ASDA chairman Lord Stuart Rose said this week the offence has effectively been decriminalised thanks to a lack of action, and echoed calls by the boss of Tesco for more to be done to protect staff.
Dame Sharon White has called on the government to introduce legislation that will clamp down on shoplifting gangs who have been stealing and looting retailers this year.
EXCLUSIVE: One trader in Islington, North London, lost £100,000 worth of jewellery and cash during a distraction theft - while a separate incident saw a woman flash her breasts at him after stealing items.
Small gangs are hitting stores in what the British Independent Retailers Association described as stealing to order and compared to the county lines issue for drugs.