Everyone knows that the phasing out of plastic bags is good news for the environment – but it’s also fantastic news for shoplifters.
For watchful security guards or teams operating CCTV cameras, one of the most obvious signs of a thief is when shoppers enter a store armed with bags from shops that are not local to that high street or shopping centre. All they need do is slip their chosen items into the bag – often lined with foil to fox the electronic tag detectors – and off they go.
So, if more and more people are likely to be coming into stores with the intention of doing their bit for the environment by reusing carrier bags or taking their bag for life with them, it might prove even more difficult to spot the criminals.
Centre for Retail Research director Professor Joshua Bamfield says: “Logically, it’s bound to have an impact on retail crime. Whereas previously it might have been obvious if someone isn’t a proper shopper, now they can do what they like.” Boots head of loss prevention and security Robert Jennings agrees that it’s “certainly another potential risk” to add to the long list of problems that retailers face.
A plastic bag-free retail scene also increases the potential to aggravate honest consumers. Earlier this year, one environmentally conscious member of the Retail Week team shopping at our local M&S dutifully requested not to have his sandwich put in a plastic bag, only to be asked by security on his way out for proof of purchase. He wasn’t being accused of shoplifting as such and it was probably only a precautionary measure, but having to rummage around for a receipt – which may have been left at the till – could be very embarrassing.
Bamfield says that the increase in bags for life could give rise to incidents in which people deliberately pretend to shoplift to ensure they are stopped by security, only to then use the mistake to seek compensation. “It’s a well-known problem that is effectively extortion and lawyers could stand to benefit greatly,” he says. In future, security guards – and, in fact, all store staff – are likely to require training on how to deal with such cases in order to avoid litigation – another expense for retailers.
So is there anything that retailers can do about it? In the 1960s and 1970s it was perfectly acceptable in the UK to ask to look in people’s bags before they entered the shop. And this is still common practice in Australia. Although they can’t be searched, it’s perfectly legal. However, as Bamfield points out, such an approach may not be popular today. “My feeling is that this will be unlikely to happen, because retailers are desperate for every pound of retail spending at the moment and this would create an unfortunate pressure,” he says.
Another option, he suggests, would be to upgrade CCTV so that security teams are better able to tell whether bags are fuller when shoppers leave than when they arrived.
Naturally, the reduction in supermarket-branded plastic bags is just one weapon in a shoplifter’s arsenal. Dan Murphy, operations manager for The centre:MK in Milton Keynes, rightly points out that the cutback in usage “doesn’t mean we assume all people with bags for life or bags from other stores are potential thieves”.
He adds that The centre:MK security staff “use their knowledge to assess a number of situations”, including people’s clothing, attitude, general movement at the centre and the attention they pay to security cameras.
Murphy says the security industry is a “constant game of cat and mouse” when it comes to dealing with retail criminals. “People intending to steal will, in time, replace the use of plastic bags from other stores or bags for life with other methods. The industry needs to stay ahead of the game and understand what shoplifters are willing to do,” he says.
Nevertheless, this is yet another potential challenge in the never-ending battle against retail crime. How much the reduction in plastic bag usage will impact on crime may be impossible to predict, but a couple of things are clear. Firstly, this environmental progression could certainly make shoplifting easier. Secondly, measures that may have to be taken to minimise this risk might increase costs – a shame, considering a reduction in plastic bags should in theory save retailers money.
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