North American retail brands need to be sure they have some sort of anti-shrink and theft plan in place. Globally, shrinkage cost retailers $119.1 billion in 2012 – approximately 1.45 percent of total retail sales, according to new data collected by the Center for Retail Research.<\/p>\n
Shrink remains the biggest threat to merchants in North America and Europe. Theft was up a total of 6.6 percent in 2011, an increase CRR believes stems from the still-struggling global economy. Customer theft, ranging from shoplifting to organized retail crime, accounts for the majority of shrinkage at 43.2 percent worldwide. Employee theft, however, was a big issue in North America, making up 44.1 percent of shrink – even greater than shoplifting.<\/p>\n
"Internal error and administrative failure, such as pricing, process, or accounting mistakes, accounted for 16.2 percent of total shrinkage, compared with 16.9 in 2010 and 16.4 in 2009. Suppliers\/vendor fraud accounted for 5.6 percent of total shrinkage, compared with 5.4 in 2010 and 5.6 in 2009," the research notes.<\/p>\n
Given the slow post-holiday time frame, now may be the ideal time to develop new anti-theft policies to help curb shrink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
North American retail brands need to be sure they have some sort of anti-shrink and theft plan in place. Continue reading