Shoplifting is down. So why is retail crime getting more violent?

Could the tide finally be turning on retail crime?

Co-op’s expectation that retail crime will fall to a post-pandemic low in 2026 represents a genuine milestone. It is also a well-earned one, following years of relentless campaigning, significant investment and increasingly strategic partnerships with police.

There are encouraging signs nationally, too. Recorded shop theft offences fell 2% to 519,516 in the year ending June 2026, according to the latest ONS figures. After years of seemingly inexorable increases, it offers some hope that the sector’s battle against crime is reaching a long-awaited turning point. 

But those positive headline figures mask a much less comfortable reality. 

Choosing violence

Retail crime at Co-op remains at nearly double pre-pandemic levels, painting a sobering picture of the reality shopworkers continue to face every day. And behind that fall in recorded theft stats lies an even more worrying trend.

Because police are now logging thefts involving or threatening violence as a robbery of business property, this has not only influenced the reduction in recorded shoplifting offences, but also led to a 10% spike in recorded robberies, rising to 88,282 offences overall. Shoplifting in the UK hasn’t dropped – it has morphed into more violent, brazen acts, blighting communities across the UK.

The overarching narrative that shoplifting is decreasing hasn’t pushed retailers into complacency. The sector has come too far now to take its foot off the pedal, and it cannot risk reversing the efforts and progress it has already made.

Take Co-op. In collaboration with Devon & Cornwall Police, it has almost doubled the number of retail crime cases solved in 20 stores across the two counties after trialling a new crime reporting tool, SentrySIS.

Its premise is simple: to track repeat offenders by connecting offences committed by the same individual to ultimately build stronger cases against them.

To do that, store colleagues upload incident details, CCTV, photos and impact statements, enabling police to record and allocate the crime in as little 30 minutes – shaving almost a week off normal timelines. And it removes the need for officers to approach the retailer for evidence, too – providing tangible proof that retailer collaboration with police works.

And this ability to streamline reporting processes is just what the sector needs. Because the ONS statistics don’t paint a full picture, and that’s largely down to retailers not reporting all crimes.

Reporting crime

The BRC estimated there were 5.5 million incidents of shoplifting last year, costing retailers nearly £400m, while shopworkers also experienced 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse per day.

But that lack of reporting is no fault of their own. ACS research has revealed over the years that shopworkers don’t always report crime because of lengthy, complicated reporting processes and they lack confidence in a follow-up investigation.

Thankfully, that has started to change. The BRC reported earlier this year that police response ratings have improved, with 13% of retailers now ranking it as good or excellent, up from 9% the previous year, while the ACS estimated that 64% of retailers are reporting more crime to the police.

That increase in confidence has undoubtedly been boosted by the government’s decision to pass the Crime and Policing Act – thanks to long-fought lobbying by the sector.

It was a monumental piece of legislation. It put legal measures in place to scrap the £200 threshold for investigating thefts, as well as the long-overdue separate offence for attacking a shopworker. In other words, it sends an unambiguous message to offenders that theft and violence will not be tolerated.

But these retailer protections have not yet come into effect, despite receiving Royal Assent almost six months ago. While some parts of the Act came into force by 29 June, retail workers are still awaiting their own assurances – and the Home Office could not confirm when that would be.

With retailers continuing to face an unacceptable level of crime every day and those robberies becoming ever more violent, there has never been more urgency for its implementation. For that message to be truly understood, the government must act now. Retailer initiatives can only go so far without statutory backing.