British retailer Co-op reports record losses from shoplifting

Managing director of British supermarket chain Co-op Food Matt Hood reported about the record losses that the chain has suffered from thefts from stores (shoplifting) since the beginning of this year. According to him, losses from theft in the first half of the year amounted to £33 million ($41 million). The number of such incidents increased over the year by 35%, to 175 thousand, that is, approximately a thousand thefts daily.

Mr. Hood said that if previously shoplifters stole expensive goods from stores, such as alcohol and tobacco products, now we are talking about ordinary food products – meat, confectionery, baby food, etc. It was previously reported that Co-op has become place even relatively inexpensive goods in boxes with anti-vandal protection and a GPS tag for tracking, for example, steaks costing up to £10 ($12). Mr. Hood noted that the chain is trying to maintain relatively low prices in the face of rising living costs. Food inflation in the UK in August amounted to 13.6% in annual terms.

At the same time, Mr. Hood stated the need to combat such thefts: in his opinion, the police should respond more actively to such cases, as well as take measures to prevent them. Otherwise, in his opinion, people get the feeling that this is a crime that does not entail any consequences. The retailer itself has already invested £200 million in AI-equipped cameras, as well as strengthening store security.

In conditions of rising prices, the growth of shoplifting They say in different regions – in the USA, Australia, Europe, including Russia. The National Retail Federation reported that thefts cost U.S. retailers a total of $100 billion last year.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya