It’s becoming more and more common to see items under lock-and-key when shopping at retailers like Target.
During a quick trip to Target, TikTok user Angela (@soundsaboutangela) took note of this and decided to address the topic. The video has already amassed over 96,800 views and 6,702 likes.
After seeing her favorite products locked behind a glass casing, Angela was enthralled by the lack of accessibility the store gave to its shoppers, forcing workers to grab items for them.
Why is everything locked up at Target?
“I’m going to keep saying this until I’m blue in the face,” Angela begins.
Not even taking a step outside the store, the Chicago-native filmed herself as she stood in her local Target.
“It is counterproductive for everything to be locked up the way that it is,” Angela says. “I just came from another aisle where the employee has pallets of things that she is working on putting onto the shelves, but she can’t do that because it’s one person after another coming up to her.”
According to Angela, this one Target employee was unable to finish her daily tasks because she was constantly getting asked by customers to unlock products for them from the shelves.
What is going on at Target these days?
In case you missed it, many stores have begun placing their more expensive products within a plastic or glass casing to stop shoplifters from accessing the goods. Unfortunately, this stops well-intentioned shoppers from quickly grabbing what they need as well.
“She’s constantly having to walk away from what she’s doing to open cages to get stuff out for people. How is she supposed to get her work done?” Angela questions.
And in this case specifically, this worker was trying to shelve products from shipping pallets, but was allegedly unable to finish in a timely manner due to constantly being asking to unlock products for shoppers.
“There has to be a better way for them to address loss prevention. I get that people steal, but it’s an unpleasant experience for the shopper,” Angela says.
Angela explains that the process of having to wait for a store employee to respond to Angela and aid her in grabbing what she needs can be taxing. And it isn’t always the most timely maneuver.
“And then the employee, like, she is running around in circles. She’s one person […] and everybody wants body wash and soap and all that stuff,” Angela says.
“I don’t know. It’s ridiculous,” Angela concludes.
The current state of loss prevention
As store theft rose during the pandemic, Forbes reports that nearly 70% of retailers saw a rise in organized retail crime in 2022 alone. With losses as high as $69 billion a year, shop owners were eager to come up with a quick solution.
However, the protocols being taken may actually be more harmful than helpful to these companies. As stores, such as Walmart and Walgreens, increase their security measures, shoppers feel inconvenienced.
In agreement with Angela, the comment section was quickly flooded with viewer’s own personal struggles with the increased protocol.
“It just turns me off,” one shopper said.
“They have to be losing more money than they were when people were stealing because so many people leave and go buy things online rather than deal with that,” another commenter said.
And they were right, since the pandemic, online shopping has increased immensely. According to Sellers Commerce, in 2024 roughly 33% of the world’s population will participate in online shopping. In comparison to 2019, e-commerce sales have increased by 6.89%, reaching $291.64 billion in transactions.
Of course, there are multiple factors playing into this increase, but while there is no proven direct causation between online shopping and the new security measures, there may be a correlation.
@soundsaboutangela I dislike this experience real bad…
♬ original sound – Angela
The Daily Dot reached out to Angela (@soundsaboutangela) via TikTok direct message and Target via press email.
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