Woolworths trialling video surveillance at self-service check-outs

The supermarket has confirmed it’s trialling a new system for self-service after a surprised shopper took to social media to ask what was happening.

Woolworths have confirmed they are trialling video surveillance at its self-serve check-outs in a bid to stamp out theft.

The change was noticed by Melbourne shopper Branwell Travers who shared on Twitter how he had been surprised to see video of himself appear on the screen of his self-serve checkout.

"For how long has Woolworths been filming me while using self-check-outs?" he captioned the photo.

For how long has Woolworths been filming me while using self-checkouts? pic.twitter.com/SVQ0aN2UX5

— BT (@Br_Tr) May 29, 2020

Mr Travers told Pedestrian. TV he had at first thought the checkout must have been glitching to have recorded him.

“I was kinds confused and thought maybe it was a malfunction or something,” he said. “But I looked over my shoulder and saw the person next to me had the same thing.”

Another customer also tweeted that they were "shocked" to discover they were being filmed at another Woolworths self-service checkout and raised privacy concerns.

A Woolworths spokesman told news.com.au: "We know the vast majority of our customers do the right thing at our self-serve check-outs. This is a new security measure we're trialling for those that don’t.

"Our stores have staffed checkout lanes for customers who would prefer not to take part in the trial."

The video taken by Woolies at the self-service checkout is not recorded or stored and the cameras aren't able to view the card PIN pad section.

Woolworths' move comes as a Sydney greengrocer this week expressed their frustration at the extreme lengths some customers would go to score a bargain.

The sign spotted inside the outlet, located in Sydney's inner west read: “Do not remove broccoli stalks. Otherwise be charged double."

One green grocer introduced a bold way of stopping people doing this sneaky trick.

The sneaky crack of the stem is so widespread that grocers are finding legions of them abandoned at the bottom of broccoli crates.

“I always break it off and leave it,” one stalk snapper told news.com.au said, despite acknowledging the amount saved was not huge.

“It’s not about the cost, it’s the principle of being forced to pay for a stalk that won’t be used. Similarly, at the butcher I always ask that any excess fat is trimmed off.”

Another was equally unrepentant: “You get charged by weight so everyone breaks off the bits they don’t eat to get more bang for their buck.”