Queenstown shop owners are battling shoplifters with measures including putting offenders' photographs on a "wall of shame".
FreshChoice supermarket manager Mark Nickolls said shoplifters were a big problem for the business, especially in the peak winter season.
"During winter we catch about two to three people shoplifting per day. And every time we get the police here, which is obviously a pain for them, and it is a big cost to us as a business."
The supermarket had to write off $250,000 a year for goods stolen, wasted or spilled, he said.
"Shoplifters are a broad range of people. We've had a kindergarten teacher from Australia, school kids and grandmothers," he said.
Those shoplifters who ate food in the store were usually backpackers, he said.
"They are what we call grazing in-store, and mostly they are backpackers," Mr Nickolls said.
"We don't want to be seen as backpacker-bashing, because they are a big part of our business," he said.
The supermarket had introduced a ticketing system for $23.99-a-dozen Bluff oysters after empty pottles were found hidden behind other items.
"We have to have the ticketing system because when we tracked our sales against our stock, we were missing too many.
"We also found a lot of empty pottles in the store, so obviously people are consuming them fresh in-store," Mr Nickolls said.
Customers now had to get a ticket from the seafood counter and present it at the checkout.
The operator would have to go to the seafood section to get the oysters after payment, he said.
"It's wasting staff time, and a hassle for customers, because of delays at the checkout," he said.
The supermarket had 36 cameras, electronic tags on some items and employed people to patrol the store in mufti clothing. Shoplifters were kept at the supermarket until the police arrived, Mr Nickolls said.
A photograph of the offenders was posted on a "wall of shame" in the supermarket, he said.
People on the wall were barred for one year.
The manager of Queenstown's two Night 'n Day Foodstores, Colin Robson, said shoplifting was a consistent problem.
"They are wasting: our time, when we have to go through footage; police time and ... the court's time because of their stupidity," he said.
The Night 'n Day stores had shoplifters late at night where alcohol was involved, particularly stealing hot pies.
Mr Robson had installed 16 cameras and employed security guards on Friday and Saturday nights to catch shoplifters.
Everybody caught was handed to police, Mr Robson said.
Queenstown Senior Sergeant John Fookes said police were often called to various premises around Queenstown to arrest shoplifters.
"It's fair to say it's probably a common type of offending throughout the country, and Queenstown is no different."
He said "grazers", or people who ate food in-store, should realise what they were doing was a crime.
"People who walk around doing their shopping and helping themselves and eating are not uncommon at all. It is also theft and they are not infrequently charged with theft."
Shop owners needed to put security measures in place, but "vigilance is No 1", he said.
A common-sense approach to placement of small costly items was also necessary, he said.
