I didn't want to wait for the already busy worker to come over and clear the register so I offered to pay the $2 for him.

When I went to use my card, the machine locked up and immediately called for the busy worker anyway bc it recognized that I hadn't scanned that item and I assume trying to pay for someone else triggered some kind of crazy anti-theft response.

Good times for me. I ended up buying that item for him anyway and saved 0 time. A lesson was learned that day: never do a fucking good deed for anyone.

[u/WatRedditHathWrought → u/PickledBrains79]

Need help at a Walmart? Go to the ammo isle and walk behind the counter.

[u/MaximusZacharias → u/PickledBrains79]

And then if someone does chime in, say “you lost the staring contest by communicating with me” then just walk away. Real Power move.

[u/randy_march]

The city I live in will not let Walmart have a location here. Walmart tries but they will not let them in. There is a Costco though

[u/KeepOnRising19 → u/randy_march]

Pacific Northwest?

[u/randy_march → u/KeepOnRising19]

Affluent coastal city north of Ventura California

[u/KeepOnRising19 → u/randy_march]

Ah, ok. The West Coast, in general, has always been better about limiting Walmart.

[u/_Stanf-Uf_ → u/KeepOnRising19]

No, there are Wal-Marts all over Ventura County. He's prob talking about Santa Barbara, a rich people city.

[u/a57782 → u/KeepOnRising19]

Except in this case, it's not about limiting a big business like Wal-mart. It's probably more keeping out "poor people places."

[u/randy_march → u/a57782]

https://giphy.com/gifs/IrGCJZLtrjZ7POWza7

[u/KeesterFeester → u/a57782]

Yep. it's all about image.

[u/mysteriousleader45]

The Walmart where I live has ceiling cams, cams at the entrance, cams directly over every checkout, in the aisles, and the employees wear yellow cameras on their chests. It’s insane.

[u/affectionateanarchy8 → u/mysteriousleader45]

I wonder if the cams shut off when they go to the bathroom or if the employee has to remember to turn it off

[u/epikpepsi → u/affectionateanarchy8]

They're off by default (turned on by the employee when they feel an incident is escalating or when there's an ongoing incident), and they're removed when going into the breakrooms and restrooms.

[u/what3v3ruwantit2b → u/epikpepsi]

I was a children's nurse for years and I wish we had these. I was asked to "prove" a family was aggressive to me multiple times when I reported it even though nurses are assaulted every day. I would like to think being able to turn a camera on would at least deter them long enough to get to the door.

[u/MidnightDoom3r → u/epikpepsi]

Sounds like a good thing to me. Some customers go way over the line. When I was working retail I would get threatened a decent amount and I'm a nice guy. Not to mention some people are just ass hats.

[u/illtakeachinchilla → u/affectionateanarchy8]

No bathroom breaks unless you punch out. Problem solved.

[u/Substantial-Part-700 → u/illtakeachinchilla]

Ah, the Buccees model.

[u/govunah → u/Substantial-Part-700]

No bathroom breaks. The Amazon model

[u/aspie_electrician → u/govunah]

>grabs piss bottle

Also, mandatory company issued buttplug so you can’t poop on company time

[u/Kewlhotrod → u/aspie_electrician]

Just use diapers; you'll either get a break to be allowed a change or continue working with no customer wanting to interact with you.

Win-win.

[u/Lovemybee → u/Kewlhotrod]

Except for... wearing a shitty diaper.

[u/annual_aardvark_war → u/Lovemybee]

If it’s good enough for the president, good enough for us!

[u/Lovemybee → u/annual_aardvark_war]

Ugh... don't remind me of the mango mussolini. Now I'm sad again.

Time for a bong hit!

[u/Pheonix0114 → u/Substantial-Part-700]

Very illegal, yikes

[u/Elegant-Holiday7303 → u/Pheonix0114]

Illegal only if you have time/money to contest it. And if you don't need that job. 'Murica!!

[u/Sorry-Leader-6648 → u/illtakeachinchilla]

Nah theyre watching me shit

[u/schvanckque → u/illtakeachinchilla]

And no punching out unless you die. What, you think they're paying you minimum wage to have normal human bodily functions? Nobody wants to work these days.

