At ICA Maxi in Angered, they are currently setting up self-checkout cash registers, where the customer himself scans his goods, pays with a bank card, scans the receipt at a gate and exits.
The reason is cheating during the scanning.
- You put on ten to fifteen items, look over your shoulder and see if anyone is looking.
If it isn't, you just scan an item, says store manager Pontus Granqvist.
Inflation affects
But it is not only in Angered that they have now chosen to remove the self-scan.
A call by SVT Nyheter Väst shows that four out of a total of twelve ICA Maxi stores in Västra Götaland have chosen to remove the system in the past year.
In addition to Angered, there are stores in Skövde, Högsbo and on Mölndalsvägen in Gothenburg.
The industry organization Livsmedelshandlarna has noticed that more stores in Sweden have followed the same path this year.
- The reason why the issue has come up more urgently now has to do with inflation.
You may feel that you cannot afford the item and choose to steal it, says Pär Bygdeson, CEO of Livsmedelshandlarna.
Anonymity behind cheating
Even in the future, customers can scan their goods with handles that are linked to membership cards in ICA - this possibility remains in all stores.
The difference is that the customer then lacks anonymity.
- When they are anonymous, there is a greater risk that people will be dishonest, says Pär Bygdeson.
The press service at the ICA group states that the number of stores that offer self-scanning and/or cash registers is generally increasing.
Even Willy's and COOP's press services announce that they see no winding down, but rather an increase.