MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Schnucks customers no longer have to wait for an employee to access alcohol behind a locked cabinet. New technology allows customers to unlock the anti-theft liquor cases themselves.
The new technology, called the Freedom Case, has been implemented in several grocery locations under a new partnership between Schnuck's Markets and Indyme, Director of Security for Schnucks Matthew Redmond said. The anti-theft cases give customers a little more freedom when it comes to accessing locked products.
Rather than hunting down a worker to come unlock the case, customers can now shop at their convenience without having to wait around.
"We found that this was a perfect balance between keeping products locked up and secure to keep our prices down and giving the freedom to our good customers to unlock a case and buy a product as they want," Redmond said.
The self-service case offers customers two options, Redmond said. They can hit the "use your cell phone" button to enter their phone number and receive a code to unlock the case via text message, or they can simply push the "request an associate" button to have an employee come unlock the case.
High-target theft liquor items have traditionally been locked up at Schnucks stores. The self-service case allows the store to continue surveillance of the products while lessening the burden on customers.
"Organized retail crime is affecting every retailer in the country right now," Redmond said, "and this is just another tool that keeps our prices down and a product easily shopped."
According to Indyme, the Freedom Case uses artificial intelligence to monitor customers' behaviors when accessing the case, such as the number of products removed, how frequently a customer accesses it and how long the door is left open, to identify suspicious activity in real-time.
The anti-theft technology is being used in about 40 stores, including the Schnucks location in Maryland Heights.
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