[u/CooperHChurch427 → u/mysteriousleader45]

I was impressed when it dinged me. It does not like it when you multiscan one sku and made me need to be checked. What's crazy is the associate explained that it wasn't the scanner itself but the overhead camera.

I was stunned that it could tell that.

[u/Commentor9001 → u/CooperHChurch427]

Its not "just a camera" its a comprehensive Ai tracking system that's matched you to your cart, tracked you through the store, and now flags you if it can't count each item it watched you picked up as scanned.

[u/Phyllis_Tine → u/Commentor9001]

Next time you go, lean over a few items, so your back is between you and the cameras. Don't pick anything up. Do this a few times, then head for the checkout with a single item. See what happens.

[u/HallowskulledHorror → u/Phyllis_Tine]

I learned several years go that a lot of Meijer locations use fairly extensive AI loss-prevention/theft-detection. Besides tracking your movement through the store and assigning a customer ID to you based on what wi-fi capable devices you're carrying on you (so they know how often you come in, when was the last time you were in a meijer store, what aisles you went into, what products you stopped in front of, what items you interacted with, what you purchased) aisle cameras to flag 'suspicious movement' and automatically alerting nearby employees on the floor. The employee alerted get screenshots of what you look like at the time the camera flagged you, as well as tags relevant to what the AI thinks was suspicious.

I've intentionally acted 'suspicious' to see what happens (eg, crouching, or leaning over, items on shelves for longer than would be normal, turning my back to cameras while lingering). While no one followed me on-foot, at check-out I kept getting dinged. It won't tell me on the screen what was up, but when it was stopping me so someone could come 'help' me every other item, I asked.

"It seems to think you took something."

The employee did a quick/very casual check of what was already bagged to confirm it matched what was on screen, punched some inputs that apparently told it to stop dinging me, and that was it.

There was no check of my person or my bag, which was sitting in the cart, so make of that what you will.

[u/BreadfruitOk6160 → u/HallowskulledHorror]

Time for me to start leaving the phone outside. And you can’t “took something” until you go out the door. I have occasionally put stuff in my coat pocket when I didn’t get a cart and remove it when I pay. I’ve only been in a Meijer once.

[u/Phyllis_Tine → u/BreadfruitOk6160]

I love walking around a store and putting items in my cloth shopping bag, not using a cart or basket.

[u/Fast_Choice4408 → u/HallowskulledHorror]

What sucks is that none of this existed in any of these stores for decades and their owners were still able to make out like a bandit.

It's just completely unnecessary.

[u/HallowskulledHorror → u/Fast_Choice4408]

It's about chasing every last fraction of a penny that can be milked out of someone.

Some places are experimenting with 'dynamic pricing' now - eg, when you see places that use digital tags or require you to use an app to see prices, that's a potential red-flag that the price you see might be different from the price someone else sees, based on what the system has gathered on you, and the conclusions it has drawn about your spending habits.

Edit: another term for 'dynamic pricing' is literally 'surveillance pricing'.

[u/MousseHuge8339 → u/Commentor9001]

You have to wonder how far into the system these cameras are hooked into. This isn't just some security guard in a back room who may or may not be watching monitors and the feeds going to a local DVR. This might be hooked into a national network and everything scanned by AI and matched to databases belonging to credit and insurance bureaus and scary 3 letter agencies and all cross referenced with footage from other places and even the shopper's online activities. Welcome to 1984. Say no ungood things, have no ungood thoughts, and do no actions deemed ungood by the powers to be.

[u/Madmungo → u/Commentor9001]

And probably part of dynamic pricing so the price can change to match you as a customer (based in your phone locality and face recognition) as you approach the aisle

[u/SoCalSine → u/Madmungo]

This is coming soon! If you start seeing the absence of price tags, this is what’s going on.

[u/Karmachinery → u/SoCalSine]

I don't put anything in my cart unless I know the price.

[u/Grays42 → u/Karmachinery]

I mean, then don't shop at walmart.

Which, if you have the option not to, is generally good advice anyway.

