Stealing with impunity

Committee member Nick Karas provides the following - A surge in shoplifting, partly driven by the rise of self-serve checkouts, means retailers are now losing more than $3.3 billion a year to light-fingered customers

A study of over 9000 Australian and New Zealand retailers has revealed the cost of theft in-store has now reached a "crisis point" for companies as shoplifters have become more brazen in recent years.

Along with classic shoplifting targets such as cosmetics, meat and baby milk formula, a rise in violent crime was also recorded, with reports of ‘micro-gangs’ rushing stores and overwhelming attendants.

The majority of respondents were large fashion, grocery and department retailers with 300 or more stores. For the 2018 financial year, those companies estimated crime-related losses of $3.37 billion, or 0.92 per cent of the region's total retail revenue for the year.

 Just over half (57 per cent) was attributed directly to shoplifting, with a 22 per cent dishonest employee theft, 15 per cent non-crime related losses, and 6 per cent supplier fraud.

Direct customer theft was estimated to have cost the industry $2.26 billion in 2017/18. To read more follow the link.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/stealing-with-impunity-crime-costing-retailers-over-3-3bn-a-year-20190725-p52akn.html