Target has just announced a big change to the way their self-checkouts operate. According to FOX Business, their stores will now have a limit of 10 items for self-checkout.

Some people are accusing the stores of doing this due to theft being on the rise, but Target insists that’s not the reason. Nevertheless, gone are the days where you can have a cart full of items and scan them yourself.

There has been a rise in theft over the years, and this method of handling self-checkout lanes allows stores to keep an eye on what’s being scanned — or not.

According to Business Insider, in 2023, Target reported nearly $500 million in shrink-related losses compared to the previous year. The timing of this new policy aligns with the fact that they might be trying to thwart some of that, despite them saying otherwise.

Target insists that the new self-checkout rule is simply to help customers get in and out of the store more smoothly.

Social media has been abuzz about this new policy.

“Target is turning into Walmart. Sixteen lanes. One cashier. Mile-long line for self-checkout. Why?!” one person says.

One shopper says a massive change has already been implemented at her local Target: “The Target I live near completely got rid of self checkout.” She took to Reddit to post a picture of the empty space where self-checkout once stood.

While some people likely do go through self-checkout to leave out some items on “accident,” most go through self-checkout so they don’t have to have any human interaction, but now if they have more than 10 items, they will no longer be able to do so.

See, this is why we can’t have nice things.