Newsagents should read the excellent report, Staff theft costing retailers 11 times more than shoplifting at Better Retailing on staff theft. The opening par is a wake-up call on an issue most newsagents prefer to ignore:
Shock new figures reveal staff theft has soared by 129%, costing retailers on average 11 times more than shop theft.
I know from my own work through my POS software company working in several retail channels that theft costs between 3% and 5% of total turnover. However, the majority of independent retailers do not get serious about managing theft until they have been hit.
In every instance of employee theft I have seen over many years, retailers have had the tools necessary to track and stop the theft before it was ultimately detected, usually when less than 5% of the ultimate amount stolen had been taken.
Talk to your software company, ask about the theft mitigation tools available and engage. Do not wait to discover theft by some other means before you act.
An area of concern we should never be complacent about.
Love the article and the way the numbers have been apparently twisted and taken out of context. £19m per annum is actually a very small sum in UK terms. As Disraeli said about 3 types of numbers “There are lies, damn lies and statistics”
Always on guard though. Thanks for the site, interesting.