Iceland has deployed an AI computer vision model to reduce its theft, retail losses, and shrink by 80 per cent.

The supermarket chain partnered with AI firm SAI to roll out its visual language platform SAI One, which combines visual intelligence models with generative AI to analyse live data from in-store CCTV feeds.

At checkouts, for example, the platform can detect partial payments or missed scans while in aisles it can flag shoplifting and customers consuming food products without paying for them.

When SAI One flags suspicious activity employees are sent an alert within eight seconds, Iceland said, with images and footage of incidents sent to colleagues’ handheld terminals.

Iceland has rolled out the platform at over 1,000 of its UK sites, including 700 High Street stores. The retailer said the new approach had helped it to reduce theft at the 100 stores that account for approximately a third of its overall losses, as well as to halve false alerts.

Andy Edwards, head of loss prevention and corporate audit at Iceland, said: “The platform is not just helping us reduce shrink and making Iceland one of the hardest places to steal from on the High Street, it's also helping colleagues on the shopfloor from a productivity perspective. It’s really accelerated us to being at the forefront of AI use in loss prevention.”

Shoplifting has become a focus for retailers in recent months, as the British Chambers of Commerce warned that retail crime is limiting UK business growth. In June, the Metropolitan Police and retail groups urged the government to fast-track court cases for shoplifters.

Alongside Iceland, other retailers have turned to new approaches to tackle crime. Holland & Barrett is reportedly deploying undercover detectives to prevent theft and violence against staff and Asda is rolling out a crime reporting and intelligence platform across its UK stores.

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