The 10 Most Stolen Items at Idaho Walmart Stores Revealed

Doing your best to combat shoplifting is nothing new to massive big box retailers like Target and Walmart. Sadly, the increased use of self checkouts made this particular petty crime easier to get away with. 

That’s why these major brands have recently made changes to cut down on the amount people were stealing by going through self checkout. While Target seemed to imply that changing their self checkout lanes to “10 items or fewer” this spring had more to do with the speed of the transaction than shoplifting, a few months later they started using new technology. According to the USA Today, Target has started using something called Truscan. The software not only tells the shopper when an item hasn’t been scanned correctly, it helps the store track repeat offenders. 

READ MORE: All 26 Idaho Walmarts Are Closing on the Same Day This November

According to a company called Digimarc, Walmart has started using their invisible barcodes on their Great Value brand products. Those barcodes, paired with Digimarc’s image-based scanners, helped Walmart speed up self checkout transactions, since  shoppers don’t have to search for barcodes on the packaging. That was the goal, but Daily Mail explains that it has helped cut down on shoplifting, too. They explain that if the product with a bar is waved over the self checkout to make it look like it’s being scanned when it's not, the cameras will pick it up and record it for payment anyway. 

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Anywhere improvement is a step in the right direction for Walmart, which owns 26 stores in Idaho. According to Kiosk Industry, Walmart lost $6.5 billion to retail theft last year. 

Shoplifting in Idaho At a Glance

Idaho likely contributed to that figure in some way, shape or form. According to the 2023 Crime in Idaho Report, more than 30% of all larceny/theft offenses were shoplifting. Department and discount stores were hit the hardest, followed by grocery stores and convenience stores.

We couldn’t find an Idaho law that specifically spells out the punishment for shoplifting, but if you’re busted making a five-finger discount  you could be charged with petit theft, willful concealment of goods or grand theft (depending on the value of what you stole.) Depending on what you’re charged with, you could face fines from $1,000-$5,000 or anywhere from six months up to twenty years in jail. No matter how tough times are, it’s just not worth it. 

What Items Are Most Commonly Stolen from Idaho Walmart Stores?

The big-box retailer is already known for having some of the lowest prices on everything from essential groceries to popular electronics, but they’re still a target for shoplifters. “Aisle of Shame” examined news articles and crowdsourced information on sites like Reddit and Quora from people who work or have worked at Walmart stores. This is what they’ve discovered.