// M&S and Co-op limit the number of high-value items on supermarket shelves to deter shoplifters
// Both retailers say the security measure is down to individual stores to implement
Supermarkets have reduced the number of high-value products on display in certain stores to discourage the increasing number of shoplifters amid the cost-of-living crisis.
M&S has limited the number of steaks on shelves in some of its shops, while Co-op has done the same for items such as jars of coffee.
According to The Times, the move is to help protect staff from possible violent interactions with thieves and is up to individual stores to arrange.
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“Like many other retailers, in certain stores where there have been high incidences of theft, we will sometimes limit the number of higher-value items that are on display to deter shoplifters and keep our colleagues and customers safe,” M&S told the publication.
“If a customer wants more of a particular item than is displayed on the shelf, our colleagues are always on hand to help.”
Meanwhile, an image inside an unidentified Co-op shop of dummy coffee jars with labels directing customers to members of staff has gone viral.
cost of living reaching new heights, my local co-op is now a grocery show room. also ft periodic tannoy announcements from mitie security that their cameras are watching you. bleak af pic.twitter.com/C8u7n7zBMf
— laura (@laura_estah) May 28, 2023
Co-op said that “protecting the safety of our colleagues is a priority” as “shoplifting can be a flashpoint for violence against shopworkers”.
“A small number of our stores who are seeing rising crime levels will use product security measures like ‘dummy products’ to help manage the issue.”
Supermarket shoplifting cases surged 16% in the final three months of last year after food inflation reached a 45-year high of 16.2% in October.
According to the British Retail Consortium, shoplifting cost retailers £663m in 2020 to 2021.
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