Wegmans Ends SCAN Feature, Cites Shoplifting

Wegmans, a popular Northeast grocery chain based in Rochester, NY, told customers this week it is discontinuing its scan-and-go app, according to CNN.

The company said in a statement that offering the service was leading to excessive shoplifting. It also sent an email to customers explaining the decision, which was posted on Twitter.

wegmans you stink i love the scan app 🙁 it keeps me under my budget by adding up my total and allows me to Not Have To Speak To People at checkout pic.twitter.com/XUt67YyNhQ

— honda cr-v (@heIIoforest) September 12, 2022

“Unfortunately, the losses we are experiencing from this program prevent us from continuing to make it available in its current state,” Colleen Wegman, the company’s president and CEO, wrote in the email. Wegman also noted that the company has “tried many adjustments to keep it.”

Introduced in 2019, the SCAN app allowed people to scan items as they went, see the total as they shopped, and leave the store without having to visit a checkout kiosk — a boon during the pandemic, per CNN.

The service will end Sunday, September 18, the company memo added. Users took to Twitter to express their sadness over the app’s demise, which a few said helped with grocery store anxiety or stress about interacting with others.

RIP the Wegmans scan app is gonna stop working next week. It was such a good thing for my anxiety at the grocery store

— BuffBuck (@BufffBuck) September 12, 2022

Seriously @Wegmans, you’re getting rid of the SCAN app?

It was the only thing that made shopping tolerable!

Please confirm that you’re actually going to increase checkout capacity?

These last two years not wasting 30 extra minutes and having items smashed was great.

— Jim C from 716 (@connollyjamesp) September 12, 2022

Not happy to see @Wegmans SCAN app going away. This will literally make me shop less at Wegmans. The convenience of completing my shopping, bagging my own items, and not having to go through regular checkout often made it worth a separate trip. Really, really, not happy.

— Allan Kintz (@ack154) September 12, 2022

Shoplifting has been on the rise, per Bloomberg, and increased when people were struggling during the pandemic, according to the Washington Post.

Wegmans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.