- 68% of shoppers say theft has become a “normalised” behaviour, with customers now expecting shoplifting to take place in-store
- 28% have witnessed theft of everyday essentials in-store, while 45% have seen goods being "stolen to order"
- 60% of shoppers believe physical retail suffers from blind spots, with a further 55% saying retailers don’t have full visibility of what is happening inside their stores
Such is the prevalence of rising retail crime that shoppers are becoming increasingly desensitised to shoplifting, viewing incidents of theft in-store as “normal” shopping behaviour, according to new research from Storewide Active Intelligence (SAI).
With ONS data showing that retailers reported 509,566 shoplifting offences in the past year, original research of 1,000 UK shoppers by SAI reveals that seven in ten (68 per cent) now view theft as a “normalised” behaviour and expect shoplifting to take place in-store.
And, as retail’s shoplifting scourge shows no sign of easing, more than one in ten (12 per cent) shoppers now feel “indifferent” to witnessing crime when shopping in bricks-and-mortar locations.
Convenience and grocery remain top targets for theft
With the average shopper witnessing four incidents of theft in-store each year, six in ten (61 per cent) shoppers polled by SAI have noticed more incidents of crime in-store in the last 12 months, rising to 72 per cent of Gen Z.
Convenience and grocery stores are where customers now notice the most incidents of theft, averaging five instances in the last 12 months. Gen Z shoppers witnessed even more shoplifting incidents than the average shopper (seven vs five instances), as did higher earners, who reported seeing more than double number of crime incidents compared to the average shopper (10 vs five) over the past year.
Shoplifting of everyday essentials and theft to order on the rise
As cost-of-living pressures continue, over a quarter (28 per cent) of UK shoppers say they have witnessed theft of everyday essentials, such as groceries, baby supplies and basic healthcare items, while over a fifth (21 per cent) have witnessed big-ticket items being stolen.
Organised crime is also becoming more prevalent and visible to a growing number of customers who have witnessed “theft to order”.
Two thirds (65 per cent) of consumers say organised retail crime has worsened in the last year, and almost half (45 per cent) say they have witnessed goods seemingly being stolen to order in-store, rising to 58 per cent among Gen Zs and Millennials.
Retail crime remains undetected in-store
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimates that retailers have invested over £5 billion in the last five years on improved security measures, from CCTV to security staff. However, SAI’s research warns that the increasing normalisation of theft among shoppers highlights a core visibility gap in physical retail, meaning many incidents still go undetected, unreported or unaddressed.
“Growing shopper indifference towards retail crime isn’t just a worrying trend – it goes beyond a simple behavioural or consumer mindset shift,” said Som Sinha, CEO of SAI. “This indifference to shoplifting is a symptom of the scale of the retail crime epidemic, which risks being left unchecked due to bricks-and-mortar data gaps.”
“When theft becomes expected, it also becomes overlooked, exposing the limits of traditional, reactive loss prevention and surveillance,” he added. “Retailers need to move from passive observation to real-time prevention to change the underlying cause of shoplifting and materially evolve how retail crime is fought in the longer-term.”
Six in 10 (60 per cent) shoppers say stores suffer from blind spots, adding to the growing challenges for retailers fighting shrink, with a further 55 per cent saying retail businesses don’t have full visibility of what is happening inside their stores. Meanwhile, over half (56 per cent) believe that, even when tech is deployed, it often feels like no one is actively monitoring or managing what’s happening in-store.