Home Depot is combatting shoplifting at its U.S. stores with technology that requires power tools to be properly scanned to work.
Cashiers use Bluetooth technology to activate the tools at checkout. Tools that don’t pass through that step simply won’t turn on. Scott Glenn, VP of asset protection, said the company is particularly focused on organized theft rings, which he contrasted with the individual, ad hoc actors they often take advantage of.
“There are very organized groups where the leaders at the top are recruiting people that are … down on their luck and offering them incentives and providing shopping lists to go out and bring back certain products,” Glenn told Business Insider. “At the top levels of these hierarchies, there are absolutely good administrators that understand the return on their money.”
