Supermarket chain Iceland will financially reward customers who report incidents of shoplifting, as part of efforts to tackle rising levels of retail theft.

The retailer’s executive chairman, Richard Walker, said that shoppers who alert staff to a theft in progress will receive a £1 credit on their Iceland Bonus Card.

The company estimates that shoplifting costs its business around £20m each year.

Mr Walker said this figure not only impacts the company’s bottom line but also limits its ability to reduce prices and reinvest in staff wages.

Speaking to Channel 5 News, Mr Walker said: “Some people see this as a victimless crime, it is not. It’s a cost to the business, to the hours we pay our colleagues, and it involves intimidation and violence.”

He added that encouraging customers to take part in crime prevention could potentially help to reduce prices in stores.

“We’d like customers to help us lower our prices even more by pointing out shoplifters,” Mr Walker said.

The announcement comes amid a steep rise in shoplifting across England and Wales.

According to the Office for National Statistics, police recorded 530,643 shoplifting offences in the year to March 2025.

That’s a 20% increase from 444,022 in the previous year, and the highest figure since current recording practices began in 2002-03.

In response to the growing concerns, the government has pledged to increase neighbourhood policing, promising thousands more officers on patrol by spring 2026.