Walmart’s anti-theft carts incorporate technology to prevent shoplifting, but shoppers face side effects caused by anti-theft technology.
Retail theft traps built into the wheels of shopping carts at stores like Walmart and Target are supposed to activate when someone pushes the cart across the store boundary.
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Hidden underground cables around the shop activate small motors in the wheels of the shopping carts, which lock into place as they pass.
Anti-theft technology built into carts can help catch shoplifters, like the man who was arrested for the 70th time for stealing a suitcase full of meat from Walmart.
South Euclid Police said in a Facebook post last week that a suitcase the man had reportedly stuffed with meat was also stolen.
He was seen parked next to a trash can at a Walmart store in Ohio after taking suitcases and meat out of the store without paying.
“We threw the things that didn’t fit in the stolen suitcase in the trash,” police said.
He claims he abandoned the shopping cart “after a security feature locked the front wheels and prevented the cart from continuing to push off the Walmart property.”
While this is effective, the anti-theft cart technology is also causing major problems for the store’s honest customers.
Target’s implementation of anti-theft technology in shopping carts has encouraged customers to turn to the internet when faced with cart glitches and issues.
In a TikTok video, a user shared footage of the growing problem targeted customers are facing due to the store’s new anti-theft shopping cart.
TikTok user Taylor Ann sat in a Target parking lot to reveal the big store chain’s apparent shopping cart disaster.
“This is obviously new, so you may not know it, but Target put sensors on carts,” Taylor-Ann said in a video showing people dragging carts.
“This prevents the kart from going outside of certain parameters of the target,” she said, surprised to find the wheels on the women’s kart locked in place.
“We were sitting outside the recording folks at Target and had the same perception that we have now,” continued Taylor-Ann.
As her TikTok video progressed, she shared what people were thinking when the cart suddenly stopped moving and she tried different techniques to keep it moving.
Some pushed, pulled, or lifted the stuck carts into the air.
The viral video had nearly 500,000 likes, and many users pointed out problems with the new technology in the comments section.
“But they’re literally in Target’s parking lot,” someone pointed out.
“And they should at least let you drive through the parking lot,” added one user.
One TikToker also commented:
On another occasion, a TikToker named Riley revealed his experience with a shopping cart on Target, garnering over 130,000 views.
Riley said the cart had limited functionality and needed to carry $500 worth of groceries.
“Why are places like Target stopping you from taking $500 worth of stuff in your car?” Riley said in the video.
“Do I have to get it there somehow? I don’t even know where my car is.”
Other TikTokers commented on her video in an attempt to answer her question.
“To stop shoplifters from running around with full carts. [their] car bc LP (lost protection) can’t drive you to the parking lot,” someone said.
Another person said, “That’s because I left the cart ‘all the time’ instead of taking it home and putting it away.”
