Co-op sees rise in shoplifting – Startups.co.uk

The epidemic of shoplifting is spreading across the UK. Thefts from shops are at an all-time high, prompting retailers to invest more in security and calls for tougher sentences for violent offenders.

But despite speculation about household desperation amid the cost of living crisissupermarket giant Co-op points the finger at organised criminal gangs.

The impact of shoplifting on UK supermarkets

Paul Gerrard, the Co-op’s director of public affairs, said crime had increased. increased by 44%while violence and abuse increased by 35%.

““That level of crime in our stores is 1,000 incidents a day,” he said. “That’s the highest level we’ve ever seen, the level of abuse is at the highest level we’ve ever seen and the violence is down slightly in 2024, but it’s still a very high level.”

The Boss of Iceland Richard Walker has also called for changes to data protection laws to allow staff to share photos of shoplifters on WhatsApp groups, adding that he would take full responsibility for staff who faced legal consequences for sharing this information.

Smaller stores have also been hit hard by shoplifting, with 57% of companies more than £250 in the past year, while 16% said they lost between £1,000 and £5,000. The ACS Crime Report 2024 also revealed that 5.6 million shoplifters were committed in convenience stores last year.

Co-op blames organised crime for rise in shoplifting

While some argue that the increase in shoplifting is a result of desperation over the current cost of living crisis, Gerrard argues that organizational crime is the primary cause of this dramatic increase.

“There have always been people who steal to make ends meet and you could argue that this happens more often in times of cost of living crisis, but that is not the cause of the 44% increase,” he noted.

“What drives it is people stealing to be able to order large quantities, people coming into our stores with wheelie bins, people coming into our stores with construction bags to steal the entire candy section, the entire liquor section, the entire meat section.”

Gerrard also said employees were threatened and attacked when they tried to stop shoplifters, sometimes with weapons such as a knife or a syringe.

““I’ve had colleagues attacked with a medieval club. We’ve had colleagues lose an eye or colleagues miscarry. This is a level of violence, abuse and threats that no one in retail has ever seen before,” he said.

How government and industry tackle retail theft

The government has taken steps to tackle violent shoplifters. In April 2024, it announced that it would invest £55.5 million in facial recognition technology. This includes £4m for bespoke mobile units with live facial recognition that can be used in busy areas to identify offenders. It also announced a new Crime Bill in July 2024, which would see tougher consequences for “low value” thefts of goods worth less than £200.

Meanwhile, retailers have also come together to prevent shoplifting and employee abuse by Project Pegasus – a partnership between 13 shops on the high street to support local police in identifying organised crime groups operating in the area. This includes providing CCTV footage to police for facial recognition checks.

Supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Co-op have also taken matters into their own hands by using technology.

Both Co-op and Sainsbury’s have used artificial intelligence (AI) technology in their self-service machines to better monitor checkouts and make it harder for shoplifters to cheat self-checkouts. Meanwhile, Tesco began adding security tags to shopping baskets to tackle its own shoplifting problem.

With shoplifting incidents reaching unprecedented levels in the UK, retailers large and small, and the government, are stepping up their efforts to combat incidents and protect staff. Through the use of advanced technology, increased security measures and initiatives such as Project Pegasus, the fight against organised crime and theft in retail continues.