Sainsbury's makes huge change to self-service tills in major security crackdown

had added a new security measure to its self service tills as part of plans to crack down on. The chain has added a camera over the top of its self-service tills, which shows a VAR-style replay if a bagged item has not been scanned.

The camera looks directly down over the till and packing station, and if any item is bagged without scanning, the video of it will be shown to the shoppers and told: “Looks like that last item didn’t scan. Please check you scanned it correctly before continuing."

reports that retail sources say the measure is "a deterrent to shoplifters". The source said: "Most people have made a genuine mistake while scanning, which is detected by the scales. It’s a more gentle reminder than red flashing lights and a member of staff coming over.”

A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: "We regularly review the security measures in our stores and our decisions to implement them are based on a range of factors, including offering our customers a smooth checkout experience."

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Shoppers’ reactions have been mixed, with one facing a warning because the packet of basil they bought was “too light”. Another joked: “Thanks to Sainsbury’s, I can now re-live and learn from my packing mistakes. I can almost hear (Sky pundit) Jamie Carragher lamenting my positioning.” Another posted to X: "Just open the tills!!"

has not confirmed how many of its UK supermarket stores have this new measure in place, and whether it will be rolled out across its whole estate.

across the country began to implement new security measures across stores when prices started to rise back in 2022. Measures included things such as adding security tags to items, putting products in security boxes, placing empty products on shelves, limiting items on shelves, and requiring customers to scan receipts to leave stores.

According to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) published in October last year, shoplifting offences recorded by police rose by 29% in the 12 months to June 2024 - reaching a 20-year high.

Police logged 516,971 incidents of shoplifting last year — up from 429,873 in 2023. Tom Ironside, of the British Retail Consortium, said the crime is costing firms £2billion a year.

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