Retailers are being urged to increase their levels of security as new figures suggest a rise in shoplifting and a fall in sales volumes.

The British Retail Consortium recently highlighted the worst fall in sales in 16 years and commissioned research from G4S reveals the value of shoplifted items has increased by over 52% in the last 12 months.

Economic pressures are forcing households to reduce spending due to pay freezes and rising inflation, leading to an increase in shoplifting as retailers try to save on costs by lowering their level of security surveillance and monitoring. Customer theft accounts for the largest proportion of retail crime, accounting for over 74% of all theft by value.

With this vicious cycle set to continue as the economy struggles to recover, retailers need to consider investing in protecting their premises with CCTV equipment to monitor activity 24 hours a day. With a visual security presence, would-be shoplifters would be deterred and employees would feel safer in their working environment. Smaller commercial outlets can easily install CCTV cameras and monitors in their premises with additional digital recorders available for 24 hour surveillance.