Supermarket giant, Iceland, has introduced a new initiative to combat soaring shoplifting incidents, offering financial rewards to customers who report thefts in progress.
Executive chairman Richard Walker revealed that shoppers who alert staff about suspected shoplifters will receive a £1 credit on their Iceland Bonus Card.
The retailer estimates that retail theft drains around £20 million annually, a loss Walker says directly affects the company’s ability to lower prices and improve staff pay.
According to Iceland, customers do not need to physically stop or confront shoplifters to earn the reward.
Instead, they only need to report suspicious activity, which staff will then verify.
“We’re encouraging our loyal customers to help sound the alarm, and if they do help to catch a shoplifter, we’ll top up their Bonus Card to spend in store,” Walker said in a statement.
He first disclosed the scheme during an interview on Channel 5 News on Thursday, stressing the wider impact of shoplifting.
“Some people see this as a victimless crime, it is not. It’s a cost to the business, to the hours we pay our colleagues, and it involves intimidation and violence,” he said.
Walker added that public involvement in reporting crimes could help bring down prices in the long run.
“We’d like customers to help us lower our prices even more by pointing out shoplifters,” he said.
The supermarket chain emphasised that shoppers should not confront offenders directly but instead notify the nearest employee with as much detail as possible about the suspect.
The move comes amid a nationwide surge in retail theft. Across England and Wales, police logged 530,643 shoplifting offences in the year to March 2025, a 20% rise from the previous year and the highest level recorded since data collection began in 2002–03.
Other businesses are also feeling the strain. Around 90% of pharmacies have reported increased theft and hostility toward staff in the past year.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones admitted the situation had spiralled:
“Shoplifting had got out of hand in the UK.”
When asked about displaying images of known offenders in public spaces, she added:
“It’s on all of us to be aware of what is going on in our local communities.”
In response, the government has pledged to bolster neighbourhood policing, promising to put thousands of extra officers on the streets by spring 2026.
