Why Instacart and Spark delivery workers avoid stores with locked-up merchandise: report

Stores that have locked up merchandise such as toothpaste and underwear because of rampant retail theft have left many customers frustrated — but now delivery workers have started avoiding the businesses, according to a report.

Delivery workers for apps like Instacart and Walmarts Spark have to fulfill in-store orders on a deadline — so they dont have time to push a button and wait for employee assistance to buy some soap, Business Insider reported.

“Drivers make money per order, not per hour, so every second counts for us,” an Ohio-based shopper working for Spark told Business Insider.

The Spark worker said he once waited 10 minutes for an employee to unlock a cabinet holding baby formula — a wait time that could hurt their chances of getting a good tip.

Meanwhile, an Idaho-based Spark shopper reportedly got so fed-up with waiting for someone to unlock the product that they “ended up ripping the cardboard of the packaging and taking [it] off the hook.” 

The shopper was fulfilling an order that included perishable groceries and worried that Walmart might cancel the order if they took too long — forcing them to lose out on pay.

“I really didn’t want to just wait forever for someone to finally come unlock the thing,” the Spark shopper told Business Insider.

A Nevada-based shopper for Instacart told Business Insider the conditions have gotten so bad that they refuse to take orders from a local Walgreens that is known to lock up a lot of items.

An Instacart spokesperson told The Post that shoppers can use the message tool to text customers and let them know if they are facing delays.

The shoppers base pay is not affected by how long an order takes, the spokesperson added.

Retail theft has plagued many businesses since the pandemic, forcing retailers to take the drastic measures of locking up everyday items. 

Retailers lost $121.6 billion to retail theft in 2023 and they are projected to lose up to $150 billion in 2026, according to Capital One Shopping Research. 

Losses spiked during the pandemic, when retail sales revenue lost to theft jumped from $61.7 billion in 2019 to $90.8 billion in 2020, according to Capital One data.

The shopping obstacle has led some customers to pivot to e-retailers like Amazon, where the click of a button doesnt mean waiting 20 minutes for a toothbrush. 

A CVS spokesperson said merchandise is locked up based on factors like the rate of theft for each specific product and store location.

Its important that we keep products in stock and available for our customers to purchase, a CVS spokesperson told The Post in a statement. We utilize a variety of different measures to deter or prevent theft and locking a product is a measure of last resort.

A Walmart spokesperson told The Post that some products are subject to additional security on a store-by-store basis.