Sainsbury's introduces new measure for shoppers buying alcohol in some stores

Sainsbury's is reportedly trialling a new anti-theft measure in the alcohol aisles of some of its stores.

The retailer has introduced locked security cabinets for premium sprits in a 'small number' of supermarkets in a bid to prevent shoplifters, the Mirror reports. The cabinets are opened using a digital touchscreen and shoppers have to complete a 'four-step process' to open them up.

Trade magazine The Grocer first spotted the new security measure in stores. One of the systems being trialled by Sainsbury's, called the Freedom Case, can track when items have been removed and how long the cabinet has been open, the magazine reports.

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Some of these types of cabinets can only be opened if a shopper scans their loyalty card or app, while others ask for a mobile number or use facial recognition technology. However, Sainsbury's confirmed that the trials it is currently running do not use facial recognition or ask customers for any of their data.

The supermarket told The Grocer that it is trialling the cabinets in a "small number of stores" including in St Albans.

The new trial comes as research from the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) annual survey found the amount lost to shoplifting in the latest year was the highest ever recorded. The BRC said that last year shoplifting cost retailers around £1.8 billion - surpassing £1 billion for the first time.

Some retailers have said that the cost of living crisis has increased the number of items being stolen.. The boss of John Lewis, Dame Sharon White, previously told the BBC that shoplifting had become an "epidemic"