Tesco makes major change to 50 supermarket stores in bid to stop shoplifters
Share:
Tesco has made a huge change in 50 of its stores in a bid to clamp down on shoplifting. The supermarket chain has introduced keypad-opened cabinets into 50 more of its stores' alcohol aisles. The cabinets will contain champagne and other sparkling wines. The in-aisle cabinets are locked and can be opened by customers through a keypad, with an alarm sounding if the chiller door is left open for more than seven seconds.
The cabinets - which are managed by the firm Wanzl - were first introduced to some stores as part of a trial in 2023, but were rolled out to more stores in the summer of last year. Currently, the cabinets are in 22 Tesco stores, including two smaller Express stores. The versions introduced to stores last year required shoppers to use the digital touchscreen and complete a "four-step process" to open them.
At first, shoppers needed to tap an arrow on the screen to access the goods, the second screen then tells customers that it is "processing the request". After completing this, the cabinet door then opens and shoppers can take whatever they like. The new cabinets are an updated version which aims to "reducing" the friction for customers.
According to Wanzl, the new cabinets introduce a “really friendly” customer interface, which “doesn’t stand in the way of someone getting what they want to get”. Wanzl UK head of retail shop solutions Lee Gilks told The Grocer Magazine: "High value alcohol in stores has always been a challenge. You have to strike the balance between selling things and locking things away. To fix shrinkage you could just put a massive lock on it, but that becomes a bit of a sales turn off.”.
