High technology against shoplifters

In May and June, a serial shoplifter posing as a worker wearing high-visibility gear repeatedly entered a Boots store in Glasgow and stole a large holdall containing expensive perfumes, aftershave lotions, hairdryers , and hair straighteners. The thief managed to steal thousands of pounds worth of items.

This is a clear example of a worsening problem. Theft has been a scourge for the retail sector since high inflation eroded consumer purchasing power following the pandemic.

Shoplifting in the UK hit a record £2.2 billion last year, with rising crime rates, violence, and abuse against staff, according to industry data released in January. In the US, shoplifting was the only reported crime with a higher rate in 2024 than in 2023, up 14% , according to a study of 25 US cities by the research group Council on Criminal Justice.

Faced with an intensifying crisis, retailers are fighting back. On both sides of the Atlantic, they are equipping themselves with an arsenal of sophisticated anti-theft measures to prevent shoplifting , catch offenders, and keep customers and employees safe.

British businesses spent £1.8 billion last year on measures such as closed-circuit television (CCTV), more security personnel, anti-theft devices and body cameras , up from £1.2 billion the year before, according to the British Retail Consortium, which represents the sector.

Latest technology

Some new measures sound like something out of a science fiction book. Checkouts that once simply scanned barcodes are now equipped with computer vision, a form of AI that can identify products by their shape, color, and packaging , to combat the trick of slapping cheaper barcodes on expensive goods. Weighed shelves in supermarkets record what's normal in a store, and staff receive alerts if more product is moved from that shelf than usual.

Parking cameras scan not only license plates but also the colors, scratches, and dents on each vehicle , alerting staff to potential thefts elsewhere. Smart surveillance, including facial recognition to detect repeat offenders, is becoming increasingly common.

Ryan Clark, founder and CEO of Port Glasgow-based security firm Safer Group , says major retailers are "taking theft very seriously... they're investing in combating it, and I think we'll start to see that reflected in the numbers."

For many retailers, new technologies are already generating tangible benefits. Sam's Club , a US-based membership-only department store chain owned by Walmart , says that implementing cameras that scan shopping carts for unpaid merchandise has increased detection of such items by 17% compared to manual checks.

But the problem is far from solved. The challenge goes beyond simply catching thieves; they must balance security with customer experience and privacy. They must also weigh the cost of these interventions against the losses from theft.

The industry is polarized regarding how visible its loss prevention strategies should be, explains Emmeline Taylor, a professor of criminology at City St George's, University of London. "Some stores want the monitors visible in the aisles, while others are concerned about disturbing their customers by suggesting they're pointing fingers at everyone, and integrate their loss prevention strategies in a hidden way into the infrastructure."

The emergence of new technologies risks creating an "arms race," says criminologist Martin Gill, whose consultancy Perpetuity uses prolific former shoplifters to test retailers' defenses. Once one side gains the upper hand, the other adapts, he says. "While technologies have evolved and changed, criminals are constantly testing them."

As technological solutions evolve, a growing number of companies have emerged with innovations to help reduce retail crime.

Safer Group, for example, has developed a small tower-like security pod that can be installed in store aisles or parking lots and uses a combination of motion sensors, cameras, and alarms to detect theft or intrusion. The pods, used by major UK grocery chains such as Morrisons and Tesco , send alerts to Safer Group's control room when activity is detected, and the agency can deploy its response team and coordinate with police, as well as alert store staff.

Artificial intelligence

Other companies are relying on new data collection techniques and AI . One example is New Zealand-based Auror , which is modernizing and digitizing crime reporting in retail. Its platform is used in more than 45,000 retail locations across Australia, New Zealand, North America, and the UK, among other companies such as Walmart, Coles, Marks & Spencer, and BP.

Nick McDonnell, director of trust and safety at Auror, explains that retailers often collect information about potential crimes in their stores in disjointed ways, making it difficult to track patterns. "These methods often involve the use of spreadsheets, USB sticks, public in-store walls of shame, and unofficial cross-store chat groups, which are often unsecured and pose privacy concerns," he says. Auror, on the other hand, allows retailers to "record information in a consistent, structured, secure, and privacy-enhancing way after these events occur," he adds, which can then be shared with law enforcement.

Holland & Barrett, a wellness chain with more than 1,000 stores across the UK and Europe, began working with Auror in February last year to connect repeat offenders with what were previously considered isolated incidents. The number of reported cases soared by 210% at that time, according to UK and Ireland CEO Anthony Houghton, who admits the chain was unwittingly underreporting incidents before then.

Veesion, for its part, uses machine learning to detect suspicious body movements, such as a customer tucking something into their coat or opening products. This technology, used by more than 5,000 stores in over 25 countries, can help reduce shoplifting by up to 60%, according to Veesion, founded in 2018 by three former data science students.

