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As the holiday shopping season comes to a frenzied peak, Walmart is introducing a new tool that it hopes will help reduce tensions for frenzied staffers. CNBC (CMCSA) reports that the retail giant is going to start affixing body cameras to workers in its stores.
The company told the outlet that the cameras are still in the pilot testing stage, but a Walmart spokesperson did say that “we are always looking at new and innovative technology used across the retail industry.”
One use of the technology will be to create a deterrent for bad behavior by customers, to which retail workers are often on the receiving end. Another use will be to possibly reduce theft. Though the National Retail Federation walked back claims last year about the extent of shoplifting in recent years, the problem remains a concern for stores.
Walmart (WMT) is not the only company whose workers are donning cameras. This summer, discount retail chain T.J. Maxx (TJX) said that its staff would be using body cameras as well.
“When somebody comes in, it’s almost like a de-escalation where people are less likely to do something when they’re being videotaped,” CFO John Joseph Klinger said during a company earnings call, adding that the discount retailer started using the cameras late last year and “definitely feels that they’re playing a role.”