Sainsbury’s rolls out major change in more UK stores

Five more stores will see the technology installed as the supermarket giant cracks down on crime, including anti-social behaviour and theft.

Initially, a trial saw Sainsbury’s add the technology to two stores in September 2025, but after some success, it will now be added to five London stores.

After installing the technology, the supermarket says it saw a 46% reduction in logged incidents of theft, harm, aggression and anti-social behaviour and 92% of offenders did not return to its stores.

Sainsbury’s announces it will add facial recognition technology to 5 more UK stores

This week, the following five stores will begin operating the facial recognition technology:

• Dalston
• Elephant and Castle
• Ladbroke Grove
• Camden
• Whitechapel

The Sydenham and Bath Oldfield Park stores, which took part in the trial, will continue to use the technology.

Simon Roberts, CEO at Sainsbury’s, said: “We are doing this intentionally and transparently so we can build confidence as we go and understand how the technology works when several stores in the same area use it at once.”

He added: “Clear signage will be in place at the entrances to all of these stores to make customers aware that the technology is in place and explain how it works.”

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The supermarket says it plans to bring the technology into more stores across the UK, but that it will continue to assess how it performs as it introduces it more widely.

Explaining why the facial recognition technology is being implemented in stores, Roberts said: “Colleagues should never feel at risk doing their jobs. Customers should feel comfortable doing their shop. That is why we are taking these steps and why we will continue to put safety first across all our stores”.

How does facial recognition work in Sainsbury’s stores?

The Facewatch technology only identifies known offenders involved in violence, aggression or theft, and all other data is deleted instantly.

Any matches flagged by the system, which has a 99.8% accuracy rate, are reviewed by trained colleagues.

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The system requires a comprehensive log of an individual and the criminal activity they are believed to have been part of, including all supporting evidence.

This is then carefully reviewed by a Facewatch Data Protection Officer, who must be satisfied there is sufficient evidence of criminal behaviour to add them to the system.

Do you think the facial recognition technology is a good idea? Let us know if you’d feel safer while shopping in the comments below.