Tesco makes major security change to alcohol aisle at 50 stores across the UK
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TESCO has made a major security change to its alcohol aisle at a whopping 50 stores across the UK. In a radical crackdown on thefts, the supermarket giant will introduce keypad-operated cabinets to secure its most expensive tipples. The in-aisle lockers can be opened by customers via a keypad, with an alarm going off if the door is left open for more than seven seconds.
![[Liquor bottles in a secured display case with a digital payment terminal.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/5b67ae4d-4f3f-4616-b337-2080011a9026.jpg?strip=all&w=312)
These high-tech cabinets have already been rolled out to 22 stores following a trial in late 2023. Footage taken from a Tesco in Perivale, west London, shows a raft of alcohol bottles on shelves locked behind electronic glass doors, with shoppers required to use a touch screen device to request access from staff.
![[White wine bottles on shelves in a supermarket.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/cb6h5f-white-wine-shelves-off-964414360.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Bottles caged behind the locked shelves were also electronically tagged for extra protection, as customers have begun branding the security measures as a “new norm”. A spokesperson at Wanzl, the retail equipment supplier who developed the technology, said the move required striking the correct balance.
![[Liquor store display with spirits in locked cabinets.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/0299d89d-53b6-4e4d-b1b4-5aa5043ab881.jpg?strip=all&w=309)
On the one hand, too much security will put people off buying expensive drinks, too little risks high rates of theft. Last year, popular brands including Smirnoff Vodka and Tanqueray Gin were filmed behind locked shelves by one punter, who posted the footage on TikTok.
One of the video captions read: “The new ‘normal’ for buying alcohol in London”. The video has circulated on X, where users agreed that these methods could become more widespread. One wrote: “Society only has itself to blame for this. Will become the norm so long as shoplifting continues to be widespread.”.
