Some Tesco shoppers are furious as the supermarket introduces a major anti-theft system. In an attempt to stop thieves, locked security cabinets have been placed on alcohol shelves, with a ‘four-step process’ to open them.
The ‘Freedom Case’ tracks when items have been removed, how often the cabinet is opened and for how long. It also alerts staff when it detects ‘suspicious behaviour’. They have been rolled out across a number of stores but some customers aren’t enjoying them. One in Swansea told WalesOnline: “I presume it’s to try and stop people stealing stuff but I’m not quite sure how it stops them completely as you can still access the alcohol – you just have to wait a few moments before you can.”
Another said: “You have to press a button – then there is a countdown, then it tells you that you can open the door. Perhaps when you press the button the CCTV watches you and stops someone just casually sticking a bottle underneath their coat as they walk down the aisle.”
The British Retail Consortium says theft from stores is “out of control” and costs shops £2 billion a year. Its March study found that nearly a quarter of the UK population has witnessed shoplifting in the last 12 months.
Social media users have also been complaining about the anti-theft devices. Broadcaster Lorraine King wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Popped into Tesco to buy a bottle of champagne for my friend’s birthday and was confronted with this.”
Another poster added: “I would guess the security guard is looking at a camera rather than it being facial recognition but still, very obnoxious by Tesco.”
Martyn James, an independent consumer champion, said: “Is there a sadder indictment of society than this – the fact that buying a bottle of booze is now like getting into a high-end luxury jewellers?
“If the epidemic of shoplifting and aggressive customer behaviour is not dealt with firmly and definitively, then we face a future where everything we buy is behind bars or plastic screens. That’s not a future I want to live in.”
