How Retailers Are Stemming The Tide Of Shoplifting

It’ll come as no shock to many of you reading that shoplifting has quickly become an epidemic. One of the most rapidly rising crimes across the whole of the UK (more on that shortly), and especially so across towns and cities countrywide, there’s little doubt that it’s fast becoming a major concern among the public and businesses alike.

That’s especially true for those working in retail, whether that’s in a small convenience store, or a multinational supermarket. Shoplifters, from petty offenders to those who make a dishonest living through the practice, eat away at profits and margins, which can spell trouble for those who’ve already faced issues with their finances.

In my senior position at a nationwide security firm, I’ve come to know this all too well, and seen a marked rise in the amount of retail businesses who’ve felt the pinch of shrinkage. Retailers, especially larger companies, are fighting back though.

With my latest piece, I’ll be exploring some of the more modern measures supermarkets arse employing, what results those new innovations are already seeing, and what they could mean for our crime-stricken retail sector going forwards.

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Unfavourable Odds: The Truth On Retail Crime Statistics

It’s first important to explore what the statistics are telling us. That’s the basis for any action – without the right supporting data, we aren’t able to truly make an informed decision about how to best protect our assets, property and people.

And suffice it to say that the latest statistics on shoplifting are massively, massively concerning. They coincide with the cost of living crisis and skyrocketing rates of inflation, but the numbers we’ve seen are astronomical.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the latest year of data (covering June 2023 ?through to May 2024) saw 443,995 separate incidents of shoplifting, a massive 30% rise over the same period of last year. That’s not just a shocking increase, either – it’s the largest for any kind of crime across that period.

London alone saw 62,077 of those incidents, with the UK’s capital facing one of the biggest uphill battles when it comes to the issues with shoplifting. Built-up areas and a constant stream of shoppers and onlookers provide the ideal cloak-and-dagger environment for shoplifters to slip away scot-free.

The British Retail Consortium’s latest report highlights just how stark that is. They estimate that there’s around 8 million instances of customer theft every year – several orders of magnitude above the police-reported figures I mentioned earlier – costing the retail sector just shy of ￡1 billion each year (￡953 million).

Our Group Chief Executive Officer here at Churchill recently published a piece on retail crime statistics that delves into much greater detail, but what I want to focus on here is how retailers are seeking to combat those exponentially increasing figures. Let’s break down a few of those key measures, and why I feel they’re revolutionary.

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Booze Under Wraps: Closing The Door To Shoplifters

If you’re particularly active across social media, there’s a chance you’ll already have seen what I think could be one of the biggest innovations in supermarket anti-theft measures in recent years. A Tesco supermarket in the London Borough of Ealing installed an automated door system to protect the high value alcohol – among the first of its kind in the UK.

In a nutshell, a customer will approach the doors (that act as a cabinet for the supermarket’s sealed-away items), and press a button to open it. There’s then a ten second waiting period – the crux in deterring shoplifters and those who’ve got an interest in being in and out with minimal attention – before the door opens, and you’re able to get the items you need.

The cabinet utilises intelligent tech to monitor stock levels automatically, and even detect when a customer has taken an item out of the cabinet. It’s the latest in a long string of AI advancements that have started to seep into the security sector, and to ultimately make the measures we see across sites more robust.

It’s been met with a mixed response, with some viewing it as “dystopian” or perhaps a “step too far”, while others view it as a necessary step in reducing the amount of theft that’s plaguing the retail sector. I’m personally a fan of it, and I feel it’s not too far a step from the current offerings that we have at supermarkets like “scan and go” systems and self-checkouts.

There’s also scope to expand on what we’re starting to see the early stages of in the UK’s capital. The developer of the technology, Indyme, has already started to integrate the cabinet (dubbed a “Freedom Case”) with other tech that many of us see every day, including facial recognition, mobile apps, and QR codes.

