Britain’s £2 billion shoplifting drive is prompting a security overhaul

The The explosive increase in shoplifting in Britain is transforming the retail security sector as workforces grow and stores adopt new – sometimes controversial – technology.

According to the British Retail Consortium’s latest crime survey, almost £2 billion ($2.5 billion) worth of shares were stolen between September 2022 and August 2023 – the most on record and almost twice as much as in the previous 12 months. The number of violent or offensive shoplifting incidents also rose to more than 1,300 per day, up from 870 a year earlier, the BRC said.