The report, funded by an independent grant from Checkpoint Systems, suggests that the losses incurred by the retail industry over this period could add an extra $98 to each family’s shopping bill.
The report found that American retailers could lose $3.8bn through shoplifting, $4.7bn through employee theft, and $400m through vendor and distribution losses.
In total, the losses could represent a 4% increase over the same period last year. The primary contributors to retail crime are employee theft (53%) and shoplifting (42%).
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research and author of the report, said: “The Christmas season is an especially attractive time for criminals. Thieves take advantage of busy stores to steal high value, high demand goods.
“As a result, retailers face a big threat from professional and semi-professional thieves, many of whom steal goods with the intention of re-selling them. Organised retail crime is a major concern for retailers – especially since the average amount stolen per incident is much higher than `normal´ thefts.”
10 most stolen categories of goods this season
Source: Checkpoint Systems
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