Hamza Saleem, Veesion's senior account executive for the UK and US, says that "many of our retailers are independent," such as Budgens, Nisa, and Londis neighborhood stores, as well as toy and book stores. "They say shoplifting is a serious problem and is increasing, but they also can't afford to have permanent security guards."

Some security companies have developed methods to prevent inventory loss at the point of sale. NCR Voyix's Halo Checkout, for example, uses computer vision to instantly itemize the items in a shopping cart.

Retailers often implement several of these technologies simultaneously, taking a multi-layered approach to retail security.

British appliance and gadget company Currys, with 727 stores in six countries, has installed monitors showing live images of people in high-risk stores, indicating active surveillance to deter shoplifting.

It also uses robust security clamps for products on display, such as laptops. "We have codes that allow us to track the product," says store manager Matthew Speight.

Additionally, Currys has been testing a "one-door" policy for larger stores with multiple entrances, with preliminary results indicating a halving of incidents of abuse, aggression, and assault. The company claims to have recorded a 58% year-over-year reduction in assault incidents during March and April.

This month, it is rolling out Auror technology across all its UK and Irish stores, following a 12-week trial across two stores that identified 10 repeat offenders, made three arrests, and issued prohibition orders, as well as preventing £24,000 in thefts thanks to shared intelligence.

Despite significant investments in anti-theft measures, corporate results in the US show mixed results.

Home Depot stated in its latest quarterly report that inventory reduction has improved for six consecutive quarters. "We're not where we want to be, but we're making great progress. And we know the external environment isn't getting any easier, but our employees are improving," Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail told analysts.

At Target , CEO Brian Cornell told analysts that "progress on inventory reduction was another bright spot in the quarter as rates continue to moderate from the extreme levels of 2022 and 2023."

However, discount chains Five Below and Dollar Tree did not report any improvement in sales.

The stakes are high. Frustration with immobilized products is driving shoppers away from stores , and nearly 20% of U.S. customers who encounter such items choose to shop online, according to market research firm Numerator.

Facial recognition

The rush to implement new security technologies is not without risks, especially facial recognition. Earlier this year, a shopper was escorted out of two Home Bargains stores without explanation. She later discovered her photo had been circulated between stores after being falsely accused of stealing £10 worth of toilet paper. The company declined to comment.

"Once you're on that list, it's pretty hard to get off, so I think it offers a good learning point for retailers," Taylor says, adding that companies and data regulators should develop a code of practice.

"Technology has improved (initially, there was talk that the algorithms were inherently biased based on gender and race), but where there are still shortcomings is in who maintains the database and what happens when an alert is received."

Israel-based Corsight AI explains that its clients include retailers and shopping malls like the massive Mall of America in Minneapolis, as well as governments and militaries. "We only need 50 pixels between the ears to provide facial recognition," says Rob Watts, president and chief strategy officer of Corsight AI.

Watts acknowledges that facial recognition has a history of misidentifying dark-skinned people, a problem he claims Corsight has resolved. He adds that his company also has rigorous standards for protecting privacy. Its chief privacy officer is Tony Porter, a former UK government surveillance commissioner.

"I absolutely don't want to live in an Orwellian society," Watts says. "But you have to use it for the right reasons, as a force for good."

Other retail technology companies avoid recognizing faces, gait, or other identifying characteristics of store visitors. Black.ai, whose clients include Walmart and Australia's Woolworths, claims to detect patterns associated with certain physical behaviors and send alerts to store staff. Faces captured on camera appear blurred.

Despite false positives and privacy concerns, City St George's Taylor explains that audiovisual and surveillance technologies tend to quickly become routine after encountering initial resistance. "If you go back to when CCTV cameras were being rolled out across the UK in the early 1990s, everyone was outraged. Now, if a crime occurs and there are no CCTV cameras, everyone is outraged. We have the ability to normalize what we initially considered invasive," he says, adding that human intervention in assessing a situation remains crucial.

Retailers also explain that they prioritize staff safety over product protection. "I can replace products, but I can't replace a person," says Houghton of Holland & Barrett.

British supermarket chain Sainsbury's recently told analysts that "organized crime drives a lot of in-store shrink or shoplifting. Our priority is protecting our employees. After that, it's really about finding the balance between protecting our inventory from theft and reducing customer convenience."

The evolution of technology, especially in the era of AI, can also deter consumers despite the potential benefits.

Tesco and Sainsbury's shoppers recently mocked self-checkout cameras on social media, which show a live replay of the item without scanning it. Some say it bears a striking resemblance to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology used in football.

Meanwhile, Safer Group's "pods" have been described online as a "robocop" security system due to their striking appearance. Founder Clark says they're typically only used in stores where shoplifting is a serious problem, and overall, "consumer feedback tends to be very positive," especially among children.

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