Tesco has sparked surprise among shoppers by attaching security tags to packs of basic white hand towels priced at £2, as a nationwide shoplifting crisis prompts tighter measures on everyday essentials. The move was spotted at a Tesco branch in south east London.
Staff and Customer Reactions
A staff member told The Sun: “The tags probably cost more than the product they’re on. You’d be surprised at the things people try to shoplift.” Tesco customer Gareth Blunt, who picked up a pack of the towels, said: “It’s a bit weird, I don’t understand it. I’m used to seeing it on alcohol or TVs, but I don’t understand what the point is of someone stealing towels.”
Blunt added: “Having the tag removed is fine at the till, but we will end up having everything, all the products, with an alarm on. That would be annoying. It’s like there’s no trust left for normal people not to steal.”
Expert Analysis
Emmeline Taylor, a professor of criminology at City Saint George’s University, described the incident as highlighting a “nationwide shoplifting epidemic.” She noted: “Shoplifters are becoming increasingly emboldened. They might carry weapons, they're threatening, they're aggressive. But retailers have responded by telling staff not to intervene.”
Taylor explained that a non-intervention approach has evolved into policies where staff who do intervene may face questioning themselves. “Policies were brought in with good intentions. The way they seem to have been implemented is just soul destroying for shop workers who are well trained,” she said.
Retail Industry Perspective
Lucy Whing, crime policy lead at the British Retail Consortium, said retailers have reported a slight improvement in police response and that everyone is “working much better together.” However, she added that “trust has been eroded over time” and there is still “a long way to go” to rebuild it.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of shop thefts recorded by police last year reached 529,994 incidents.
