The situation is no different in South Africa, where a single store can lose up to R2 million a year to shrinkage.

This Tuesday Special Assignment investigates the latest trends in shoplifting and employee theft. Using a hidden camera, we show how easily shop assistants make money selling merchandise on the side; how willing they are to bypass the bar code scanner; or to brazenly offer their own “specials” to customers.

He spends many hours in the security monitor room, trying to identify shoplifters on camera. But it’s not easy because strategies change. One of the latest tricks is double buying where two people come into a store with exactly the same shopping list. “They put the same items into their trollies, but only one pays. The till slip then gets handed to the second person who will pass through without paying. They’re not easy to spot on the shop floor,” he says.

Shoplifters interviewed on the program say they are becoming more professional.

Another tells us: “We even hire transport to wait for us and we go to different shops in different areas. If we get caught, we bribe the security guards.”

The problem has become so serious that the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa is trying to set up special shoplifting courts.

“Shrinking Shelves” was produced by Jessica Pitchford and filmed by Byron Taylor.