Nisa has called for greater protection for independent retailers from authorities following a surge in retail crime.
This comes as the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) 2023 crime report found that 87% of store employees have experienced verbal abuse while there have been almost 9,000 incidents of robbery of convenience stores between 2022 and 2023.
Nisa owner The Co-op Group has also seen crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour jump 35% year-on-year, with more than 175,000 incidents recorded in the first six months of the year – equating to almost 1,000 incidents every day.
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Nisa head of retail, Victoria Lockie, said: “Our teams hear on a weekly basis from retailers suffering from the ongoing challenge of shoplifting and the impact that is having both financially and on their own wellbeing.
“This is particularly tough for independent retailers, many of whom are open longer hours and can’t afford to hire professional security. These horrific incidents have a long-lasting impact on businesses and a negative impact for the community overall.”
Owner of Nisa partnered store, Freshfields Market in Croydon, Ben Selvaratnam, said his store is being targeted by three to 10 thefts or attempted thefts per day.
As a result, the store now has one member of staff constantly monitoring CCTV and it has reduced opening hours after a spike in late night incidents.
Lockie added: “The recent Co-op led report on retail crime highlighted some significant challenges, with the appropriate authorities failing to respond in over 70% of serious retail crimes reported. If we are going to tackle this issue seriously, we need that number to be dramatically reduced so independent retailers can feel safe simply doing their job.”
In some of Co-op’s own stores, the convenience retailer has extended its trial of anti-theft ‘dummy display packaging’ for certain targeted products and has recruited undercover guards to patrol its shop floors.
