Interesting points from this BBC episode:

COVID19 → more online sales → shoplifters sell online

The pandemic caused a big rise to shopping online. That inspired a boost in shoplifting b/c they sell online to exploit that.

Organised crime gangs.. prescription/OTC drugs

I was a bit surprised to hear that it’s not just individuals. A boss creates a shopping list and the gang works collectively to fulfill it. Drugs in particular. They bring garbage bags full of lifted drugs and someone’s 9-5 job is to “clean” them (remove the pharmacy labels and make new labels).

I’m surprised about this because prescription drugs are so controlled. It’s not a self-service shop. Maybe they were talking about OTC drugs but then I doubt those would need “cleaning”.

Self-service checkout terminals

Self-service checkouts obviously make it easy to shoplift. Seems to be how most shoplifting occurs.

(update) I was pissed off when the self-scanning stations stopped accepting cash. Now I realise that was probably an anti-shoplifting measure. Still disturbed b/c it stands as another jab on cash payers in this war on cash, particularly when cash payers have to wait in line behind card payers, while some registers are cashless (thus fewer lines for cash payers to choose from).

Door greeter deterrant

Having a friendly door greeter measurably reduces shoplifting. Mostly because opportunists on the edge of whether to shoplift avoid guilt, but also because the door greeters sometimes wear body cams.

It would be interesting to study cases where the door greeter is not an employee but a begger. My hypothesis: a door greeting by a begger would increase shoplifting.