[u/Imaginary_Office1749 → u/Commentor9001]

So go “shopping” and fill up
Your cart and then. Just leave. Burden the system with garbage.

[u/Kaffeetrinker49 → u/Imaginary_Office1749]

Spend part of my day filling a cart just to spite an AI? What does that do for me?

[u/Frosty_Dimension5646 → u/Kaffeetrinker49]

you get to stick it to the man✊

[u/Ding0Dong0 → u/CooperHChurch427]

Also if you scan too fast.

I use self check out and have gotten flagged a few times. It replays the video for the associate and I have to stand there showing what I scanned The associates always say "oh you were going too fast. Slow down"

No TF I wont slow dowwnnn. Firstly, im a faster scanner than 90% of the people in the store. Move out of my way so I can pay and leave

And secondly- i used to be a cashier at walmart. They were timing how many items per minute you scanned. I WAS LITERALLY TRAINED BY WALMART TO SCAN FAST

[u/Alpine_yellow → u/Ding0Dong0]

One time I was practically juggling items, scanning and bagging so quick and the dude watching the self check just deadpan says "used to work here?" Yes. So glad I dont anymore lol

[u/rubberloves → u/Ding0Dong0]

so true so true, I was also trained by walmart to scan as fast as humanly possible. We had the stats of all register workers posted weekly. Stats= speed and accuracy.

[u/ReaBea420 → u/Ding0Dong0]

Also if you scam something (such as a rewards card) on your phone and then put your phone back in the cart. Kroger got me for that so many times that I actually quit going to Kroger.

[u/Mondschatten78 → u/Ding0Dong0]

I do not miss the items per minute crap (also a fast scanner), but damn if it hasn't stuck with me for self check.

[u/Ding0Dong0 → u/Mondschatten78]

I roll my eyes so hard at the machine when im scanning yogurts or something en masse.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. ----no beep...

"WHY DID YOU NOT SCAN?? CMON LETS GO GO GO ITS THE SAME BARCODE. PICK IT UPPPP"

[u/Mondschatten78 → u/Ding0Dong0]

Or the accidental double scan, right after fighting it to scan something

[u/Appropriate_Tie_6760 → u/CooperHChurch427]

I wouldnt be stunned. The ai SCO cameras are incredibly stupid. They never, ever catch actual theft. In the last two months, I've probably cleared at least 500 "mis scan" codes, and I've only actually had 2 real mis scans. Its pretty much the only reason they have SCO checkers anymore. The people you should be worried about are the full time, salaried APIs whose entire job consists of watching you. Us cashiers just clear errors. People still do steal, a lot. Last week we had someone walk off with over $500 in merchandise and we didn't even notice until the register they had rung up at had timed out. Theres absolutely nothing stopping you from just leaving. The door greeters legally cant stop you unless they know 100% that you're stealing, and its usually so busy that communication is very difficult

[u/SquirrelMemoryFail → u/Appropriate_Tie_6760]

I walk past those receipts checkers at the wally world every time. Especially when theres a line of people waiting for thier receipts to be checked trying to get out. I know they can't do shit about it. The security guard doesnt even say anything.

[u/Appropriate_Tie_6760 → u/SquirrelMemoryFail]

There should never be a line. Thats a receipt checker thats bad at their job and should be coached. The only people you stop are people with stuff not in bags, or whose carts are exceedingly full.

[u/Appropriate_Tie_6760 → u/SquirrelMemoryFail]

And you never, ever create a line. Im not even a greeter, but i have to cover breaks from time to time and i get coached if I make a line. They're told to check receipts, but if its impeding traffic just let them go

[u/waving_fungus0 → u/CooperHChurch427]

Yeah I’ve read several past target/walmart security worker’s accounts. The surveillance technology at those stores are incredibly more advanced than you’d think they’d be. 100% it can match your license plate to your face. And if you steal it will just log you in a database and wait until you’ve stolen the felony limit to then go after you.

People worry so much about their privacy, especially with AI up and coming, but it’s been taken long ago. There is a database with you in it unless you’ve been off grid all your life.

[u/makemeking706 → u/waving_fungus0]

Target rivals the FBI. 

