SINGAPORE – Picture this: you stroll into a Sheng Siong supermarket, your mission is to pick up a loaf of bread, and suddenly, you find yourself being scrutinized by sophisticated facial recognition technology. Since April 2024, the supermarket chain has decided to play it Sherlock Holmes-style by adding facial recognition to its security cameras. That’s right—catching shoplifters just went from zero to high-tech in no time.
But hold on, it’s not all about hunting down the next “criminal mastermind” stealing toilet paper rolls. This system is also on the case of those poor souls whose payment didn’t go through, possibly due to a card swiper malfunction or a romantic conundrum with their bank. Imagine getting flagged for leaving the store without paying, not because you’re a thief—but because your card decided to take a day off.
As of now, this technology is strutting its stuff in approximately 50 of the 83 Sheng Siong outlets. And let’s talk about efficiency—previously, detectives (aka security staff) caught an average of four shoplifters a year at each outlet. Now, thanks to our digital overlords, that number has doubled to eight! And here I thought my Wi-Fi speed boost was impressive.
It gets better. In the past, catching a shoplifter was a tedious process of reviewing security footage like a scene from a true crime documentary—cue the dramatic music. But now? “It’s all auto and digital,” says Mr. Lim Hock Chee, the CEO of Sheng Siong Group. He might as well have said he went from horse-drawn carriages to Teslas in one fell swoop.
However, shoplifting is still on the rise. In the first half of 2025, reports showed 2,097 instances of theft—a radical 4.2% increase from 2024. Seems like thieves are taking notes from the stock market—always room for growth! Meanwhile, Mr. Lim proudly stated that the technology isn’t just about nabbing suspicious-looking characters but also about saving money from failed payment transactions. Ironically, you can now be informed if your card didn’t go through while you’re on your sprint to the exit.
At this point, it’s worth mentioning that Sheng Siong is recovering about $10,000 a month from these “abandoned” transactions. Thanks to facial recognition, staff can now inform returning customers of their oversight, turning them into unwitting transaction participants. Fortunately, this clever little hack has slashed losses to about $1,500 monthly. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!
Looking ahead, Sheng Siong has big plans. They intend to roll out facial recognition across all stores, truly making it a force to be reckoned with in the world of retail. To keep things transparent—because what better way to ease privacy concerns than to post a sign?—they’ve plastered notices about the cameras everywhere. So now you’ll be reminded of Big Brother while you’re grocery shopping.
As partners in crime—err, prevention—Sheng Siong is part of the police’s Shop Theft Awareness for Retailers program, aimed at ensuring store owners don’t turn into something out of a heist movie. There are over 1,000 retailers in this program now, including FairPrice and Watsons. It’s a veritable gang of vigilantes in the battle against retail crime!
In a final stroke of ironic encouragement, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Devrajan Bala chimed in about the benefits of facial recognition: “Offenders will be identified and caught even if they manage to leave the store with the stolen items.” Thank you for that glowing endorsement, but I’m just hoping next week’s shopping list won’t include a paranoid escape plan.
