New receipt checks at Loblaw-owned stores raising eyebrows, concerns about racial profiling

A new sign popping up at Loblaw-owned stores across the country is raising eyebrows and concerns about possible racial profiling.

In recent days, Canadians have taken to social media to share photos of and displeasure with the sign at their local supermarkets, which tell customers that their receipts may be checked.

“Please be prepared to show your receipt upon exiting to validate and maintain inventory accuracy,” the sign reads.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

COMPANY RECEIVES BACKLASH

Some Canadians have taken issue with the new receipt checks, saying the policy makes customers feel like thieves and will deter them from shopping at Loblaw-owned stores, including Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, Shoppers Drug Mart, Your Independent Grocer, Zehrs and No Frills. It is unclear whether signs will be posted at all of these stores. 

“So @Loblaws fires the cashiers, turns us customers into cashiers, makes it so easy to steal from them, treats paying customers like thieves, and hires more security guards who cost more than cashiers. A+ efficiency! At least the scanner company wins,” one Twitter user wrote.

Meanwhile, others are expressing apathy, likening the receipt checks to what customers have long experienced at Costco stores.

Produce is displayed for sale at a grocery store in Aylmer, Que., May 26, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

However, some have made the distinction that Costco checks the receipts of every customer leaving its stores, which is a contractual obligation as part of its membership agreement, whereas the receipt checks at Loblaw-owned stores appear to not be carried out routinely with every customer and may lead to incidents of racial profiling.

“I will not subject myself to this. I will not be treated like a criminal. I accept Costco because it’s a membership requirement, they check every receipt for every one, not selectively which means racially profiling,” another Twitter user wrote. 

LOBLAW SAYS CHECKS NOT AN ISSUE WITH CUSTOMERS

Loblaw did not answer specific questions about its new policy, but told CTVNews.ca that the signs informing customers of the new receipt checks were put up by “a small number of stores” to let customers know “about a change in practice” at those locations.

“While we understand this has become a topic of conversation in media and online, at the store level, this has not been an issue with our customers,” the company said in a statement.

“Checking receipts is not unusual throughout the retail industry.”

RECEIPT CHECKS LIKELY RESPONSE TO THEFT

Stuart Smyth, a professor and Agri-Food Innovation & Sustainability Enhancement Chair at the University of Saskatchewan, said the receipt checks are likely meant to crack down on shoplifting, which industry experts say has seen an uptick amid inflation and the rising cost of living.

“Given the fact that we've had double-digit food price inflation for so many months, food prices are dramatically higher over the last two or three years, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the theft of groceries is going to have risen and retailers are going to be looking to put preventative measures in place,” Smyth told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.

Daniel Tsai, a lawyer and adjunct business law professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto, echoed that remark, saying that working Canadians are struggling to feed themselves and their families, which has been observed by the increased reliance on food banks in the past few years.

“Out of desperation, people are maybe taking more product than what Loblaw is used to, so they've likely noticed an increase in theft, and so this is all a reaction to that,” Tsai told CTVNews.ca.

This will come back on them. They will "profile " the wrong people, and the lawsuits will start! I personally no longer shop there. It is always hard to find items, and staff tend to be surly.

— Rv guy (@Rvguy18) June 18, 2023

Michelle Wasylyshen, national spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada, said theft remains “a major concern for retailers.”

Wasylyshen added that people often think retail crime is a “victimless crime,” but the thefts cost Canadian retailers “billions of dollars a year,” costs which are passed on to consumers.

“Shoplifting has increased across all categories including food, apparel and footwear merchandise. Escalating inflation, a growing re-sale market for stolen goods and increase of organized crime are some of the contributors,” she told CTVNews.ca in a statement.

“Retail Council of Canada works with retailers to help them implement loss prevention strategies. Some retailers have added security guards in their stores or have hired off duty police officers. Additional training for their staff on de-escalation is also important.”

Sareh Pouryousefi, an assistant professor in the law and business department at TMU’s Ted Rogers School of Management, said theft at grocery stores is “a consequence of a faltering welfare system” and that more needs to be done to address food insecurity in Canada.

LEGAL RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS

Despite the signs, which some customers have reported being taken down at Loblaw-owned stores, Tsai said customers are not legally required to show their receipts — or their bags — at those stores.

“Their security and staff can engage in only voluntary checking,” Tsai explained.

“So if a customer agrees to show their receipt, security can look at the receipt, but if the customer refuses, there is no legal obligation for them to show the receipt.”

A customer is only legally required to show a receipt if security or staff know that a theft has occurred and they have evidence of it, Tsai said. If that’s the case, he said they can engage in a “citizen’s arrest,” allowing them to act with the powers of a police officer and detain an individual if the individual has engaged in a crime.

People shop for fresh produce in Toronto on Thursday, May 3, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

However, if there is no evidence of a crime being committed and security or staff pull a customer aside and check their bags and it turns out that they didn't steal from a store, the customer can sue Loblaw for false imprisonment, Tsai noted.

RECEIPT CHECKS ‘NOT GOOD’ FOR LOBLAW’S IMAGE

Unless Loblaw’s new receipt checks are carried out in a “very identical way” to Costco receipt checks, Smyth said customers may view the new measure as “biased” and question whether it encourages racial profiling.

“If it's only a select number of stores, then that could be sort of seen as profiling a certain targeted population or area of the city,” he said.

“So I think it has to be everybody that shops in every single store.”

I will not subject myself to this. I will not be treated like a criminal. I accept Costco because it’s a membership requirement, they check every receipt for every one, not selectively which means racially profiling. Walmart and Loblaw can go #%^* themselves.

— Brian Robichaud (@BrianCRobichaud) June 15, 2023

Tsai called the receipt checks a “marketing fail” on Loblaw’s part, which has faced recent public scrutiny over its collusion with Canada Bread to hike Canadian bread prices and for making record profits at a time when many Canadians are struggling financially.

“It's not good for their image because they have created the great marketing sin of demonstrating a lack of touch with their customers and what they're going through,” he said.

“(The company is) tone deaf to its consumers’ plight in terms of their financial stress and trying to put food on their tables.”

To improve its image, Tsai said Loblaw could instead give products away to food banks and people who are unhoused since “a lot of consumers resonate with businesses that have empathy,” in addition to reducing its prices, which would also disincentivize stealing.

“They're not really championing the customer like they should,” he added.