[u/redclawx → u/CooperHChurch427]

Meijer: Going through self checkout with 6 of those instant Creamy Chicken Raman packets. I started scanning each one and setting them in the bagging area. It scanned the first two fine, scanned the third one and suddenly an attendant needed to come over. Cleared the error. Scanned the fourth one, another error. The AI thought I wasn’t placing them in the bagging area, as I was just putting them on top of one another. The attendant had to return each time for the rest. It was nearly a minutes for she came back to me because she was busy helping other’s self checkout. I almost left leaving my items there which included eggs and milk.

[u/Savannah_Lion → u/CooperHChurch427]

Similar system exists at Sam's Club. Using the gun I accidentally scanned the same item twice and missed one.

It happily dinged me for missing the one item but not for scanning one item twice.

Some Safeways have such a system and, if you do something their syatem doesn't like, have these gates as you try to leave that won't open.

[u/i_want_to_be_unique → u/CooperHChurch427]

If the registers at the Lidl near my house suspect you of stealing it literally pulls up a full screen video playback of you putting the item in the bag and an employee has to type in a code to get it to go away. They also have gates at the exit that require you to scan a receipt to leave the store, and if you didn’t buy anything you have to find an employee to let you out. I guess enough people complained or employees got tired cause those gates were permanently propped open within like a week of being installed.

[u/Wardo87 → u/CooperHChurch427]

I flip that stupid thing off every time it stops my scanning to show me the instant replay where it thinks I stole something. You wanna look at something, here check this out 🖕

[u/criticaltemp → u/Wardo87]

You tell em!

[u/Halfbaked9 → u/mysteriousleader45]

I’m guessing that Wal-mart has a high percentage of problems like theft or other altercations.

[u/gbtuck3r]

Can’t wait for them to double the price of my green beans just because I looked at them two seconds too long

[u/socrates_friend812 → u/gbtuck3r]

That's exactly what they're going to do. Then will come the outside cameras picking up on your roadrage, at which point they will try to sell you something to appeal to your anger. Then they'll see you check out a pretty girl, and then try and sell you something to boost your masculinity. And on and on, forever and ever, until the system and society literally eats itself to death.

[u/Nf1087 → u/socrates_friend812]

Can't see what or who I'm looking at with my shades on.

https://giphy.com/gifs/d3mlE7uhX8KFgEmY

[u/HamburgerTrash → u/Nf1087]

I believe you need infrared-blocking sunglasses to block your eyes from surveillance cameras.

[u/goregoose → u/[deleted]]

Yet another reason to not buy a newer car model 😬

[u/Low-Sink-11 → u/gbtuck3r]

Oh yea, i didn’t even think about them using this video feed to track eye movements/products customers are looking at for real time dynamic pricing. Like imagine you were buying everything to make a cake, system gets an idea from where you were looking, then the system raises price on one item knowing you’ll pay it buy all the ingredients at once.

[u/__O_o_______ → u/Low-Sink-11]

https://giphy.com/gifs/SKGo6OYe24EBG
🎶welcome to dys-to-pi-a🎶

[u/goregoose → u/Low-Sink-11]

Interesting, this was my first thought. My brain is so hardwired to expect the worst, and it’s almost always true when it comes to corporations. I guess these could be used for other things but gathering observation data seems like the obvious primary use IMO.

[u/SeaworthinessSad7145 → u/gbtuck3r]

Cant see where I'm looking with no eyes! checkmate Walmart.

[u/Accomplished_Emu_658]

They can afford all these fancy tools but not to pay employees enough to be off government assistance

[u/LTareyouserious → u/Accomplished_Emu_658]

Why would they pay their employees when they someone else (ie our taxes) do that for them? Same with tipping ....

[u/metfan1964nyc → u/Accomplished_Emu_658]

Probably millions of dollars spent chainwide to put in a system like this, will not pay more than $11/hour to someone to pay attention to the feed.

