In this article, our partners at Titan Security Europe will outline the current security trends, discuss the projected concerns coming into 2025, and offer advice on what retailers can do to best ensure their store’s protection in the coming year.
Retail Crime 2024
The ACS Crime Report of UK retail crime in 2024 outlined the following:
- There were over 600 incidents of retail theft per hour in 2024.
- 76,000 incidents of physical violence against staff occurred throughout the year. This is up from 41,000 incidents in 2023.
- 87% of retailers working in convenience stores reported that they faced verbal abuse from customers throughout 2024.
- 78% of retailers agree that organised crime is becoming a growing threat to the retail sector.
Retail Security Trends 2025
From these statistics, the following trends can be seen going into 2025:
Theft from stores is increasing and organised crime is rising.
ACS listed opportunity, organised crime and the influence of drugs and alcohol as key motivations for the increase of theft in 2024.
Opportunity implies that there is not enough of a continual effective security presence in retail stores to prevent theft Ð there are still gaps allowing thieves to slip in and out unnoticed.
Organised crime poses a huge threat, organisers are likely aware of the security already in place in many retail stores, as well as weak points, quiet and busy hours, when the store is best protected, and when it is least protected. This makes stores a huge target even with good security in place already.
Shoplifters under the influence of drugs and alcohol are far more likely to commit acts of physical or verbal abuse against retail employees due to their heightened states. This connects the issue of store theft to the issue of violence and threat against retail staff, they are not separate entities.
The increase in abuse against staff is clear evidence that staff are not being protected enough.
The listed motivations for an increase in abuse and threat against staff were drug and alcohol abuse, the refusal of age restricted sales as following protocol, and approaching potential thieves.
If retail staff are getting attacked for approaching suspected thieves, it is clear that greater physical security presence is needed in the stores where this is occurring. The same applies to drug and alcohol abuse, and the refusal of sale.
The vast majority of retail security focuses itself on the protection of stores and stock held within. While this should be the predominant aim, perhaps 2025’s focus should be as much on the safety of staff too.
What Stores Can Do in 2025
Moving into 2025, stores should revise their security protocol and amend it where necessary. Going by the statistics from 2024, it is beyond clear that security plans in 2025 should focus equally on the protection of both store and staff.
Below, Titan Security outline some retail security services that can work to protect both the store and its assets and the staff within.
1. CCTV Monitoring
CCTV monitoring can be undertaken in-house or via a security partner, but footage should be monitored constantly, or easily accessible to go back through should an incident occur.
For Stores: CCTV monitoring will catch criminals in the act of stealing. It will therefore act as evidence to turn over to police in the event of a theft, which may help the police to identify the perpetrator and could even result in the return of stolen goods.
For Staff: Should an incident of violence or verbal abuse occur, the store will have photographic evidence of the perpetrator. This can allow the staff to know who to look out for, people to ban from the store, or to have removed if they enter the store.
My retail store already uses CCTV, but we still have lots of issues with retail crime Ð where are we going wrong?
If issues continue to arise in your store despite CCTV usage, it is likely that CCTV is not being used to maximum capacity. To maximise the effectivity of the CCTV usage in your store, consider:
- Analysing and identifying the blind spots of CCTV in your store. Criminals likely take advantage of blind spots to steal. Once the blind spots are identified, handle them, install additional CCTV or ensure that there is always a member of staff patrolling that area (or even a guard!)
- Ensure that CCTV is not only installed, but continuously monitored in real time. This can be either in-house or by a security partner. Real time monitoring allows for action to be taken swiftly if theft or abuse is caught on the footage, rather than using footage retroactively to see what happened and when.
- Signposting informing customers of CCTV monitoring should be very obvious and repeated throughout the store. The more obvious it is that they are being watched, the less likely criminals are to try to act.
- Install monitors behind till points and in staff break areas. This allows for staff to keep an eye on the store even while behind the till or in back areas.
- Combine CCTV tactics with security guard tactics.
2. Alarm Response Teams
Panic alarms should be installed around the store for staff to use, predominantly in till areas. Pressing will activate an alarm that will dispatch a security patrol to the store immediately.
For Stores: Staff can activate the alarm should they feel that a customer is attempting to steal from the store. This ensures that a dedicated security professional will be the one to apprehend them, increasing chances of preventing the theft.
For Staff: As mentioned above, staff will face less threat in apprehending suspected thieves should a security patrol dispatch to the store instead. Further to this, staff can trigger the alarm if they feel threatened, witness or experience an act of abuse, or find that a customer is becoming too aggressive.
My retail store already uses alarm response, but we still have lots of issues with retail crime Ð where are we going wrong?
A continuation of crime despite the use of alarm response teams is indicative of this security feature either lacking effectivity or not being used to full potential. To improve security further, consider the following:
- Ensure that staff are trained in panic alarm procedure. Staff should know where all panic alarms are, how to activate them, and all situations in which they should be activated.
- Consider where panic alarms are placed around your store. They should at least be behind till points and in back areas. Alarms by doors and other areas around the store, especially those in CCTV blind spots, are also advisable.
- In cases where the abuse against staff is extreme, staff should have alarms that they carry on their person, such as around lanyards. In these instances, staff can trigger their personal alarm no matter where they are in a store should an issue arise.
- Switching to manned guards or including manned guards alongside response teams may be a good move if effectivity continues to fail.
3. Manned Guarding
For stores where theft is common, or for stores such as department or designer retailers, on-site guards on the door or stationed throughout the store may be a necessary service.
For Stores: It can be the job of on-site security guards to ascertain whether a customer is attempting to steal or not. They can approach the suspect with professional training under their belt, preventing the theft or removing the customer if necessary. Door guards can also apprehend thieves at the door should they be alerted to them.
For Staff: On-site security guards can be at the scene of threat or violence within an instant to de-escalate the situation and remove threatening customers. On-site guards would also bring peace of mind to staff and allow them to work without the anxiety of being attacked at work.
My retail store already uses manned guarding, but we still have lots of issues with retail crime Ð where are we going wrong?
In our experience as a security company that has been providing security to the retail industry ever since we started, Titan Security Europe have found that when manned guarding continues to fail, one of the following issues are at fault:
- Guards are not fully aware of their responsibilities. Some stores wish for guards to tackle and detain thieves until the police arrive while others require them just as a presence and a means to fill out incident reports. Make sure your guards are aware of the policies of your specific store.
- The level of guarding is not enough. You may need to consider hiring extra guards at peak times during the day.
- Security partners are not receiving incident reports, these are accounts of the thefts throughout the day and will help your security partner to better manage your security concerns.
Conclusion
Analysing the landscape of retail crime in 2024 indicates a strong need for greater security in 2025, with an emphasis on the protection of staff as well as store.
Greater protection does not mean higher spending, however. Retailers should instead look over their current security plans and see what can be changed or amended before considering adding further cost to security, on the other hand, if there is little security in place to protect staff, then perhaps the budget for security should be revised and increased.
Seeking the assistance of a security partner rather than relying purely on in-house security may also be beneficial, a security partner can help to revise a retail store’s current security plan and suggest cost-effective improvements to it.
With the right action taken, 2025 retail crime figures could look a lot less severe than in 2024.
