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Lowes launches a crackdown on serial shoplifters with a potential new anti-theft system that renders stolen tools useless.
The home improvement store plans to launch a new anti-theft measure called Project Unlock, consisting of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, scanners and blockchain.
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RFID technology activates legitimately purchased products and disables stolen tools, Lowe said.
“As you can see, all retailers are locking down their merchandise and putting physical locks on their products,” Seamantini Godball, Row’s chief digital information officer, told Fox Business.
“We said, ‘I wish we had a digital lock…we can enable and disable it with technology.'”
Project Unlock consists of two main components.
First, the product will have an RFID tag with a unique serial number.
When the customer checks out, the scanner reads the product’s tag, and with the correct serial number, the product is unlocked and safe to use once payment is complete.
However, without POS activation, the product will stop working.
Purchased or stolen items are recorded on the blockchain – a system that records transactions.
If thieves attempt to resell stolen goods to other individuals or third-party marketplaces, potential buyers can be sure they are not buying stolen goods.
The process will be essentially “invisible to the customer,” Godbole told the outlet.
“They shouldn’t even know there’s something extra going on.”
Lowe’s latest effort comes at a time when retail theft has become a nearly $100 billion problem in the industry, according to Insider’s report.
To address the ongoing problem, stores such as Walmart and Target have begun locking items in locations across the country and rolling out new anti-theft shopping carts.
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