Latest news with #customerreward
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
UK supermarket offers new £1 incentive to shoppers
Supermarket chain Iceland is introducing a scheme to reward customers £1 for actively spotting and reporting shoplifters in their stores. Customers who alert staff to shoplifting incidents will receive the payment directly to their membership card. The initiative comes as Iceland faces an estimated £20 million annual loss due to shoplifting, which limits the company's ability to lower prices and pay staff. Richard Walker, Iceland's executive chairman, stated that shoplifting is not a victimless crime and impacts business costs. The move follows official figures showing that shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales reached a record high of 530,643 in the year to March 2025.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Iceland to offer customers £1 reward for reporting shoplifters
Supermarket chain Iceland is to offer customers a £1 reward if they spot shoplifters in the act. The retailer's boss, Richard Walker, said any shoppers who point out offenders to members of staff will receive a payment to their membership card. Iceland said the business faces a roughly £20 million hit from the cost of shoplifting each year. Mr Walker, executive chairman of Iceland, told Channel Five news that shoplifting is not a 'victimless crime'. 'I'd like to announce that we will give £1 to any customer who points out a shoplifter. 'We'll put it on their bonus card, if they see any customers in our stores who is undertaking that offence. 'Some people see this as a victimless crime; it is not. 'It also keeps prices from being lowered because it is a cost to the business. 'It's a cost to the hours we pay our colleagues, as well as it being about intimidation and violence.' He said the £20 million cost of theft limits the amount that the company can pay back out to its colleague and restrains its ability to lower prices. 'We'd like customers to help us lower our prices even more by pointing out shoplifters,' Mr Walker added. Last month, official figures revealed that the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales climbed to another record high. Some 530,643 offences were logged in the year to March 2025, up 20% from 444,022 in 2023-24 and the highest total since current police recording practices began in 2002-03. At the time, retail bosses warned that shop theft was spiralling out of control and that business owners need to see immediate results as ministers have pledged thousands more officers for neighbourhood policing by next spring. Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said the recorded figures show more crimes are being reported, but this is still 'far too low', with many retailers having 'no faith' in incidents being investigated.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Iceland to offer customers £1 reward for reporting shoplifters
Supermarket chain Iceland is to offer customers a £1 reward if they spot shoplifters in the act. The retailer's boss, Richard Walker, said any shoppers who point out offenders to members of staff will receive a payment to their membership card. Iceland said the business faces a roughly £20 million hit from the cost of shoplifting each year. Mr Walker, executive chairman of Iceland, told Channel Five news that shoplifting is not a 'victimless crime'. 'I'd like to announce that we will give £1 to any customer who points out a shoplifter. 'We'll put it on their bonus card, if they see any customers in our stores who is undertaking that offence. 'Some people see this as a victimless crime; it is not. 'It also keeps prices from being lowered because it is a cost to the business. 'It's a cost to the hours we pay our colleagues, as well as it being about intimidation and violence.' He said the £20 million cost of theft limits the amount that the company can pay back out to its colleague and restrains its ability to lower prices. 'We'd like customers to help us lower our prices even more by pointing out shoplifters,' Mr Walker added. Last month, official figures revealed that the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales climbed to another record high. Some 530,643 offences were logged in the year to March 2025, up 20% from 444,022 in 2023-24 and the highest total since current police recording practices began in 2002-03. At the time, retail bosses warned that shop theft was spiralling out of control and that business owners need to see immediate results as ministers have pledged thousands more officers for neighbourhood policing by next spring. Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said the recorded figures show more crimes are being reported, but this is still 'far too low', with many retailers having 'no faith' in incidents being investigated.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Iceland boss will pay customers to sniff out shoplifters after thieves cost supermarket £20million in the past year
Iceland's boss will pay customers to catch shoplifters in the act after suffering a £20million blow to business in the last year. Richard Walker hoped that the incentive would encourage shoppers to act if they spotted a shoplifter and hit back at claims it was a 'victimless crime '. The supermarket is the first in the UK to offer rewards to customers who snitch on thieves. Shoppers will be given £1 on their bonus cards each time they point out thieves to Iceland staff and Mr Walker hopes it will allow the chain to lower their prices. The CEO revealed that the cost of shoplifting to the business was £20million annually and Mr Walker hoped that money saved from the scheme could go back in to the shops, paying for more workers and lowering prices. 'I'd actually like to announce that we will give a pound to any customer who points out a shoplifter,' he told Channel 5 News on Wednesday. 