Ford: Store safety encourages more consumers to shop online

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Do you want to be treated like a thief? Go shopping in person. Walk into any store in the country, from a big box store to your local drugstore or grocery store.

Pay attention to safety measures. They are not intended to benefit you, but are intended to stop what retailers say is an alarming increase in theft rates. These are directed at you and we apparently accept this without complaint. All of us who physically go to retail outlets are considered guilty.

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I hate it so much, but I remember a time when shopping was fun. (At that time, the only in-person shopping was to order from an Eaton’s or Sears catalog.)

Today, Canadians – almost 50 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 and 32 per cent of those aged 25 to 34 – make most of their purchases online.

There are many reasons, and one of them is comfort and delivery – and not having to get out of your pajamas.

The online retail industry report is blunt. “Canadians have embraced e-commerce amid major disruptions to retail channels. In 2022, there were over 27 million e-commerce users in Canada, representing 75% of Canada’s population. This number is expected to increase to 77.6% in 2025.

Those of us who have gotten ahead of the Internet and online shopping are encouraged to use computers for a completely different reason. Look no further than the above statement about being treated like a criminal. We may never go back to the days when we were treated with respect in department stores (if they even exist by the end of this decade).

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Retailers are doing a good job of driving us out of their stores, which is negatively impacting the city’s economy. Examples: Having to pay to use the shopping cart; being asked to show your receipt when leaving the store; metal gates and alarms related to your purchase.

The pharmacy a few blocks away has a permanent security guard and locks shopping carts. It definitely annoys me to think that I have to “pay” to be able to shop with ease and then hand over money for the purchases.

Admittedly, if I don’t have a loose lunatic, the salesperson will unlock my cart. It is assumed that I will not “steal” the stroller if I “invest” my own money in its use. Interestingly, if someone was going to steal the cart – which happens often, if Calgary’s boulevards are any indication – paying $1 for it seems like a bargain.

The security guard is another matter. I went to the store at noon and was surprised to see a line of teenagers outside with a uniformed guard letting a few in at a time. He smiled at me and immediately waved. Someone my age probably won’t go crazy on the shelves, but everyone knows that teenagers can’t be trusted not to rob you. (Hear the note of sarcasm.)

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If I were a teenager, I would wave signs demanding a boycott of the company and protest in front of the store that treats me and my peers like thieves and a nuisance. At least such a protest would make sense, instead of waving posters about lands thousands of kilometers away. But I’ll let it go.

Meanwhile, the big box store demands to see my receipt before letting me leave after spending several hundred dollars on plants. The world simply shrugs at this and other insults to those of us who are not predisposed to stealing. Let’s call it a developed sense of morality.

Apparently the five-finger discount has become more than just an occasional problem, but any idiot could have predicted decades ago that when stores started stockpiling inventory and laying off employees, this would happen. It’s much easier to assume that your customers are the worst than to hire more employees. It is also cheaper and better financially.

None of this is news; none of this will probably ever change.

But that certainly explains why online shopping has become so popular, even in my demographic.

Catherine Ford is a regular columnist.

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