Accidentally-on-purpose missed swiping the barcode on your avocado? You might be one of Britain’s SWIPERS – otherwise known as Seemingly Well-Intentioned Patrons Engaged in Regular Shoplifting.
Hiding in plain sight, these people can afford to pay but choose to pinch whatever they can get away with, just because they can. Even if you’ve only bought some olive oil on Facebook Marketplace at a price that feels too good to be true – suggesting that it’s stolen goods – you are complicit to the theft. According to the British Retail Consortium, we’re in the midst of a shoplifting phenomenon, as shop thefts reached an all-time high with over 20 million incidents in 2023/24, costing retailers £2.2 billion.
