Officials say Walmart, Costco, and other supermarket chains are rethinking using self-checkouts.

Customers mainly used the self-checkouts during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize close interaction with employees and other customers.

Stores are learning now that self-checkout leads to higher merchandise losses from customer errors and intentional shoplifting.

A recent study shows companies with self-checkout lanes had a loss rate of about 4 percent, which is double the industry average.

Higher merchandise loss examples include products with multiple barcodes or barcodes that don’t scan properly, produce having to be weighed or manually entered, and shoppers not hearing a sound confirming a scanned item.

Common tactics by shoplifters include not scanning an item, swapping a cheaper item for a more expensive one, scanning counterfeit barcodes, or scanning and walking out without paying.