Target's New Shopping Cart Sensors Are Infuriating Customers

Jul 27, 2023

By Emily Rella • Jan 9, 2023

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That's one way to stop a thief.

One TikToker is going viral for showcasing customers leaving a Target store and struggling with the new anti-theft technology that's being used on shopping carts.

Essentially, if a cart moves a certain distance away from the store, a censor activates and causes the wheels of the cart to lock, rendering it unmoveable. In a video that's been viewed over 4.6 million times, customers can be seen struggling to pull the carts with locked wheels.

"You probably don't know this, because it's clearly a new thing, but Target has installed sensors on the carts, which make it so the carts can't go outside a certain parameter of Target," she says.

@taylormadesince1993 #target #nostealing #targetcarts #FYP #pureentertainment #cartnarcs ♬ original sound - Taylor Ann

The video shows confused shoppers unable to get to their vehicles because the sensors are going off.

In one scene, one man begins to pull the cart from the front on an angle to outsmart the sensors so that he can get his stuff to his car.

A follow-up video shows another dozen or so customers experiencing the same problem. One cart comes to an abrupt halt with a baby sitting in the front.

@taylormadesince1993 #part2 #fyp #CartNarcs #targetcarts #FYP #pureentertainment #nostealing #target ♬ original sound - Taylor Ann

Frustrated customers took to the comments to talk about how the sensors can be "dangerous" and unfair to shoppers.

"I have ALWAYS put my cart back. As a mother with two kids.. this would infuriate me," one user said. "I can't carry my stuff & hold my children's hands."

"This is a total fail on your part Target, make the parameter within the plot of your store, not in the middle of the damn parking," another vented.

In November, the retailer announced that it had lost millions of dollars in profit due to "inventory shrinkage" caused by theft and crime.

"Along with other retailers, we've seen a significant increase in theft and organized retail crime across our business," Target CEO Brian Cornell said during the company's Q3 2022 earnings call.

Target has not specified what the exact perimeters are in order for the sensors to be activated.