The British grocery chain Co-op has begun applying an invisible forensic spray to goods vulnerable to theft, including laundry detergent and alcohol. The purpose is to track stolen goods that are resold and facilitate the police's identification of the origin of the goods. The technology is being rolled out nationally in Great Britain following previous tests in London and Manchester.
The spray contains a unique code that is linked to the specific store where the item was sold. This allows police to trace the goods during investigations of physical stores or online retailers suspected of selling stolen goods.
We have made it harder to steal things and now we are making it harder to sell, says Paul Gerrard, policy manager at Co-op.
Reduced In-Store Crime
The company has invested around £250 million in various security measures. In addition to the marking spray, this includes body cameras for staff, increased security guard surveillance, and reinforced checkout counters for higher-value goods. The company is also testing artificial intelligence in its surveillance cameras to detect anomalous activity and alert staff in real time.
These measures have resulted in a one-fifth decrease in crime in Co-op stores last year, while physical assaults on staff fell by almost a third.
Paul Gerrard emphasizes that this is not about isolated petty thefts:
It's not about an extra avocado. It's about people taking an entire meat counter for resale.
Tightened Legislation for Retail
The development coincides with legal changes in Great Britain. A new law has come into force making it a separate offense to assault retail staff. In addition, a previous rule that deprioritized police intervention in thefts worth less than £200 has been abolished.
Political changes are also taking place in Sweden to address shoplifting and serial crime within the retail sector. The government has presented a proposal to abolish the so-called quantity discount. The trade organization Svensk Handel has driven the issue with the aim of slowing down the number of quantity crimes.
A scrapped quantity discount would be a major victory for Svensk Handel and its member companies, said Nina Jelver, security manager at Svensk Handel, in early April.