Sheng Siong Rewards Employees for Spotting Shoplifters, Including Their Own Co-Workers

Shoplifting cases have been on the rise over the years. Suffice it to say that, shoplifting is a real issue which plagues the minds of many business owners.

However, one particular business has thought of an ingenious way to combat shoplifting. Sheng Siong has implemented a system where employees are rewarded for spotting shoplifters, including identifying co-workers who shoplift.

And the system has worked.

Shoplifting On the Rise in Singapore

It’s no secret that shoplifting has been an issue plaguing Singapore for quite some time now. However, what’s concerning is the increasing trend in shoplifting cases in Singapore.

Last year, Singapore saw nearly 4,000 cases of shoplifting. This is compared to the 3,244 cases in 2022, 2,652 cases in 2021, and approximately 2,500 cases in 2020.

It’s clear to see that shoplifting cases have been steadily increasing over the years — a problem that businesses have to contend with.

More than two-thirds of shoplifting cases happened at retail outlets such as department stores, supermarkets and pharmacies. All sorts of items were shoplifted — from food and beverages to cosmetics.

So, it’s no surprise that a large supermarket chain like Sheng Siong has moved rather quickly to implement a system to tackle shoplifting.

Sheng Siong Employees Receive $100 or $5,000 Rewards for Identifying Shoplifters

On Sunday (11 August), Sheng Siong CEO Lim Hock Chee revealed Sheng Siong’s strategy for tackling shoplifting during a talk given at The Singapore Buddhist Lodge, which was attended by nearly 400 people.

Sheng Siong’s golden strategy to prevent shoplifting? Rewarding Sheng Siong employees for identifying shoplifters.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Sheng Siong has implemented an employee reward system where employees at its 73 outlets act as human surveillance cameras. An employee who spots a shoplifter stands to receive a $100 reward.

But that’s not all there is to the system.

Cognisant that there’s also an issue with Sheng Siong’s own employees shoplifting, Mr Lim shared that the supermarket chain has also implemented a system where employees stand to receive a $5,000 reward for reporting a shoplifting co-worker.

Effective and Cost-Efficient

The best thing about this system is that it has actually worked. According to Mr Lim, the reward system has reduced the shoplifting rate across Sheng Siong outlets islandwide down to 0.03%, which is nearly ten times lower than that of Sheng Siong’s competitors.

The Sheng Siong CEO also shared that an added benefit of the reward system was that it was more cost-effective compared to implementing extensive security systems.

So, Sheng Siong wins lah. Not only is the reward system effective, it’s also cost-efficient.

We hope some of the cost savings are passed down to consumers in the form of lower prices… 

The 63-year-old also emphasised that rewards are much simpler than punishments, as reflected by the positive results of Sheng Siong’s employee reward system.

Perhaps we’ll start seeing other retailers adopting a similar model soon and with any hope, shoplifting cases will gradually decrease in the future.

Shoplifting is a rather serious offence in Singapore. If caught shoplifting, one is liable to a fine and/or imprisonment for up to seven years.