Tesco brings in drastic measure at 'further 50 stores' after initial trial

Tesco brings in drastic measure at 'further 50 stores' after initial trial
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


Tesco has rolled out secure champagne chillers to a further 50 stores in a crackdown on shoplifting. Tesco is rolling out keypad opened cabinets to a further 50 stores across its estate to secure champagne and fight retail crime.

The in-aisle locked cabinets are opened by customers via a keypad, with an alarm sounding if the chiller door has been left open for more than seven seconds or propped open. The cabinets being installed are the latest version of the technology by retail equipment supplier Wanzl.

The cabinets have already been rolled out to 22 stores – including two in smaller format Express stores – following a trial which started in late 2023. According to Wanzl, the new cabinets introduce a “really friendly” customer interface, which “doesn’t stand in the way of someone getting what they want to get”.

ADVERTISEMENT

READ MORE: I visited Birmingham's huge new Asian supermarket and it's like a free Costco

READ MORE: Sainsbury's shoppers who have Nectar card issued £624 warning

READ MORE Octopus issues £900 warning to anyone who is a customer with them

Wanzl UK head of retail shop solutions Lee Gilks told The Grocer Magazine : "High value alcohol in stores has always been a challenge. You have to strike the balance between selling things and locking things away. To fix shrinkage you could just put a massive lock on it, but that becomes a bit of a sales turn off.” Wanzl claim that the system “significantly reduced theft incidents”.

Wanzl UK grocery key account manager Nicola Valentino added: "The products that are locked up are high value, they’re nice products. We wanted it to look like a fancy chiller so people are drawn to it. We wanted to get that balance of let’s draw the paying consumer in, don’t make it an irritant, but also create that bit of paranoia for would-be thieves.”

Tesco - which is rivalled by the likes of Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Asda, Lidl and Aldi too - was forced to deny it used facial recognition technology or took photos of shoppers using the cabinets.