Co-op Food MD dismisses removal of self-checkouts as it uses AI to tackle retail crime

Co-op food managing director Matt Hood has said the convenience retailer will not partake in using facial recognition or removing self-service checkouts to tackle retail crime, as it instead explores the use of AI.

While Hood admitted that “there is some evidence” that self-checkouts do lead to an increase in shrinkage, he “wouldn’t be an advocate of reducing them”.

“They mean that we can get customers unhindered through our shops a lot quicker so for me, the benefits still outweigh the costs,” he said.

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Hood also dismissed the idea of using facial recognition, and added that “it’s not something that we’d ever partake in,” however, The Co-op is looking to other forms of AI to reduce retail crime.

“We are looking at what we can do around AI and what we can do with that linkage to our CCTV cameras to enable us to focus more on how we reduce the potential increase in ‘middle class’ crime.”

It comes as The Co-op estimates that it experienced £70m worth of loss last year because of the ongoing retail crime epidemic as incidents of shoplifting, abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour increased 44% in its stores – resulting in an average of 1,000 incidents every day.

Hood said: “The reality is every day four of my colleagues will be attacked and a further 116 will be seriously abused.”

While he added that the Retail Crime Action Plan announced by the government in October was a “welcoming and reassuring move” it “urgently needs to see action in store so the desk calls to the police from our frontline colleagues are responded to and critically, criminals start to realise that there are real consequences to their actions”.