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My local Home Depot now locks up a great many things. I don't have time to ring a bell and cool my heels - so I walk out and purchase online instead.
WHEN CIVIL NORMS COLLAPSE: Underwear and socks are the latest items to be locked up in shoplifting crackdown – as Walmart and Target both take action on theft of undies. “Locking up items can lead to frustrating waits of up to 40 minutes for shoppers to get their hands on basic groceries like toothpaste, baby formula and vitamins as retailers lock up products to combat soaring crime.”
The net result is that prices will soar at these stores (just to pay for the staff, and reduced demand from impatient shoppers). And Amazon (and equivalents) will soon be the only ways to purchase the stuff people steal from stores.
Isn't this looking inevitable? That we'll end up with swaths of cities that contain very little in the way of purchasable goods to the walk-in customer?
Where does it end?
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Among other side effects - many fewer choices. Just like Bernie wanted.
Lots more waste - packaging is grossly inefficient based on recent experience.
Delivery trucks tearing around neighborhoods. Either more returns or fewer returns.
No delivery to some neighborhoods.
I think much less personal interaction - I LIKE going to hardware stores and asking for advice from people who have already experienced user error.
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Solution is simple: enforce the law. But as President Reagan said, just because the solution is simple does not mean the solution will be easy.
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"It's almost like that's what the corporations WANT to happen!" - hypothetical online conspiracy theorist
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Then your goods might end up being pinched by porch pirates. If you're in Montreal and have a doorbell camera, the Sûreté du Québec would like you to know that you can't post video of your packages being stolen because the thieves have a "presumption of innocence."
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Another thing I dislike is self checkouts, although they are better than they used to be. A store I shop in regularly added self checkouts, but they do not take cash. I use cash whenever possible, but that is a separate discussion.
On the upside, retail theft is forcing some vendors to remove self checkouts...
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