How about a retina scan?

For now, we'll stick with the smartphone solution.

Today’s newsletter is about Walmart and almost everyone who shops at there—or really, almost anywhere. It goes like this:

First, things were easy.

Then, they got hard.

Now, maybe they’ll get a bit easier—but not as easy as they once were.

Come to think of it, this could apply to a lot of things. But it’s an apt description of the plan Walmart is testing that could allow its most loyal customers—that is, members of the Walmart+ loyalty program, it seems—to fix a problem that people have been complaining about at many big retailers recently.

You’ve probably dealt with it yourself: It’s the idea that ordinary household products wind up locked behind anti-theft display cases, which puts you as the customer in a position of having to track down and wait for a store associate just to make a simple purchase.

Reader, this is not how we were meant to buy laundry detergent or deodorant or those little adapters to use the many smartphone chargers you’ve accumulated over the years on your new, slightly differently configured smartphone.

And I don’t think people were intended to have to comparison shop for say, constipation relief medicines, while a store associate waits behind them to lock the case up again.

Yet it’s the not-exactly-graceful solution many retailers have come up with for the problem they euphemistically call “shrink,” and that most of us call “shoplifting” or “theft,” and for that matter, “ridiculously annoying.”

According to Bloomberg, here’s Walmart idea: technology that would allow people to open locks on merchandise display cases using their smartphones.

Walmart has gone so far as to roll out a test version of the program, letting its employees to use the technology in a few hundred stores, Bloomberg reported, adding that the company “has discussed extending mobile unlocking to Walmart+ loyalty members.”

I asked Walmart for comment on the report. I’ll update this if I hear back.

For now, let’s zoom out. I think my three-part thematic introduction to this article holds up.

• Once upon a time, most of us could simply buy things off the shelf.

• Then, companies were caught flat-footed as shoplifting became a major issue, and their response pleased nobody.

• Now, Walmart—and, for that matter, almost every company out there—has the chance to solve that customer problem, and in a way that benefits their most loyal customers the most.

• The technology doesn’t seem that complicated. Plus, Walmart would have a record of every customer who used the technology to open its cases.

So, let’s assume this works. Fast-forward a few more years, and we might be at the point where you don’t even need to actively do anything as a customer.

Maybe the presence of your phone would be enough, or else you’d just submit to a simple, don’t-mind-me retina scan every time you want to open a display case to buy a package of razors.

Actually, let’s slow down our extrapolation. My ample-to-begin-with-and-growing “privacy first!” streak doesn’t love it if we get to that point.

But an interim step, in which at least the most loyal customers out there might be able to overcome the kind of hassle we’ve nearly become inured to in modern society, with only a little bit of effort?

I guess that makes more sense.

No, we’re not going back to the way things were. Still, maybe the future doesn’t have to be quite as bleak as the present.

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7 other things

• In Syria’s former ‘slaughterhouse’ prison, a desperate hunt for the disappeared. Families searching Sednaya prison feared that they would not learn the fate of their missing loved ones — and that so much of what happened there may never be known. (Washington Post)

• The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted while being led into court Tuesday as new details emerged about his possible motivation behind the ambush. At the time of his arrest, Mangione was carrying a handwritten document expressing anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed and power. Also: 1-star McDonald’s reviews and sympathetic merch: Companies try to stop online support for CEO killer suspect. (AP; CNN)

• Here's the full text of Mangione’s manifesto. For some reason, the major / mainstream media hasn't published it so far, but it's out there, so I think people can read it for themselves. (Ken Klippenstein)

• Holiday shopping is expected to reach record levels this year. But a growing share of those purchases will be sent back. Returns in 2024 are expected to amount to 17% of all merchandise sales, totaling $890 billion in returned goods, according to a new report by the National Retail Federation and return management company Happy Returns. That’s up from a return rate of about 15% of total U.S. retail sales, or $743 billion in returned goods, in 2023. (NBC News)

• Winter storms can trigger warnings, watches and advisories. What do they all mean? (USA Today)

• Millions of Americans who are behind on their student debt may face a financial shock next year: The federal government is expected to start collecting on defaulted loans for the first time since payments were paused during the pandemic. That process can involve garnishing wages, tax refunds, and Social Security benefits, along with formal legal proceedings. (Yahoo News)

• A ferocious wildfire fanned by strong winds burned through Malibu, Calif. on Tuesday, destroying homes, triggering power outages and forcing thousands to evacuate along the coast in the dark while firefighters struggled to contain the flames. The eastern half of Malibu remained under an evacuation order Tuesday. The rest of the city and portions of unincorporated Los Angeles County were under an evacuation warning affecting roughly 20,000 people. (LA Times)

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Thanks for reading. Photo by Evan Wise on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this Inc.com. See you in the comments!