Sainsbury’s is testing out new electronic security cabinets with touchscreens

22 February 2024 , 11:50

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The locked cabinets are being trialled in the alcohol aisles of some stores (Image: Universal Images Group via Getty)

Sainsbury's is reportedly trialling locked electronic security cabinets in the alcohol aisles of some stores to prevent shoplifters.

Shoppers have to use a digital touchscreen and complete a “four-step process” to open the cabinets, which contain premium spirits. The Grocer, which first spotted the new security measure, noted how one of the systems Sainsbury’s is trialling, called Freedom Case, has the ability to track when items have been removed, how often the cabinet has been opened and for how long.

Some of these types of cabinets can only be opened if the customer scans their loyalty app or card, while others ask shoppers to input their mobile phone number or use facial recognition. However, Sainsbury’s confirmed to The Grocer that no facial recognition or customer data is required as part of the trial.

The supermarket told the trade magazine it is trialling the cabinets in a “small number of stores” including in St Albans. The Mirror has contacted Sainsbury's for comment. It comes as new research from the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual survey found the amount lost to shoplifting in the latest year was the highest ever recorded.

Shoplifting cost retailers about £1.8billion in the latest year, the first time it has surpassed the £1billion mark, the BRC said. Some retailers said the cost of living crisis changed the number of items being stolen from one or two items, to many. The boss of John Lewis, Dame Sharon White, previously told the BBC that shoplifting had become an “epidemic” with a rise in organised gangs looting stores.

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John Lewis is one of the 10 biggest retailers which last year agreed to fund a police operation to crack down on shoplifting, dubbed Project Pegasus. The companies are expected to pay around £600,000 towards the project, which will use CCTV pictures and facial recognition technology. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Next have also signed up to the scheme.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “Criminals are being given a free pass to steal goods and to abuse and assault retail colleagues. No one should have to go to work fearing for their safety. It is vital that government takes action – introducing a new standalone offence for assaulting or abusing a retail worker.”

Levi Winchester