A trial of facial recognition technology has led to a drop in shoplifting – but critics say supermarkets scanning customers’ faces is ‘treating shoppers like a rogue’s gallery to be monitored and surveilled’
Sainsbury’s says facial recognition tech in stores has led to a “seismic” drop in shoplifting.
Britain’s second biggest supermarket has been trialling the know-how – which automatically scans customers’ faces via CCTV – at two stores in Sydenham, South London, and Bath, Somerset. It has proved so successful that the grocer is rolling it out to a cluster of five stores in London, the Mirror can reveal.
Sainsbury’s said the technology had led to a 46% drop in logged incidents of theft and anti-social behaviour along with harm and aggression towards shop staff. The number of times offenders came back to the two stores also slumped by 92%. Claire Pickthall, retailer and digital director at Sainsbury’s, said: “It’s been seismic and that’s been hugely encouraging. It’s not marginal.”
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The chain is working with recognition firm Facewatch, which is also believed to be used by more than 100 retailers such as Home Bargains, Flannels and Sports Direct. Facewatch reported issued more than 516,700 alerts to its network of retailers last year – up from around 252,900 in 2024 – or 1,415 a day.
The system uses artificial intelligence to match faces with a watchlist of prolific and repeat offenders shared by local stores. When someone deemed to be of concern enters a shop, it sends an alert to the manager, who then makes further checks.
It comes after research by shopworkers’ union Usdaw revealed more than 70% of staff asked reported suffering verbal abuse, 48% had been threatened by a customer, and 9% had been physically assaulted.
Simon Roberts, boss of Sainsbury’s, told the Mirror: “When colleagues in our own stores tell us they are worried about their physical safety, we have a duty to act. We also know that a safe environment for colleagues is essential to keeping customers safe too. No one should feel at risk simply going about their day. Protecting everyone who walks through our doors is fundamental to earning and keeping the public’s trust.”
But the scanning of millions of shoppers faces has also raised alarm bells around privacy.
Jasleen Chaggar, legal and policy officer at Big Brother Watch: “Whilst we all want the police to tackle shoplifting, allowing Sainsbury’s to run suspicionless mass identity checks and harvests customers’ most sensitive biometric data cannot be the solution.
“Big Brother Watch has helped countless members of the public who were wrongly added to secret watchlists, accused of crimes without evidence, and forced to battle opaque systems to have their face removed from blacklists.
“By treating shoppers like a rogue’s gallery to be monitored and surveilled, Sainsbury’s makes the UK a democratic outlier. The Government must follow Europe and ban the use of facial recognition against the general public.”
Comment by Simon Roberts, CEO, Sainsbury’s
The latest retail crime figures paint a stark picture, with Usdaw recently revealing seventy- seven per cent of shop workers have faced verbal abuse and more than half have been threatened.
We know from the British Retail Consortium that there are more than 2,000 incidents of retail violence and abuse across UK retailers.
When colleagues in our own stores tell us they are worried about their physical safety, we have a duty to act. We also know that a safe environment for colleagues is essential to keeping customers safe too. No one should feel at risk simply going about their day. Protecting everyone who walks through our doors is fundamental to earning and keeping the public’s trust.
That is why back in September we began trialling facial recognition technology in two Sainsbury’s stores. The technology is designed to only identify people who are violent, aggressive or who steal in the store. If the system does not recognise a face, the record is deleted instantly and the data is not stored.
The early results from our first two trial stores have been encouraging, with a 46% reduction in logged incidents of theft, harm, aggression and anti-social behaviour and 92% of offenders did not return to our stores. That means fewer frightening moments for colleagues and a more reassuring experience for customers.
This week we will extend facial recognition technology to five more London stores – Dalston, Elephant and Castle, Ladbroke Grove, Camden and Whitechapel. We are doing this intentionally and transparently so we can build confidence as we go and understand how the technology works when several stores in the same area use it at once. Our original trial stores in Sydenham and Bath Oldfield Park will also continue using the Facewatch system.
Clear signage will be in place at the entrances to all of these stores to make customers aware that the technology is in place and explain how it works.
Privacy matters deeply to people, which is why we are introducing this technology with strong safeguards in place. The Facewatch system has a 99.98 per cent accuracy rate. Any match flagged is reviewed by trained colleagues before any decision is made.
Sainsbury’s has a long record of leading the way on store safety. We have consistently invested in measures that support colleagues and help create enjoyable, secure places to shop.
Colleagues should never feel at risk doing their jobs. Customers should feel comfortable doing their shop. That is why we are taking these steps and why we will continue to put safety first across all our stores.
