FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SURVEYS

Annual study finds a rise in retail theft

December 11, 2009—Retail theft, including shoplifting, employee theft, administrative error and vendor fraud, is up, according to a recent annual survey conducted by the University of Florida with a funding grant from ADT Security Services.

The National Retail Security Survey (NRSS) preliminary results show a real increase in the rate of retail theft for the first time in six years. In 2007, the lowest rate of retail theft in the 18-year history of the survey was reported at a rate of 1.44 percent of overall retail sales. Last year that rate rose to 1.52 percent of sales translating into losses of $36.5 billion.

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These preliminary shoplifting and retail theft rates are calculated as a percentage of total sales and for the previous six years of the survey they have been trending downward, according to University of Florida criminologist Richard Hollinger, Ph.D., who directed the National Retail Security Survey.

Employee theft is still the largest portion of the retail theft pie, although as a percentage it decreased slightly while shoplifting increased in 2008. The survey only reflects in-store organized retail crime and does not measure crimes such as cargo theft or merchandise stolen in transport, but it does show a steady increase in the number of reported organized retail crime incidents per retailer and an increase in the dollar amount per incident.

There are a number of new technologies available to retailers that provide them with increased store intelligence and help them to maximize resources and limit losses. New software is capable of analyzing video to detect unusual behaviors and track would-be shoplifters through a store.

New anti-shoplifting tags allow retailers to protect more items securely while leaving them in the open for the convenience of shoppers. Items are protected without making the customer wait or requiring extra staff to retrieve merchandise from under a counter or the back storage room. Point-of-sale analytic software, people counting and remote monitoring are other technologies that allow retailers to not only reduce shoplifting and theft, but also to operate more efficiently.

For more information, see the National Retail Federation Web site.

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