Loss Prevention Video: "Sweethearting" — Detection And Prevention

"Sweethearting" is a practice which occurs when cashiers pretend to scan merchandise but deliberately bypass the scanner, thus not charging the customer for the merchandise. The customer is often a friend, family member, or fellow employee working in tandem with the cashier.

Retail store employees steal $20B worth of merchandise a year, an estimated two thirds of that or $13B through sweethearting. Supermarkets, with their especially thin profit margins, are particularly vulnerable to sweethearting, which has accounted for an almost 35% profit loss industrywide.