Everybody hates locked-up products. This company says it has a solution

People tend to hate going to a store and finding deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, cosmetics and other everyday products locked up on shelves behind display cases. Now, some stores are testing a new way to let customers open the locked displays.

People tend to hate going to a store and finding deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, cosmetics and other everyday products locked up on shelves behind display cases. Now, some stores are testing a new way to let customers open the locked displays. Customers, accustomed to self-service at stores, don’t like to push a button for assistance and wait for an employee to come open the display so they can buy something for $5. Low paid, overburdened retail workers don’t want to spend their day unlocking shelves in different aisles every five minutes. And retail management knows that locking up products costs the business sales and pushes their customers to shop on Amazon. So some retailers are testing a way to let customers use their cell phones to open locked shelves. Retailers have been locking up more household products since the pandemic to stop people from stealing — especially organized robbery sprees that clear entire shelves of products. Retailers say both petty theft and organized robberies have increased since the pandemic, although data does not always support these claims. Cigarettes, health and beauty products, over-the-counter medications, contraceptives, liquor, teeth-whitening strips and other products are the most commonly stolen items at US stores, according to surveys of retailers. But the strategy of locking up products, which is cheaper for them than hiring more staff to keep watch throughout a store, has backfired.