'We will put it on their bonus card if they see any customer in our stores who are undertaking that offence.' He added that he believed the programme would deter thieves, adding: 'Some people see it as a victimless crime. It is not. Iceland's CEO Richard Walker (pictured) hopes the incentive will encourage shoppers to act if they spot a shoplifter which will help bring prices down 'It also keeps prices from being lowered because it's a cost to the business, it's a cost to the hours that we pay our colleagues, as well as it obviously being about intimidation and violence.' And the Iceland boss emphasised that it was an important issue to tackle and affected customers as well as profit. 'That's not £20 million of profit. That's just £20million that we could pay in more hours to our colleagues or in lowering prices,' he said. 'So we'd like our customers to help us lower our prices even more by pointing out shoplifters and then we'll give them a quid back.' Mr Walker's new scheme comes just months after an Iceland security guard was filmed arming himself with a shopping basket to stave off a suspected thief aiming kicks at him. In a video capturing the moment, the shop employee is seen backing away before picking up the basket to use as a shield against the intruder at his store's entrance in Walworth, south-east London. A customer filmed the confrontation on their phone, appearing to show the suspected offender then picking up a bag and running away down the street. Members of the public and retail security are being encouraged to stand up to shoplifters after Matthew Barber, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley said tackling thieves was not just a job for police and criticised onlookers for simply filming instances of crime. Mr Barber hit out at the public for being 'part of the problem' and encouraged shop owners to to deal with thieves themselves. At a meeting of the Thames Valley police and crime panel in June, the PCC said: 'If you've got someone in your store now stealing from you, call 999. 'Also ideally try and stop them leaving, don't just stand there and watch, which a lot of people do, which frustrates me.' He added that he wasn't suggesting everybody 'take it upon themselves to rugby tackle' shoplifters but that everyone should take on the responsibility in their own communities. Mr Barber then doubled down on his comments and said he was concerned that the UK had become a 'very poor society' with the public simply refusing to involve themselves in tackling crime.
The Sun
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Exact date in weeks millions of Nationwide customers to get free £100 – check if you're eligible
MILLIONS of Nationwide customers are about to get a free £100 in their bank accounts in just weeks to come. The building society is handing out the cash as part of its Fairer Share scheme, rewarding loyal customers with a slice of a whopping £410million pot. 1 If you qualify, the money will land between June 18 and July 4. The payment will go straight into your Nationwide current account, so you won't have to worry about any forms. To qualify, you must have opened your main current account with Nationwide by March 31 this year. On top of that, you'll need to either have a savings balance of £100 or more, or owe at least £100 on your mortgage by the same date. Plus, your account has to show some activity between January and March - so it can't just be sitting there gathering dust. An estimated four million people will pocket the payout this year. It will be the third year in a row Nationwide has rewarded customers in this way. Boss Debbie Crosbie said: 'Nationwide has had an outstanding twelve months. We returned a record £2.8billion in value to members and remain number one for customer service.' So if you're a regular Nationwide user and tick the right boxes then it's happy days. And if that wasn't enough, there's another sweetener on the table. The bank has just launched a £200 switching bonus for newbies, plus a Member Exclusive Bond that pays a tidy return. Anyone who saves the full £10,000 in the bond will bag £762.50 in interest over 18 months – that's £150 more than its next best offer. The £100 payment is separate from the £50 one-off bonus paid earlier this year to 12 million members. What if i don't bank with Nationwide? If you're not banking with Nationwide as yet, you will have to sit this one out unfortunately. However, it's not all doom and gloom. Other banks are getting in on the free cash action too. Santander is currently offering a free £180 for switching your current account over. TSB is giving new customers who switch to the high street bank a £100 switching incentive. You get the £100 upfront but if you spend on you debit card for 20 times in the first six months you get a £15 a month cash back. Co-op bank is also paying £175 to new customers. And its not just traditional banks offering up freebies. Customers can also cash in on free perks with popular digital banks. How do I switch bank accounts? SWITCHING bank accounts is a simple process and can usually be done through the Current Account Switch Service (CASS). Dozens of high street banks and building societies are signed up - there's a full list on CASS' website. Under the switching service, swapping banks should take seven working days. You don't have to remember to move direct debits across when moving, as this is done for you. All you have to do is apply for the new account you want, and the new bank will tell your existing one you're moving. There are a few things you can do before switching though, including choosing your switch date and transferring any old bank statements to your new account. You should get in touch with your existing bank for any old statements. When switching current accounts, consider what other perks might come with joining a specific bank or building society. Some banks offer 0% overdrafts up to a certain limit, and others might offer better rates on savings accounts. And some banks offer free travel or mobile phone insurance with their current accounts - but these accounts might come with a monthly fee.
