Press Release:
Shrinkage on the Rise, According to Preliminary National Retail Security Survey Findings
Dallas, June 14, 2011 – Growth in retail crime and fraud is leaving retailers racing to stop the individuals responsible for stealing billions of dollars each year. Preliminary results of the latest National Retail Security Survey, released today at the National Retail Federation’s Loss Prevention Conference and EXPO, show that retail shrinkage increased to 1.58 percent of retail sales in 2010, up from 1.44 percent in 2009.
The survey is a collaborative effort between NRF and the University of Florida. Dr. Richard Hollinger, Professor of Criminology at the University of Florida and the survey’s author, revealed the preliminary findings today at the conference.
According to the survey, total retail losses cost retailers $37.1 billion last year, up from $33.5 billion in 2009. NRF’s recently released Organized Retail Crime survey found that 95 percent of retailers have been a victim of organized retail crime over the last 12 months.
“Increased shoplifting and shrink rates mirror what retailers are seeing with professional and organized crime rings,” said NRF senior asset protection advisor Joe LaRocca. “Retailers are continuing to put resources in place to fight these self-serving and unethical criminals who walk out with billions of dollars in unpaid merchandise every year.”
According to the preliminary survey findings, the majority of retail shrinkage last year was due to employee theft, at $16.2 billion, accounting for 43.7 percent of total losses. Retailers reported that 18.7 percent of cases involved collusion between internal and external bad actors.
Retailers lost $12.1 billion to shoplifting, which is 32.6 percent of total losses. Other losses included administrative error ($4.8 billion and 12.9% of shrinkage) and vendor fraud ($2 billion and 5.4% of shrinkage). Retailers said that the cause of the remaining shrinkage was unknown.
About the Survey
The National Retail Security Survey is an annual survey of loss prevention executives that benchmarks retail shrinkage and operational information about how retailers are combating losses. The study, which surveyed 124 retailers in the first half of 2011 and uses data from 2010, is the result of a partnership between the University of Florida and the National Retail Federation.
About NRF
As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, the National Retail Federation’s global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the U.S. and more than 45 countries abroad. In the U.S., NRF represents the breadth and diversity of an industry with more than 1.6 million American companies that employ nearly 25 million workers and generated 2010 sales of $2.4 trillion. www.nrf.com.
