Major supermarket offers bizarre 'reward program' for customers that report shoplifters

A popular supermarket chain has announced new measures to try and stop the worrying increase in shoplifting in the UK

Retail theft is increasing in the UK, with the Office for National Statistics reporting that there has been a 20 percent increase in shoplifting offences in the year to March 2025.

In that time period, police said there were 530,643 shoplifting offences across the country, up from 444,022 in the previous year.

It marks the highest figure since records began in 2002-03, with the government vowing to increase neighbourhood policing by sending thousands more officers on patrol by spring next year.

And it looks like one supermarket is looking to clamp down on the crime in an effort to cut the losses it faces every year due to shoplifting.

Shoplifting is a growing problem across the UK (Getty Stock Image)

Iceland revealed that there will be a financial reward for law-abiding customers who report any cases of the crime to staff across its branches.

Iceland's executive chairman, Richard Walker, has revealed that shoppers who tell staff about a shoplifting incident while it's going on will be given a grand total of... £1.

It'll be on their Iceland Bonus card of course, as the supermarket tries to cut the massive loss of £20m it suffers every year from shoplifting.

Walker said that this affects the business' revenue, but also its ability to reduce prices and allocate more to staff wages.

Speaking to the BBC, Iceland said that shoplifters wouldn't need to be arrested for the reward to come into play, either.

Walker said: "We're encouraging our loyal customers to help sound the alarm, and if they do help to catch a shoplifter, we'll top up their Bonus Card to spend in store."

The chairman first announced the move in an appearance on Channel 5 News on 14 August, stating: "Some people see this as a victimless crime, it is not.

"It's a cost to the business, to the hours we pay our colleagues, and it involves intimidation and violence.

"We'd like customers to help us lower our prices even more by pointing out shoplifters."

The supermarket chain did have one word of warning, though.

Iceland is asking customers to help them identify shoplifters so they can reduce more prices (Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

The chain stated that it doesn't want anyone to directly interact with shoplifters, and said that informing the nearest member of staff with a description of the suspected shoplifter may make a world of difference.

While supermarkets have been hit with increased levels of shoplifting, so have pharmacies.

Nine in 10 of the latter have been victims of the crime, as well as aggression towards staff.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones admitted that shoplifting has been getting 'out of hand' in recent times.

Though when she was asked about how necessary it was for images to be shown in shop windows or public areas, she admitted: "It's on all of us to be aware of what is going on in our local communities."