The U.S. Sun, by David Scott: Retail crime has hit an all-time high as stores report more than $112billion in losses.
The rampant stealing has caused retailers to beef up security and turn to other drastic anti-theft measures in order to try to stop thieves.
The 2023 National Retail Security Survey found that theft-related losses increased from $93.9billion in 2021 to $112.1billion in 2022.
“Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire,” NRF Vice President for Asset Protection and Retail Operations David Johnston said.
“Far beyond the financial impact of these crimes, the violence and concerns over safety continue to be the priority for all retailers, regardless of size or category.”
The survey found that the shrink rate in the 2022 financial year hit 1.6 percent, up from 1.4 percent in 2021. Theft accounted for almost two-thirds of retailers’ shrink. Shrink rate is a measure of inventory loss based on factors such as employee error and shoplifting. It is the difference between optimal sales and actual sales.
Retailers told NRF that organized retail crime remained their biggest concern with 67 percent saying that they saw an increased level of organized crime than in previous years.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York, and Seattle were determined to be the top five locations hit hardest by organized retail theft.
Even with increased funding in loss prevention, 28 percent of retailers reported having to close stores in certain locations.
Another 45 percent of retailers said they cut the number of hours they’re open to combat theft, while 30 percent reduced or altered their in-store product selection.
“Retailers are piloting and implementing a number of loss prevention practices to deter, prevent, and mitigate these substantial losses,” Loss Prevention Research Council Director Read Hayes said.
“In addition to enhancing traditional security measures, many are also allocating resources to innovative emerging technologies for future prevention.”
Many retail companies have been transparent about their losses and pointed the finger at theft as the main culprit.
“Our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said on a conference call.
“Shrink remains consistent with our expectations but well above the sustainable level where we expect to operate over time, and unfortunately, safety incidents associated with theft are moving in the wrong direction.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods executives echoed a similar sentiment about their earnings.
“The impact of theft on our shrink was meaningful to both our Q2 results and our go-forward expectations for the balance of the year,” CEO Lauren Hobart said on an earnings call.
The admission from Dick’s caused their stock to drop by 25 percent.
“We thought we had adequately reserved for it. However, the number of incidents and the organized retail crime impact came in significantly higher than we anticipated,” Dick’s CFO Navdeep Gupta said.
The NRF survey also found that thieves are targeting a variety of products.
The most commonly stolen items range from high-ticket, high-fashion items to everyday essentials that can be resold quickly.
The list has expanded to include outerwear, batteries, energy drinks, designer footwear, and kitchen accessories, according to the federation.
Senior loss prevention and security executives from 177 retail brands participated in the 2023 National Retail Security Survey.
Prophetic Link:
“We are living in the midst of an “epidemic of crime,” at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails, it is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud. Every day brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide. Who can doubt that satanic agencies are at work among men with increasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?” The Ministry of Healing, page 142 and 143.