Sainsbury’s is rolling out electronic security cabinets for premium spirits in a bid to limit theft in stores.
The trial, which is rolling out in a small number of stores, will see certain types of alcohol, such as scotch whisky, locked in self-service cabinets.
Customers will need to complete a four-step process using a touchscreen before being able to open the cabinet, The Grocer reported.
As part of the trial, the supermarket giant will implement American retail tech company Indyme’s Freedom Case, which uses tracking technology to record when an item has been removed, as well as how long the cabinet has been open for and how often.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told the publication: “We regularly review security measures in our stores and are currently trialling cabinets in a small number of branches.”
It comes as the British Retail Consortium is calling for the government to bring in tougher measures to prevent violence and abuse against retail workers as the number of daily incidents rocketed 50% to 1,300 in 2023.
Last year, Morrisons implemented a similar ‘buzz for booze’ system across select stores, where it locked alcohol in glass cabinets with customers able to access products by pressing a button and waiting for assistance to unlock the doors.
Other major supermarkets have also implemented additional measures in a bid to tackle theft.
Last year, some Co-op and M&S stores were found to have placed a reduced level of high-value products on shelves last month, instead displaying ‘dummy’ products.
cost of living reaching new heights, my local co-op is now a grocery show room. also ft periodic tannoy announcements from mitie security that their cameras are watching you. bleak af pic.twitter.com/C8u7n7zBMf
— laura (@laura_estah) May 28, 2023