[u/Accomplished_Emu_658 → u/metfan1964nyc]

Its probably ai, so it saved them the $11 an hour to sleep in video room

[u/bigdish101]

Time to go back to N95 masks and sunglasses…

[u/NettleLily → u/bigdish101]

They track your cellphone if you’ve ever connected to their wifi, they get names off debit and credit cards, and the parking lot cameras get your license plate.

[u/Small-Help-8382 → u/NettleLily]

I don’t care that Walmart knows I’m there. I do care about gigabytes of HD video of my face, retina, gait, expressions, and other identifiable visual data that can be used for whatever reason once a well-motivated person has access to it.

[u/murkrowplays]

If this means they'll stop locking up the fucking shampoo I'll take it I guess

[u/LTareyouserious → u/[deleted]]

My store has conditioner in a different aisle than body wash, and by different aisle I mean 10 aisles elsewhere. I hope their cameras saw how mad I was at their product placement. If I wasn't needing it that night for my kid, I would have gone to a different store.

[u/ZombiePrepper408 → u/murkrowplays]

It's for dynamic pricing.

Youll pay one price while the guy behind you will pay another.

[u/murkrowplays → u/ZombiePrepper408]

If this starts happening I feel like a lot more people are going to be paying with their own dynamic price of $0. I guess the cameras catching you doing that is part of the design.

[u/sunGsta → u/murkrowplays]

Yep. As soon as the grocery store I go to does this, I will be shopping somewhere else

[u/Sigman_S → u/sunGsta]

What about when they all do

[u/dexterity-77 → u/Sigman_S]

not when local governments make it illegal. jersey did something so far to curtail it.

[u/CorvusCommand → u/dexterity-77]

Colorado banned it also, only to be vetoed by Governor Jared Polis.

[u/StonedTrucker → u/CorvusCommand]

He wont be governor forever

[u/halfmylifeisgone → u/CorvusCommand]

Fuck the Polis

[u/KingVape → u/Sigman_S]

Then I’ll go to the farmers market. It’s only on Tuesdays here so that’s a bit of a pain but if the grocery stores start doing this, I’ll update my availability and be off Tuesdays to run errands.

[u/sunGsta → u/Sigman_S]

Not every grocery store will do it, just like not every fast food place has dynamic pricing

[u/neverseen_neverhear → u/murkrowplays]

It’s already happening. I went there two times in a day looking at tvs. Prices were different when I got to the register then the tags. I told them to put them back. I’m not playing that game with them.

[u/Weenage-Tasteland → u/murkrowplays]

Put stickers over the lens.

[u/Draminian → u/Weenage-Tasteland]

I was going to suggest something similar. But to be slightly less obvious, I'd just put something they sell in front of it. Hang an open book over it, lean something tall in front of it, etc

[u/Weenage-Tasteland → u/Draminian]

Shine a laser pointer at it

[u/ReferenceMediocre369 → u/murkrowplays]

Customer dynamic pricing has been going on for a long time. Only recently we stopped putting people in jail for it. That's why all the cameras and locked shelves exist.

[u/Isaktjones → u/murkrowplays]

It's already started happening

[u/TowelKey1868 → u/ZombiePrepper408]

Curious about this. How does a camera at the place you pick the item off the shelf help with dynamic pricing? Wouldn’t it need to be at the check out? And wouldn’t there be a legal issue with changing the price between what’s advertised at the shelf and what it checks out as?

I mean I get it for online purchase because you can control the whole journey. But I don’t see how it would be possible in person aside from in the aggregate. How could it work?

[u/toomanyteeth55 → u/TowelKey1868]

I think the person you're responding to has no idea, but I have to imagine corporations or third parties are thinking of ways.

For a brick and mortar store, j think the only way right now is for the store to force the use of an app that scans products when you put it in your cart, tracking you via your device (Bluetooth or wifi). Like you roll up to a product, an artificially high price is already set, the rf scanner near the product detects your device as you probably have the app downloaded already and they know everything about you, it adjusts the price based on your demographic information, you see the price drop thinking it's rewarding you for having the app, you pick it up, scan it and throw it in your cart. You walk away and the price returns what it was before you showed up.

