In Australia at Coles supermarkets, you get frequently blocked by the stupid new AI monitored smart gates if you have not purchased anything and it requires a staff member to open the gates. All done in an attempt to address increasing instances of shoplifting. A better approach, in a cost of living crisis, to reduce shoplifting is to not keep raising grocery prices constantly and advertising now proven misleading discounts. Coles and Woolworths have been making record profits during this time. The real theft is happening in the stores but not by the shoppers.

Its terrible how inconvenient shops have made it nowadays to leave if you haven't bought anything.

Some shops you've got to walk the entire loop around, some shops you've got to awkwardly squeeze through the till queues, and some you have get staff to let you out.

Its frankly ridiculous. I'm thankful for shops that don't block off their exit. Requires more trust in shoppers, but that trust is appreciated and keeps me wanting to come back in the future.

As someone who has worked in a grocery store. Absolutely no one who noticed it cared unless you came in like 5minutes before closing, take 20+ minutes walking around and then walk out without buying anything, now that would be annoying as fuck.

This reminds me of a story when I was a student. A girl/young woman I know was looking for her friend. Mobile phones was not really something we had but she arranged meeting him at some bar/pub but she didn't know which one in town. So she then went through town checking one after the other. This was a small town with not that many but it took her much longer than it should. Later she explained she had ordered a drink in each one of the establishments as she felt uncomfortable entering and exiting looking for her friend without ordering something.

I miss Amazon Fresh, the physical store near me.

When they started up I'd just scan a barcode, walk in, and the whole idea was to just grab what you want off the shelf and walk out.
They had a LOT of cameras everywhere, and they claimed it was some AI thing checking what everyone is picking up, which then charges your account etc. (later found out it was just a bunch of guys in India looking at the cameras lol).

I got so many free things they just didn't notice. I don't know if it was the large jacket I was wearing, or something else, but I managed to get free meals almost every time I visited.

No guilt since it's Amazon, and they replaced that store with a Tesco Express so everything worked out.

The old man at the door is asking for a receipt.

RUN!!!

This is all a ploy from Big Grocery to psychologically pressure you to buy something.

I'm a real estate photographer, and one rule of the job is not to use the bathroom in the house we're shooting. So, I often find myself going into gas stations and grocery stores to use theirs, often without buying anything. I'm quickly getting over the feeling in the meme!

The rule makes sense, as almost all of the houses I shoot have just been deep-cleaned and possibly staged in preparation for an open house and showings. Vacant houses are common, too, so there are no supplies like towels or toilet paper.

The funnier one of these that I've done a handful of times is leaving the drive thru without purchasing anything.

I wanted breakfast or nothing, McDonald's.

what has consumerism done to people...

One time I was in the next town over where they have a grocery store chain that I can't normally shop at. So, I figured I'll get the big shopping cart and grab everything that looks interesting.

Went through the whole store and in the end, I stood at the checkout with a pack of cookies and some vitamin tablets. That almost felt worse than walking out without buying anything. It felt like I was insulting their product selection.

Although, to be fair, it was absolutely terrible.

I do it all the time. I walk back to get something specific and more often than not they are out these days. Its usually a sale item and I missed it.

That's capitalism trying to get you to buy something, because not buying things is just as evil as stealing. /s

I'm usually visibly pissed if I go all the way to a store and they don't have what I'm looking for.

Im always calm because they have to prove i did anything

i thought i was paranoid for feeling this way. it if isn't the obvious surveillance, it's the security guard standing near the front or the employees scrutinizing you.

this phenomena is most extreme at stores like burlington/marshalls, where they'll often rope off the entrance and have an employee dressed up like a swat team member to discourage criminal activity.

old man take: you used to only see this bullshit at stores in the worst neighborhoods and that only started popping up around the crash of 2008.

I feel this in my yesterday, when I went to the freakin' WAL*MART for something they had but no one else did in the area -- and yes, this means I supported the local staff at a local store working for a local manager who eventually pays something to a guy living far away who never lived here, vs supporting local staff at a local store working for a local owner who lives far away in a sunny place. Fuck me, right?

Anyway, they had it. It was under glass. I couldn't find anyone with a key and a desire to help. I left. But, yeah, on the way out, I was hyper-aware that I'd browsed for a bit, I was wearing a backpack, and I didn't have a receipt for anything. I was expecting to be challenged every moment until I'd left.

I hate that thieves have made them paranoid, and we're accustomed to expecting a hassle in response.

Look at the cashier - "sin compra" and then they let you leave

I used to always buy at least something to leave without this feeling.

After joining Lemmy, I started to just leave.

https://thecounter.org/supermarket-robot-automation-ai-organized-labor-stop-and-shop/

My local store has robots patrolling the aisles. I thought they were cleaners at first.

This has been a tremendous fear of mine since childhood, but I'm quickly getting over it at 50, because NO store (aside from the grocery store) ever has what I need when I go. Brick and mortar can't compete with online and excessive options. Sure, it's great that there are 762 flavors of vodka (or whatever), but how is a Mom & Pop supposed to carry even one of each? Even large chain stores seem to always have something close or similar, but never what I actually want or need. I hate ordering certain things online, but I do it cuz I know they'll have exactly what I'm looking for and it'll be here soon enough without wasting gas and time.

ALDI 99c chocolate bar to the rescue.

I scan the area around the exit as I’m leaving for employees or security. If I see someone I make eye contact and say thank you. I’ve never had anyone give me suspicious or dirty looks, and I normally carry a backpack.

When I leave a store and have purchased nothing, I leave pissed off because they didn't have what I needed. I'm only there to acquire what I need, and if you don't have it, I am disappoint and put out. Do not waste my time like that.

I mean, aside from all those times I shoplifted, back in the day…