Retailers are resorting to various technology solutions and coordinated action involving law enforcement authorities to track down shoplifters, amid the busy shopping season.
Many are signing up for Safer Business Network, an organisation that unites police, retailers, charities and local authorities to share intelligence and catch perpetrators.
Safer Business Network has partnered with crime technology provider ShopSafe to implement its Alert platform, a secure AI-enabled data-sharing platform that enables retailers to detect crime and theft patterns, Daily Express reports.
The platform captures, analyses, and reports incidents - from thefts to suspicious behaviour and violence against staff - as well as instantly identifies known offenders and receives instant alerts.
The data is collated and analysed to build clear pictures of prolific shoplifters, organised crime groups and high-harm hotspots.
It is then shared with the police for follow-up actions.
Safer Business Network operates in more than 50 town centres and fashion retailer Primark recently signed up for this network.
Meanwhile, Thames Valley Police are encouraging shop owners to sign up to information-sharing platform Disc, in a bid to catch repeat offenders, BBC reports.
Between May and the middle of November this year there were 227 charges brought against people in the town.
The police in Northampton have formed a dedicated retail crime unit that works closely with shop owners, who provide alerts through the Disc app when a shoplifter strikes.
According to the Office for National Statistics, shoplifting offences in the UK has reached a record high, with 530,643 reports in the year to March, a 20 percent increase from the previous year.
A recent survey by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has found that around 9 in 10 pharmacies have seen a surge in incidents of shoplifting in the last year.
