Although persistent criminals might find a way to deactivate this feature, it sounds like Home Depot is hoping that will be just enough trouble to convince most criminals to look for easier targets somewhere else.
While many stores put high value items in locked display cases, Home Depot felt that this tactic would negatively affect sales, so they partnered with suppliers to add an internal kill switch. One thief was recently arrested after stealing more than $17,000 worth of power tools from Home Depot.
To combat this, Home Depot is starting to sell power tools that will not work unless they are activated at the checkout counter.Īccording to a 2020 survey in the US, “organized retail crime” cost retailers $719,548 per $1 billion dollars in revenue. Shoplifting is a major problem for many brick-and-mortar retail stores, and it seems that stealing and then selling power tools is a lucrative enterprise for some criminals.
