Waitrose is gearing up to lock bottles of champagne and premium spirits in “smart cabinets” in a bid to tackle shoplifters, The Telegraph reported. 

The supermarket told workers that trials of the new locking technology would commence before the end of the year under a broader crackdown on retail crime.

The cabinets will use monitoring systems capable of detecting how long cabinet doors stay open and identifying when items are removed from shelves.

Workers will be alerted if the cabinets detect suspicious activity, such as attempts to clear entire shelves or cabinets of stock.

The supermarket has not confirmed how customers will access items kept inside the locked cabinets once the trials start.

John Lewis told staff that the move demonstrated that the company was not “standing still” in its response to theft impacting stores throughout the country.

A spokesman for John Lewis confirmed that the business was heavily investing in new technology which aimed to deter criminals from targeting shops.

“We are currently investing in a range of advanced technology, including smart technology to deter theft,” the spokesman said.

“As part of this we are planning to pilot lockable smart cabinets for areas such as spirits and champagne soon.

“We already use smart shelf technology in our health, beauty and spirits aisles, which are able to sense unusual customer behaviour, so this would provide an additional layer of security.”

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