RETAILERS SEE INCREASED LOSSES FROM THEFT AND INVENTORY SHRINK

Thefts from retailers and other inventory “shrink” grew to $48.9 billion in 2016 from $45.2 billion the year before, according to the annual National Retail Security Survey released by the National Retail Federation and the University of Florida. The thefts amounted to 1.44 percent of sales, up from 1.38 percent.

According to the report, 48.8 percent of retailers surveyed reported increases in inventory shrink, while only 16.7 percent said it remained flat. Shrink was divided into shoplifting and organized retail crime (36.5 percent), employee theft/internal (30 percent), administrative paperwork error (21.3 percent) and vendor fraud or error (5.4 percent).

In addition, for the first time in the survey, retailers were asked about return fraud, reporting an average loss of $1,766.27.

“Retailers are proactive in combatting criminal activity in their stores but acknowledge that they still have a lot of work left to do,” said Bob Moraca, vice president of Loss Prevention for NRF. “The job is made much more difficult when loss prevention experts can’t get the money they need to beef up their staffs and resources. Retail executives need to realize that money spent on preventing losses is money that improves the bottom line.”

“The seriousness of retail theft is much greater than most customers realize,” added Richard Hollinger, a veteran University of Florida criminology professor and the lead author of the report. “When criminals steal from retailers, consumers pay higher prices, the safety of innocent employees can be compromised and shoppers looking for popular merchandise often cannot find it. Retailers need to continue to invest in new technologies to prevent and prosecute these crimes.”