Asda is the latest retailer set to roll out Auror’s crime reporting technology across its entire estate.
It follows a successful trial in 30 of its London stores earlier this year, during which crime prevention rates increased by 55%. The retailer was also able to recover more than £100,000 worth of stolen products during the 10-week trial through the use of the software.
The technology – which is also used by Morrisons and Holland & Barrett – helps store staff effectively report and track crime in stores. Staff upload all evidence, including CCTV and reporting into a single software platform which can then be accessed by other stores, allowing security teams to identify potential hotspots, or repeat offenders.
It also enables retailers to present better evidence to local police forces. During Asda’s trial, the time taken to report an incident improved by 80%, falling from 25 minutes to five minutes on average.
“Rolling out Auror across our estate will further strengthen our ability to prevent and tackle retail crime,” said Asda chief operating officer David Lepley.
“The results from our London pilot demonstrated the value of having a faster and more effective way to report incidents and identify repeat offenders in real time. By working more closely with police and retailers through a shared intelligence network, we can focus our efforts where they will have the greatest impact and help to tackle retail crime.”
Repeat offenders fuel vast majority of retail crime
Although crime rates have fallen by almost a fifth over the past year, retailers continue to face unacceptable levels of abuse and violent crime. There were 1,600 incidents of abuse or violence nationwide in 2025, according to the BRC’s latest Annual Crime Survey. Around 36 of these incidents a day on average involve the use of a violent weapon.
Around 10% of offenders are responsible for roughly 70% of all retail crime, Auror’s own data shows, highlighting the importance of identifying and stopping repeat offenders.
“We’re delighted to welcome Asda to our strong network of like-minded retailers who are all committed to keeping frontline retail colleagues safe and taking on retail crime together,” said Mark Gleeson, Auror general manager for UK and Europe.
“It’s fantastic to see retailers like Asda unite to take a stand against the top 10% of offenders causing 70% of retail crime and take back the UK’s high streets. Auror has made it 80% faster to record crime for Asda colleagues and early pilot results saw the team identify dozens of prolific repeat offenders, with the majority known to offend at stores owned by other retail brands within the Auror network. This is why the network effect is key to getting on top of this problem,” Gleeson said.
The news of Asda’s rollout comes the same day as the Metropolitan Police also confirmed it was expanding it’s use of the tech, after a pilot saw the number of shoplifters being brought to justice in the capital quadruple.
“Retailers are working more effectively with police than ever before through digital collaboration,” Gleeson continued.
“This is helping them surface the true scale of offending, understand and respond to risk across their estates, and focus their precious resources on those repeat, organised, and violent offenders – creating safer stores for all.”
It’s the latest move by Asda to improve security in its stores, following the outsourcing of all of its in-store security to Mitie. The move has proved controversial with unions, but Asda claims the move will strengthen the level of protection given to stores.
The retailer has invested more than £90m into in-store security over the past two years, including increasing the number of body-worn cameras, improving CCTV, and adding more security barriers alongside other measures.
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