Retail theft rate eases but remains a $34.5B problem: Analysis
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Retail theft rates declined in 2011 but remained a $34.5 billion problem, according to a survey released Thursday at the National Retail Federation's Loss Prevention Conference and EXPO in New Orleans.
The latest survey shows that retail “shrinkage”—or loss of inventory due to employee theft, shoplifting, paperwork errors or supplier fraud—dropped to just over 1.41% of retail sales in 2011. That is down from 1.49% in 2010, when retail shrinkage totaled $37.1 billion.
According to preliminary survey findings, the majority of the 2011 losses were due to employee theft, which accounted for 43.9% of the total. Shoplifting accounted for approximately 35.7% of 2011's losses, while administrative errors represented 12.1% and vendor fraud 5.0% of the total.
Retailers participating in the survey said the causes of the remaining shrinkage were unknown.
The National Retail Security Survey is an annual survey of loss prevention executives that benchmarks retail shrinkage and operational information about how retailers are combating losses. This year's study surveyed 100 retailers during the first half of 2012.
The survey is a collaborative effort between the National Retail Federation and the University of Florida. It was conducted with a funding grant from ADT Commerical Security, soon to be Tyco Integrated Security.
