I got pinged for shoplifting. Here’s what happened next

I walk briskly up escalators – good for the knees. Got to the top when I heard shouting: “You didn’t pay.”

It’s mid-afternoon. I’ve run out of yoghurt. My local supermarket isn’t the cheapest, but I like it. I thought, I’ll just rush through the self-scanner and duck off to pick up the grandkids. Bloody thing wouldn’t work. By some miracle, one of the checkouts with actual people had no queue, so I dashed over, tapped $7.90.

Shouting: “You didn’t pay.” The person accusing me of theft is a staff member of Supamart. For a split-second, I think, what? How?

Always keep receipts – at least in your banking app.​​ The man accusing me of theft in front of complete strangers looks at the transaction on my phone, acknowledges payment but doesn’t apologise, goes back down the escalator.

I stomp back home and call the shop to speak to the manager. Basically, he’s more of a “sorry, not sorry” guy. The next day I go back to the supermarket to speak to him face to face. I draw myself up to my full 150 centimetres but feel taller. He goes through motions and then says, “We went through all this yesterday.” I go past my accuser, and he says: “I was just doing my job.”

There will be people to whom something like this happens and they live with the embarrassment. I’m not going to put up with anyone being bullied by a system which is more interested in protecting its profits than in behaving ethically. I email the communications person of the Karellas Group, which runs Supamart. How does the chain deal with what’s called “loss prevention”?

Here’s a bit of the response: “As a family-owned business, Supamart, like many other retailers across Australia, is not immune to the $9 billion challenges associated with retail crime. The safety and wellbeing of our team members and customers will always be our highest priority. We believe this is an issue of growing concern for the wider retail industry and feel that more robust measures and penalties are needed to deter repeat offenders.”

Australia is in the midst of a shoplifting epidemic. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ head of crime and justice statistics Samantha Hall tells me that in 2024, there were almost 600,000 victims [including shopowners] of theft which includes shoplifting and pickpocketing. That’s a 6 per cent rise on last year and the highest number since 2003, a 21-year high. She says the proportion of thefts at retail locations rose from 32 per cent of all thefts in 2010 to 45 per cent in 2024.

The largest rise? Victoria, with a rise of nearly 30 per cent, followed by Tasmania, which had an 11 per cent increase. NSW had an increase of 1 per cent from 2023.

The Australian Financial Review has run a series of stories about the extent of the mayhem, calling shoplifting the crime of the nation. And sure, stores have a responsibility to their stakeholders. I’d argue they also have a responsibility to customers.

Griffith University’s Michael Townsley found almost two per cent of turnover was lost in the 2024 financial year in Australia, costing $7.79 billion. Townsley, Australia’s expert on shoplifting, tells me that when self-checkouts were introduced, it was meant to be a win-win for retailers. Fewer staff and shoppers giving their labour for free.

“But they’ve turned out to be lose-lose,” he says. Why? It’s easier to steal using self-checkout. That explains why most times, there is some kid watching. Creepy. If supermarkets want to surveil you, they’d better do it properly. Townsley says retailers are getting better at detection.

When I send Karellas Group a second – maybe third – email asking for more information, I get a teaspoon of sorry and: “We’ll come back with you once we’ve investigated.” I don’t tell them which store because all I want to know is if this behaviour is policy.

A few days later, I get a call from a bloke who tells me he is responsible for all the stores. He asks me not to use his name. He claims this behaviour was not store policy. Weird, I say. It also happened to one of my kids (with two kids and a stroller) a couple of weeks later. He says he’s surprised.

Townsley of Griffith University says store managers have discretion – some looser, some more draconian. Perhaps my local supermarket is experiencing high losses. I suggest to the bloke who rang me that perhaps he should hire more staff, and he goes: “What? More staff?”

Yes, enough staff to fix the terminals. Enough people to have proper checkouts staffed at all hours of the day and night. Enough people who can treat customers with respect. I suggest that it’s not safe for staff to confront individuals (I look harmless, but I can swing a 28kg kettlebell).

Build safety and security into design. Employ more staff even if it tightens your margins. Townsley says burglaries are down, too high risk – and shoplifting is up, partly because shopping chains seem faceless. Can’t tell who you are hurting. The rates of shoplifting won’t be stopped one customer at a time – and getting your staff to confront individuals isn’t safe for them or safe for my blood pressure.

Jenna Price is a regular columnist.

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