Anecdotal, but it seemed like 80% of the time it was the poorer folks doing this shit. Have a sister with 4 kids, super close to welfare level and her and her kids do this shit (mostly her kids do this and she just lets them). Shes just tired and inattentive all the time. What I’ve noticed gets her attention is when a store clerk or other customer calls them out and shames them.
So public shaming may help the problem, but in today’s world some of these people may turn rabid Mama bear on you. Some stores make you count items on hangers going in and then going out. That actually might work. But I’d rather see societal behavior change instead.
Side note: My sister has worked years of retail before so no idea how tf she does this.