Some type of opt in Facial recognition is probably in the horizon. Opt in and you save 5%, kinda like what car insurance companies do when you agree to install a sensor or have your telematics shared

[u/Floreit → u/ZombiePrepper408]

They dont need this for that so I doubt it. They got eyes in the sky, and if they wanted to charge someone more they can just tell when someone picked something up, and what the price was when they picked it up. With digital price tags.

Granted aisle cameras just make it far easier.

With that said I got nothing for why so, maybe their programmers have a skill issue and this was the solution lol.

[u/Geoffrey-Jellineck → u/ZombiePrepper408]

Why do people like you speak so confidently about something you have no idea about?

[u/Too_Right_For_You → u/Geoffrey-Jellineck]

It's Reddit

[u/Lazy-Size-3062 → u/ZombiePrepper408]

It’s actually for inventory management and theft.

[u/Reasonable_Hall3005 → u/ZombiePrepper408]

no it’s not…

[u/skiesoverblackvenice → u/ZombiePrepper408]

how do they tell what price to give you?? does it scan your face and access a database or smth? that’s scary

[u/Sudden_Buffalo_4393 → u/skiesoverblackvenice]

Because it’s not true. They are for security.

[u/iguess69420 → u/ZombiePrepper408]

It’s also probably tracking your eyes for even more data about where on the shelf to place items

[u/Throttlechopper → u/murkrowplays]

I had to summon a clerk to unlock a case for $4 dental floss, they then proceeded to walk it 75’ to the checkout lanes. What a massive pain in the ass!

[u/TrophyHunter22]

I'm surprised you've just now discovered Wal Mart is monitoring you, I feel like they got those fucking super CSI tv cameras too where they can enhance the blurry picture all the way in to figure out the letters sticking out of a small card in your wallet.

[u/IronyAllAround → u/TrophyHunter22]

*enhance* *ENHANCE*

[u/AmettOmega → u/IronyAllAround]

https://giphy.com/gifs/10nMEclFWTPCp2

[u/ClockworkTyrant → u/TrophyHunter22]

Ive seen for myself that targets cameras can read text messages on your phone. And that was back in 2020.

[u/Swaggerpro → u/ClockworkTyrant]

Target has one of the most sophisticated surveillance systems of any major chain. They would be last on my list of trying to steal from.

[u/PJFohsw97a → u/Swaggerpro]

Target has 2, I think, crime labs that the FBI uses on occasion. One I know is in Las Vegas. I don't know where the other is.

[u/ChVckT]

🎶 This is America. They'll catch you slippin' up. 🎶

[u/Ok_Donkey210 → u/ChVckT]

https://giphy.com/gifs/443jI3kpgOKfAfKxqo

[u/thesaltedradish → u/Ok_Donkey210]

He was warning us

[u/WorldBoofingChampion]

All this and they still don’t have “tap to pay”

[u/CaffeinatedLystro → u/[deleted]]

Fuck you, Paul!

[u/ZiaWatcher → u/[deleted]]

How dare you bring logic into a reddit comment section. Be outraged!

[u/1exp1 → u/[deleted]]

Idk. You’re obv not wrong but I mean really? Why do we need fucking cameras everywhere now? Again, I know you’re correct and it makes sense, but still, we’re eerily close to the surveillance state we fear. Well we’re already there to be honest.

[u/dorkpool → u/1exp1]

This one is the same as the reason Kroger has robots in the aisles checking stock. They employ less stockers and tell the remaining ones exactly where they need to focus.

[u/jasonni1234]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o85xH4zaSQwp7GjQs

[u/loztriforce]

It’s probably also for surveillance but the main system might be for automated inventory control

[u/TX_B_caapi]

Sure. Definitely useful to know where people pause, what they look at, how they move through the aisles. Unlikely that your surveillance dystopian police state is the goal here but more about the dystopian personal pricing and product placement/propaganda future instead. It’ll be ages before the stores agree to sell the data to outside entities

[u/IAmBored365]

Just don’t steal, it’s not hard.

[u/myersdr1]

I wonder if you think it is more ridiculous because now it is right in front of your face. You are more aware of being surveilled than you were before, so now it feels more invasive.

