A survey compiled by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the University of Florida, shows that retail “shrinkage” increased from $45.2 billion in 2015 to $48.9 billion in 2016. Most losses were due to shoplifting, with an average of $798.48 per incident, up $377 from 2015. Part of the increase is attributed to some states increasing the threshold for felony crimes, so that only larger thefts were reported. Also, retailers spent less on loss prevention in 2016, which led to more theft.
Employee theft was the second biggest source of shrinkage, skyrocketing from $700 in 2015 to $1,922.80 in 2016.
Other Survey Findings:
The average inventory shrink rate has increased to 1.44%.
Inventory shrinkage includes:
Shoplifting/external (including ORC): 36.5%
Employee theft/internal: 30%
Administrative and paperwork error: 21.3%
Vendor fraud or error: 5.4%
Unknown loss: 6.8%
Source: NRF.com
