Maybe it’s just me but it feels like shoplifting is on the rise based on the number of posts on social media by retailers with photos of people in their shop who appear to have forgotten to pay for what they left with.
The Guardian has published a report on shoplifting in the UK. It’s worth a read as it’s written from a street-level journalism perspective, and while it is stories from Manchester, it could be from parts of Australia.
This small corner of Manchester is no anomaly. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimates that there were 8m “theft incidents” in British shops last year, costing £953m. The BRC says shop theft is a “long-term rising trend”, with incidents more than doubling since 2016-17. Meanwhile, reports abound of increasing desperation among customers stealing to feed their children – claims promoted by opposition politicians, but strongly contested by many retailers.
I think any retailer would find it interesting.
I have seen limited data and they indicate a rise in shoplifting in local indie retail in Australia. I have see more evidence of employee theft tho.
In a newsagency, the best early indicator of possible shoplifting is the magazine returns discrepancy report. Returns are processed weekly anyway so it’s a tiny step to check the discrepancy. If you notice these, consider spot stock-take elsewhere in the shop to test whether theft is a problem for you.