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I wonder if in areas where this is a serious problem, we'll see stores operating like they did in the Old Days: customers give a list of items to a clerk who collects them for the customer, instead of customers gathering the items themselves.

Stores made this change a long time ago because it reduced costs and increased shopper throughput, but it sounds like, at least in some places, those economics may have changed.

You go into any non american country and you will find a security guard at the door checking bags and they have a locker. You dont always need high tech to solve an age old problem.

There are some stores in the US that do this, but it runs against a problem: stores can ask to look through your purchases, but customers have the right to refuse to allow it and leave anyway.

If the store thinks a specific person has stolen something, they can detain the person until the police arrive to investigate, but they can't detain people for simply refusing to allow a bag check.

The other problem is that stores that do this experience a reduction in the number of shoppers that will go there. That can be worth it, of course, if the practice stops enough shoplifting loss to make up for the lost sales.

https://archive.ph/6Cl5V

What We Lose to Shoplifting