In 2025 – 2026, police recorded 507,100 shoplifting offences in England and Wales. The annual figures suggest that shoplifting has become increasingly common every year following the 2020 – 2021 lockdowns, and there are significantly more annual recorded incidents now than there were just 10 years ago.
In this post we will outline the sort of products shoplifters are most likely to target, before exploring some strategies to help you protect the high-theft items in your store.
Why Do Thieves Target Some Products More Than Others?
There are a few things that might make a certain item particularly attractive to thieves:
- Its value. A lot of the time, shoplifters steal items not because they want or need them, but because they intend to sell them. Some items have a higher demand and thus fetch a higher price on the black market than others.
- Its size. The smaller the product, the easier it is for thieves to discreetly lift it from the shelves and hide it.
- Its security. Shoplifters may be more likely to attempt a theft is an item is located in a part of the store where they are unlikely to be seen.
What Are The Most Commonly Stolen Items From Shops?
These are some of the most common items shoplifted in the UK:
- Baby formula. Unfortunately, this may be the most commonly stolen item in the UK simply because it is essential, it is expensive, and many new parents may be struggling to make ends meet.
- Steak, lamb, bacon, and other premium cuts of meat. Some thieves will steal meat for their own personal use. Others will aim to sell it to pubs and other establishments via online marketplaces.
- Cosmetics and beauty products. This might include makeup, fragrances, and razor blades. These items are small and lightweight, and thus relatively easy to hide, and they tend to sell for high prices online.
- Some thieves may lift bottles of wine or vodka from the shelves for their own use. But others may intentionally target premium spirits, such as whiskey or artisan gin, in order to sell them online.
Of course, even if you do not sell any of these items in your store, you may still sell certain high value items, such as electronics, tobacco, and vaping products, that thieves may target with the intention of selling them online.
How to Secure High-Theft Items in Retail
We recently published a guide to how you can help prevent shoplifting in your store. We also have a guide to dealing with the increased risk of shoplifting at busy times of the year, such as Christmas.
There are some special measures you can introduce to protect the high-theft items in your shop, such as:
- Rethink your store layout
- Locked display cabinets
- CCTV
- Security Tags
- Staffing
We’ll explore each of these in more detail to identify exactly how they can help you to reduce and deter theft.
Rethink Your Store Layout
Aim to keep any high value items behind the till, so that customers have to actually request them from staff. Some stores have taken to keeping high-theft items such as baby formula and alcohol behind the till.
When thinking about your store layout, consider lines of sight, and aim to remove any blind spots where thieves could operate unobserved. Also try to make sure there are clear sight lines at your entrance, so that customers would not be able to enter or leave without your staff noticing.
Locked Display Cabinets
If you cannot keep all of your high value items behind the till, then store them in locked display cabinets, so that once again, customers will not be able to access them without asking a member of staff.
Again, consider your store layout. Try to keep these locked display cabinets in a well-lit area as close to the till as possible.
CCTV
You should ensure you have CCTV coverage of your entire shop floor, with a particular emphasis on areas that might be out of sight from the till. You could also position CCTV so that it is always monitoring any locked display cabinets, with signs notifying customers that they are being recorded.
Security Tags
Attach security tags to your high value, high-theft items, which members of staff would have to remove at purchase.
These can act as a strong deterrent, as even if they do not prevent thieves from lifting the products from your shelves, they may not be able to remove the security tags without damaging the product. This would make the product harder for them to sell.
Staffing
Train your staff to understand the common shoplifting techniques, so they know what sort of behaviours to look out for, and what sort of items thieves are most likely to target. Good customer service can also help prevent many thefts. If your staff make a point of greeting every customer as they enter, then any potential thieves will know that their presence has been noted, which may make it harder for them to act.
You should also consider your staffing levels and your staff rotas. If possible, you should aim to limit the times when there is just one single member of staff on the shop floor. This is because shoplifters often work in groups. One person will distract a member of staff while the other attempts to lift a high value item, unobserved.
Get The Right Cover For Your Retail Store
Shoplifting affects retail businesses in a number of ways. Beyond the financial losses, you also have to consider the costs of installing new security systems, the damages to staff morale, and an overall less pleasant retail experience for everyone. If your customers have to contend with security tags, locked cabinets, and extensive CCTV coverage, they may start to feel like you do not trust them.
But no matter how much your security systems cost, they may help you save money in the long-term through reducing your losses due to theft. Plus, if you can evidence your anti-theft measures to your insurers, it may help you to make a saving on the cost of cover.
While insurance cannot itself prevent shoplifting, a specialist retail insurance policy can cover your store for many of the losses you may experience as a result of theft and other incidents.
James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of insurance professionals who care about protecting your store.