Retail crime has been described by the British Retail Consortium as spiralling out of control, and the annual pattern of the last few years shows why retailers cannot afford to treat security as an afterthought going into their busiest trading period. Footfall rises through autumn and peaks in the run-up to Christmas, and so does the opportunity for shop theft, organised retail crime and abuse of staff.
We have set out the latest published UK retail crime figures below, alongside what they mean specifically for the autumn and festive trading period, when stock levels, footfall and staff pressure all increase together.
The scale of the problem, by the numbers
According to the British Retail Consortium’s Annual Crime Survey, incidents of violence and abuse against retail staff reached over 2,000 a day in 2023/24, more than four times the 455 a day recorded in 2020. Seventy of those daily incidents involved a weapon. Theft reached an all-time high too, with more than 20 million incidents recorded, over 55,000 a day, costing retailers £2.2 billion in that year alone, up from £1.8 billion the year before.
Retailers responded by increasing spending on crime prevention to a record £1.8 billion, covering CCTV, additional security staff, anti-theft devices and body-worn cameras. Add that prevention spend to the direct cost of crime and the total burden on the industry reached £4.2 billion in a single year. More recent reporting into 2026 suggests shoplifting incidents remain at similarly elevated levels, with millions of detected incidents a year and shop theft losses in the hundreds of millions, even as some measures of frontline violence have shown a partial improvement year on year.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Daily incidents of violence and abuse against staff (2023/24) | Over 2,000 a day |
| Daily incidents involving a weapon | 70 a day |
| Recorded theft incidents (2023/24) | Over 20 million (55,000+ a day) |
| Cost of theft to retailers (2023/24) | £2.2 billion |
| Retailer spend on crime prevention (2023/24) | £1.8 billion |
| Total cost of retail crime, including prevention | £4.2 billion |
Why the autumn and festive period is different
Retail crime does not distribute evenly across the year. Footfall rises sharply from late autumn onwards as Christmas shopping begins in earnest, and with it comes a predictable rise in opportunist shoplifting, organised theft targeting high-value stock such as electronics, fragrances and alcohol, and pressure on staff managing higher customer volumes with the same headcount. Retailers report that queue lengths, self-checkout use, and reduced staff-to-customer ratios during the busiest trading weeks all create conditions that make theft easier to carry out and harder to intervene in safely.
The BRC’s own commentary has repeatedly linked the rise in aggressive incidents to retailers feeling unsupported by police response, with a majority of retailers rating police response to incidents as poor. That gap between the volume of incidents and the confidence in an external response is precisely why more retailers are investing directly in their own visible security presence during the festive trading period, rather than relying solely on reporting incidents after the fact.
What this means for staffing security over the festive period
- Additional visible security or store detective presence during peak trading hours and late-night shopping events, when both footfall and stock exposure are highest.
- Clear escalation procedures for staff facing aggression or abuse, since the data shows this is now a daily reality for a large share of frontline retail workers, not an occasional incident.
- Reviewing high-value stock protection specifically ahead of the festive period, since organised theft disproportionately targets electronics, fragrances, alcohol and other easily resold goods during the exact weeks when stock holding of these lines is highest.
- Coordinated CCTV monitoring and manned response, rather than CCTV as a recording-only measure, so an incident in progress can be responded to rather than only reviewed afterwards.
How Anubis supports retailers through the festive period
Our retail security work already covers manned guarding, mobile patrol and CCTV for retail sites throughout the year, and we scale that presence for clients specifically through the autumn and festive trading period, when the risk profile changes. This typically means additional store-based security cover during late-night shopping events and the final pre-Christmas trading weeks, alongside a review of CCTV coverage for high-value stock areas.
We also support retailers on staff safety specifically, since the BRC data is unambiguous that abuse and violence against retail workers is now a daily occurrence at scale, not a rare event, and a visible security presence has a direct, evidenced effect on how safe staff feel and how confident they are to intervene appropriately when an incident does occur.
Frequently asked questions
Has retail crime actually been getting worse in the UK?
Yes, according to the British Retail Consortium’s own reporting, both the volume of theft incidents and the cost to retailers reached record highs in 2023/24, continuing a multi-year upward trend, though some measures of frontline violence have shown partial improvement more recently.
Why does retail crime rise in the run-up to Christmas?
Higher footfall, higher stock levels of high-value goods, and stretched staff-to-customer ratios during the busiest trading weeks combine to create more opportunity for both opportunist and organised theft.
What is the actual cost of retail crime to UK retailers?
The British Retail Consortium put the total cost, including both direct theft losses and retailer spend on prevention, at £4.2 billion in 2023/24, with theft alone costing retailers £2.2 billion that year.
Does a visible security presence actually reduce shoplifting?
A visible, active security presence is consistently identified by retailers and industry bodies as one of the more effective deterrents against opportunist theft, though organised retail crime groups require a more coordinated response involving CCTV, intelligence sharing and store-level intervention procedures.
Should we increase store security specifically for the festive period, or year-round?
Both matter, but many retailers find scaling up cover specifically for late-night shopping events and peak pre-Christmas trading weeks, when footfall and stock exposure are both highest, delivers the clearest return without carrying a year-round cost increase.
This sits alongside our existing retail security sector page and our earlier post on retail shop security systems for the Christmas period, which covers practical in-store measures in more depth. To review your store’s security ahead of the festive trading period, call 0800 121 6576 or contact us for a free assessment.
