Shoplifting, once an annoying, trivial, seemingly victimless crime, appears to have reached record levels with more than a half million offences being recorded annually.
Behind the headline-grabbing scenes outside major High Street chains, is a daily recognition that small, independent shops are living with an acceptance that what we used to describe as pilfering, shrinkage or something “petty” is now a daily occurrence with an entirely disproportionate effect on livelihoods.
More than half of those affected report losing over £1,000 in two years, not a huge amount but enough to justify higher prices for consumers and mental strain on owners, especially when one considers the 11 per cent of them we’re told are losing more than £10,000.
And ordinary consumers can be rightly considered secondary victims. Think of the times you’ve bought brass couplings at the DIY store oblivious of the fact that the plastic bag had been torn and the olives were missing.
Or even the absurd but nonetheless real theft of mini cheeses, be they bitesize Cheddar or Edam snacks and sold six at a time in little nets. Or five by the time they’re unpacked at home. Bizarre but true.
They’re as easy to swipe as the SD cards, USB sticks, keyrings and batteries that seem to disappear every day. Not to mention the Lego mini figures that, like a scene from Toy Story, seem to find a way out of the box on their own.
We’re only a few months out of the so-called Winter of Action which saw 613 town centres targeted by multiple police forces, an initiative that came in the back of the likes of the 2023 Retail Crime Action Plan and Operation Pegasus, which saw intelligence sharing via private-public partnerships, and the use of facial recognition to target repeat offenders.
A lot of bright retail minds have been vocal on this just lately and hats off to Iceland boss Lord Walker for offering a job to the Waitrose worker sacked after confronting a shoplifter.
But, behind the slew of initiatives opening up in an increasingly hi-tech world to help shopkeepers, the answer may lie embedded within the SDGs themselves, particularly Goal 16 which reads:
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Take that in concert with the European Crime Prevention Network’s recommended solutions and, in particular, the human touch as the best initial deterrent. That includes the “Meet and Greet” with its so-call “three-to-five second rule” where staff greet every customer, signalling instant recognition and awareness.
Then there’s the element of Proactive Assistance which sees staff approach customers loitering in high-risk aisles with a friendly offer of help, having stripped away any element of anonymity.
Not every business can afford AI-controlled surveillance or two Jason Stathams on the door with pepper spray. But as all of our grandparents used to say: politeness costs nothing.
True enough, but these days it may just pay substantial dividends as well.