This then ties the customer to their purchase, further deterring shoplifters who are naturally looking to make a swift and fuss-free exit. The arguments against the technology often revolve around a dim view of the ever-increasing presence of AI, but given its positive impacts, I feel it’s a necessary concession to make.

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Barrier To Exit: Receipt Scanners Are A New Addition

One of the more ingrained innovations I’ve sought to mention here, receipt scanners aren’t a hugely new innovation. They were spotted earlier in the year in major cities like Manchester and London, to the chagrin of confused shoppers and locals. Those aren’t accidental placements, either – they were deployed in neighbourhoods that saw substantial issues with shoplifting.

Their purpose is quite self-explanatory. You’ll simply need to scan your proof of purchase – usually your receipt, but it could also be a smartphone notification or ticket – to exit the shop. That sounds simple in practice, but the reality is often far from it.

The truth of the matter is that a receipt is often at the very back of most shoppers’ minds. Whether they’re dashing home after a busy day at work, running late for a public transport connection, or simply distracted by their children or other commitments, receipts are often left behind.

This can then create an issue, especially if it’s during a busy period. Shoppers sans receipts will find themselves stuck behind a barrier, waiting for a security officer to check for proof of purchase, or to open the gates manually.

I feel this is one of those moments where the tech is still in its early days, and there’s kinks and issues that will quickly – and necessarily – ironed out as the tech becomes more commonplace. We’re still a long way away from seeing these in our major supermarkets, but for smaller stores (think “Extra” or “Express” shops) it could be the way to truly stop shoplifters in their tracks.

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Casing The Joint: The Prevalence Of Security Cases, Tags & Netting

There’s little doubt that, if you’ve been in a major supermarket in recent weeks, you’ll have seen an increased presence of security measures on individual products. Visit a smaller store, or one that’s on the high street of one of the UK’s growing list of shoplifting hotbeds, and that’s even more noticeable.

Products that have proven to be key targets for thieves – such as raw meat, for which there’s long been a booming black market in communities countrywide – are now starting to be confined to plastic security cases, or electronically tagged with RFID chips. Steaks and salmon are wrapped up in wire with a large, visible tag covering the back, for instance.

They’re not the only product to have gotten that kind of treatment, either. It’ll no doubt surprise you to learn that olive oil has rapidly become a target for thieves, resulting in the security tags we’d normally see crowning a bottle of vodka or expensive wine now adorning an expensive Italian oil.

I know I was surprised to learn that, but digging into the statistics showed me why, and the reason behind that decision. With inflation rates still uncertain at best, olive oil has witnessed the highest rise out of an food product – up by 38% on average, according to the ONS’ Shopping Comparison tool.

That increased focus on security for individual products has also brought with it a new wave of protective measures for alcohol. Meshing and netting around the more expensive spirits, and new security caps that cover the whole neck of a bottle of wine are quickly becoming the norm in our supermarkets.

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Damning Indictment Or Design Innovation?

All of these new technological innovations – and those that are still in development – do beg a burning question, however. Are these a comment on our society and the issues we’re facing with a worsening cost of living crisis, or are they just the way our retail sector is headed in the modern era?

I think it’s both, in all honesty. Sometimes, it’s situations like the one we find ourselves in that spur on the ideas and the innovations that prompt a new wave of technology, but equally, it’s disheartening that we’ve gotten to this point.

From a security standpoint, it’s entirely understandable that retailers are looking to more pioneering methods of keeping shoppers, staff and stock safe and secure. Businesses naturally want to protect both the bottom line and the people they serve, and shoplifters threaten both of those substantially.

However, the only way we’re likely to see a meaningful change is through concerted efforts. As interest rates and inflation fall from the insurmountable heights we saw back in 2022 and 2023, we’ll naturally see the increased figures in shoplifting decline too.

It’s a change that’ll be long in the making, but it’s doubtless one that has to happen. And while these new measures in supermarkets herald a new dawn in security tech, they’ll soon become just another protective measure rather than a necessity.