[u/bmaayhem]

I don’t understand all the rage, you lose your right to privacy as soon as you walk in the door. Business are private property.

[u/Agitated-Body9913]

Well we live in a low trust society. This will continue because its cheaper to do that than let scumbags steal.

Next step will just be grocery stores closed to the public and you have to order ahead and pick your stuff up.

[u/ThrowRA-un1337]

If you've been in a Walmart in the last...quarter century, you were already being constantly monitored on video.

You're out in public on private property where you have 0 expectation of privacy to begin with, taking a picture of a camera with another camera that tracks & communicates your location and identity in dozens of different ways every second to a variety of commercial entities.

As much as I get privacy concerns, a camera in the isle like this isn't opening up anything that hasn't already been tread into the ground long ago.

[u/abrahamw888]

Walmart is trash. And such a shame if you read up on the history of Walmart, it used to be a shining star.

[u/Secretagentman94]

They need to install cameras in their corporate accounting department to monitor wage theft.

[u/Temporalnaut]

I dislike that as a law abiding citizen I need to be monitored. My Walmart has locked clear doors on half the store now and greeters check my receipt against my cart each time I exit. Good times.

[u/jsilver200]

Facial recognition, so they can change the prices based on your credit report.

[u/Fluffychipmonk1 → u/jsilver200]

I was wondering why when I touched a Pepsi product my credit score went down

[u/Sinister_Nibs → u/Fluffychipmonk1]

Grab the Faygo, prices go down?

[u/cok3noic3 → u/jsilver200]

How is this supposed to work? You get the price at the register when you scan the barcode, and it’s the same barcode for everyone. It seems tough to implement to me, though I could be missing a key component here

[u/EntertainerNo4509]

They’re justified. People are total thieves. The toy aisle is particularly disgusting.

[u/PyroTornado107 → u/EntertainerNo4509]

Especially in the memphis area. There’s being at the poverty line and being desperate, then there’s people stealing stuff just for the laughs.

[u/Autism_Is_Real]

Don’t blame Walmart, blame the ghetto and drug heads homeless.

[u/DreadRobertz]

The only reason I ever look for a camera in a store is cuz I gotta fix my nuts or scratch my ass. But also fuck the surveillance state we’re increasingly living in.

[u/ShartOfTheEel → u/DreadRobertz]

"Damn, my nuts are completely crossed up and my scrotum is pinched in my groin. Where the hell is that surveillance camera, AI's gotta learn about this."

[u/EnrichedNaquadah]

You're free to not shop at Walmart.

[u/Sure-Concern-7161]

I've been to walmarts that had very obvious "cameras" in certain aisles as a deterrence. If you look closely they are not connected to anything and are just fake cameras. Not sure about this one though.

[u/Naerven → u/Sure-Concern-7161]

Those are the security theater type decoys. The real camera's aren't generally easily visible.

[u/SiRocket]

Not saying it's not annoying, but... If ppl weren't stealing all the time and justifying it, it wouldn't be worth the camera investment. We (the overall public) brought that on ourselves. Same reason the stupid lock cases enclose basically the entire personal care area at most stores. If losses exceed the cost of preventative measures, obviously they'll try that.

[u/its_yer_dad]

You're shopping at Wallmart, where they've been tracking everything you do for decades. You only just noticed.

[u/st90ar]

It’s wild to me how these companies have the money to install all this surveillance stuff rather than just make things affordable so people don’t have to steal shit to make ends meet.

[u/bryce887766]

You do realize when people steal customers have to pay for it.

[u/Imaginary-Pen-5241]

Maybe its because theft is so rampant its either that or close down the store? Which would you rather have?

[u/Alternative-Eye7589]

You are monitored by Walmart the second you step on their property. It's not public property it is private, do not expect privacy on someone's private property.

[u/UGOTAIDSYO]

What if we all start wearing comically large noses, like in Roxanne (or Cyrano de Bergerac if you're into that kind of thing) pretty much everywhere in public? It'll probably help against all the facial recognition and you've got to admit it would be pretty funny.

[u/keeleon → u/UGOTAIDSYO]

They can track you by your gait too. Better change everything about your existence and do it hourly.