Some charity retailers in the UK have reported an increase in shoplifting and anti-social behaviour in their shops, according to the Charity Shops Survey 2024.
The survey, published in the October issue of Civil Society’s sister publication Charity Finance, asked retailers if shoplifting had increased in their shops in the last 12 months and how they had responded.
Most of the 34 respondents acknowledged an increase in reported incidents, ranging from anti-social behaviour to verbal abuse from customers and donors, and theft.
‘Significant increase’
Tenovus Cancer Care said it had seen a significant increase in shoplifting, with perpetrators “being more blatant about it”.
To address the issue, the charity introduced bells on the tills, “so the volunteers can call people out from the backroom to have an increased presence on the shop floor when known shoplifters come in”.
“We’ve asked shops to report incidents of shoplifting. We have written a CCTV policy in anticipation of installing it in some shops as a deterrent,” it said.
“We’ve also carried out training with shop managers on dealing with aggressive customers as we have seen an increase in aggressive behaviour.”
Longfield Community Hospice had to issue “banning letters to several repeat offenders and work with local police community support officers”.
It said: “We’ve installed CCTV in all our shops and issued all shops with personal attack alarms.
“We’ve also asked our staff to report shoplifting to us more so we can keep records of how much it’s increased and to what extent CCTV has helped.
“We also had an external provider come in to deliver training to the shop staff on personal safety, which covered shoplifting and how to deal with it – eg don’t try and chase after people and put yourself in danger.”
Meanwhile, the Children’s Society and DEBRA reported increased theft after buying and stocking bought-in goods.
They both implemented counter-measures including training staff to spot potential shoplifters and keeping valuable items out of reach.
Retail climate and customer expectations
Some respondents also noticed a change in the retail climate while others reported that customers were increasingly complaining about prices.
For instance, the Paul Sartori Foundation highlighted a rise in verbal abuse from customers and donors when it was unable to accept donations.
Longfield Community Hospice commented: “The general public has come to expect low prices because it’s shopping in charity shops. Yet, our costs have gone up and therefore our budgets have gone up.
“Our purpose, of course, is to raise money for our charity, not provide cheap clothing for the community.
“There’s sometimes a misconception that everything should be very cheap and this doesn’t take into account the condition of items, brand, what the items are worth etc.”
Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity now sees more customers buying from its shops and reselling items on platforms such as Vinted and eBay.
“We’ve definitely seen a big increase in refunds, partly because customer expectation has changed in line with online shopping, and perhaps also because people are less able to write off clothing purchases if they're not right,” the charity said.
“Previously, they’d have been more likely to re-donate.”
The Charity Shops Survey 2024 can be purchased here.
Charity Finance Week runs runs from 7-11 October this year, with a dedicated week of face-to-face and virtual events, content, and thought leadership initiatives. Find out more here.
Related articles
