Price Look-Up (PLU) Fraud
A common tactic used by bad actors involves entering lower-priced product look-up (PLU) codes at self-checkout. Digimarc digital watermarks integrate seamlessly with weight-based and variable product codes, triggering overrides only when the entered code doesn’t match the data in the digital watermark. This ensures accurate pricing at checkout without disrupting the customer experience.
Barcode Tampering
Traditional UPC barcodes are easy to spot—and easy to conceal—in self-checkout environments. In contrast, Digimarc digital watermarks are covert and embedded throughout the packaging, making them highly resistant to manual tampering, such as barcode swapping, covering, or sweethearting.
Disruption to Self-Checkout
Theft has forced many retailers to reduce self-checkout options or implement stricter security measures that compromise customer convenience. Digimarc digital watermarks provide an effective anti-theft solution that integrates seamlessly with existing hardware, allowing retailers to fulfill their promise of a convenient, customer-friendly self-checkout experience.
Complementary Functionality
Unlike traditional UPC barcodes, which are “always on” and linked to a fixed unit price, Digimarc digital watermarks integrate seamlessly with weight-based and other variable product codes, triggering code overrides only when necessary.
Covert Security
Thanks to their covert nature, Digimarc digital watermarks offer flexible deployment across various packaging types. They are easily detectable by checkout scanners yet resistant to concealment attempts—a tactic commonly used to bypass traditional barcodes at checkout.
New Data Insights
Digimarc digital watermarks enable retailers to not only prevent self-checkout fraud but also measure its frequency, providing insights into the scale of the issue and guiding further security enhancements and optimizations.
Easy Implementation
Digimarc watermarking software integrates seamlessly with existing package design tools without disrupting current print processes, while Digimarc detection software is compatible with most common scanning systems.
