Shoplifting stats

Store Equipment & Design, Jan, 2000

Shrink caused by theft is still a major problem for operators in all segments of the retail industry. Shoplifting alone costs retailers over $18 billion annually in terms of loss of gross sales and the cost of prosecuting apprehended thieves. The U.S. Justice Department statistics peg the total number of retail shopliftings reported to the police in 1997 as 896,627. The number of incidents that go unreported, or even undocumented, by operators far surpasses this number.

The 1998 Retail Theft Trends Report, compiled by Loss Prevention Specialists, Winter Park, Fla., and sponsored by Sensor-matic Electronics Corp., Boca Raton, Fla., surveyed operators across a wide spectrum of retail segments, compiling statistics on the types, amounts and times of shoplifting occurrences, as well as the type of person apprehended.

Grocery stores and supermarkets have unique shoplifting problems in that they have a high degree of traffic on most days of the week, and many are open 24 hours a day. Additionally, the report confirms, supermarkets experience a steady amount of shoplifting distributed throughout the year. It would seem that it is always open season on supermarkets. The relatively low average theft amount ($20.38) and large number of SKUs found in the average supermarket makes detection of loss more difficult. Even when a loss is detected in a store's inventory it is usually put down as undefined shrink, because of the perishable nature of many of the store's products.

There have been, over the years, many technological advances in the prevention of shoplifting. Equipment such as EAS (electronic article surveillance), closed circuit television cameras and exception monitoring has been employed in some supermarket situations, but can be expensive. In many cases, technology such as EAS is implemented to protect only high-end supermarket merchandise, such as OTC drugs, meat and seafood products and electronics.

The usual response by operators is to keep many of these and other high-ticket items locked up, making purchasing them inconvenient for shoppers. The report point out that sophisticates anti-pilfering devices can only go so far; they must be coupled with knowledge of who is likely to shoplift, what they will take when.

                      Estimated U.S. Losses Caused by
                            Dishonest Customers
                 (Comparing shoplifting with total shrink)
     Total Shrink Losses Losses From Shoplifting
1990        $22.7                 $5.94
1991        $21.8                 $8.37
1992        $22.1                 $7.78
1993        $24.6                 $7.97
1994        $24.7                 $8.58
1995        $25.2                 $9.02
1996        $25.7                 $9.01
1997        $33.4                $11.48
(*.)Includes all retail outlets
Source: 1991-1998 National Retail Security Surveys
                             Age of Shoplifters
                  Age Breakdown of Juvenile Shoplifters
13 and under 87%
13-17        13%
                    Theft Statistics by Retail Segment
Retail                Average
Segment               Theft   Gender %    Age %            Most Frequent
                                                           Apprehension
                              M        F  Adults Juveniles Month
Auto Parts            $121.40 81       19 82     8         May
Books                 $29.97  87       13 35     65        March
Electronics/Computers $220.77 91       9  75     25        Dec
Department Stores     $178.61 41       59 64     36        March
Discount Stores       $56.75  54       46 80     20        Dec
Drug/Pharmacy         $17.26  47       53 82     18        Dec
Apparel               $78.34  38       32 54     46        Dec
General Merchandise   $270.06 35       65 96     4         May
Grocery/Supermarket   $20.38  55       45 89     11        March
Home Center           $194.09 87       13 97     3         Dec
Music                 $214.80 81       19 45     65        Jan/May
Shoes                 $73.04  77       23 54     46        July/Aug
Specialty Other       $189.12 24       76 82     8         Jan
Specialty Apparel     $381.45 36       64 86     14        May
Sporting Goods        $77.40  88       12 40     60        Aug
Toys                  $66.56  65       35 63     37        Dec
Video                 $42.47  82       18 53     47        March/May
Wholesale Club        $32.19  62       38 74     26        July
Retail
Segment
                      Day     Time
Auto Parts            Sat     12-3
Books                 Mon     3-6
Electronics/Computers Tue     3-6
Department Stores     Sat     3-6
Discount Stores       Sat     3-6
Drug/Pharmacy         Wed     3-6
Apparel               Sat     3-6
General Merchandise   Fri     3-6
Grocery/Supermarket   Sat     3-6
Home Center           Mon     12-3
Music                 Tue/Wed 3-6
Shoes                 Sat     3-6
Specialty Other       Fri     6-9
Specialty Apparel     Mon     12-3
Sporting Goods        Sat     3-6
Toys                  Fri     3-6
Video                 Sat     3-6
Wholesale Club        Fri     3-6
Source: 1998 Retail Theft Trends Report