BIG NEWS: Walmart’s sneaky tactic to prevent theft
If you’ve ever felt like you were being watched while shopping at Walmart (WMT), it might not have been just your imagination. A former Walmart employee has gone viral on TikTok after exposing the company’s strategy of using “floor walkers” to monitor shoppers and prevent theft.
Inside the Role of a “Floor Walker”
In a TikTok video posted on August 13 that has garnered over 600,000 views, user Bigbagspenny616, a former Walmart employee, shared that he once worked as a “floor walker.” This role involves tracking potential shoplifters both inside and outside the store. According to him, floor walkers begin observing customers as soon as they arrive in the parking lot and continue to follow them throughout their shopping experience.
“The very first thing you want to look out for is that we’re always stationed in our cars, and when you pull in, that’s when we get to go ahead to follow you into the store,” he explained in the video, emphasizing that this gives the illusion they arrived simultaneously with the shopper.
How Floor Walkers Operate
The former employee revealed that each floor walker has “one prime target at a time,” and up to 50 to 200 customers can be tracked by these employees per day. “If I follow you into the store, you’re my prime target until you check out, this means I have to stay with you from start to finish,” he stated.
He further claimed that floor walkers work together and communicate via earbuds, filming suspected shoplifters if they believe theft is occurring. “When you check out, we have to check out with you and walk out to our car, just like you’re walking out to your car,” he said, adding that they are required to monitor customers while they load their groceries in case the footage is needed for court later.
The Insurance Angle
In a follow-up video posted on August 16, the TikToker suggested that Walmart’s use of floor walkers is partly to secure insurance coverage for its merchandise. He explained, “If a company owns millions of dollars worth of stuff in their store, and it’s not locked up, and they got to get an insurance company to agree to cover them, don’t you think they got to have something a little more in place than ‘we’re just getting robbed?’” The idea is that having a dedicated loss prevention team shows insurance companies that Walmart is taking active steps to prevent theft.
Mixed Reactions and Controversy
Many TikTok users expressed their discomfort with Walmart’s theft prevention tactics in the comments section. One user remarked, “Wait every time you go in Walmart you get followed? That’s a bit creepy lol.” Another shared, “I had a man following me, I was actually scared and had to have the manager walk me out. He let me know it was their LP guy. Freaky experience.”
The floor walker tactic is not a new strategy for Walmart and has sparked controversy in the past. In 2016, a shopper filed a lawsuit against the retailer after a floor walker allegedly falsely accused her of theft, resulting in a “forced takedown and false arrest scheme.”
Retail Theft Challenges
Walmart, like many other retailers, has been struggling with a rise in retail theft. According to a recent Gitnux report, Walmart loses an estimated $3 billion annually due to theft, with over 900,000 shoplifting incidents occurring in its U.S. stores each year.
