Shoplifting threat to retail’s bottom line

Retailers need to understand the nature of shoplifting as we emerge from recession, argues Neil Matthews, vice president of North, Central and Eastern Europe for security specialist Checkpoint Systems.

After all the media negativity surrounding the UK coming out of the recession it was refreshing to read this week that Sir Terry Leahy was confident that the economy would recover this year – finally some optimism.

In the British Retail Consortium’s recent Concerns Snapshot Survey, 80 per cent of retailers said they expected retail sales in 2010 to be the same as 2009, but most importantly none said they would be worse. Whilst this is positive news for the retail industry, it is now essential to try and protect every pound of profit that is made this year.

During the recession, we saw retail theft surge by almost 20 per cent across the UK, with shrinkage topping a staggering £4.88 billion for the first time, putting us at the top of the European retail crime league table. The Global Retail Theft Barometer reported that theft at speciality food and convenience stores was up 8.4 per cent and accounted for 1.80 per cent of sales. Customer theft remains the main contributor to overall retail crime and if storeowners are to take advantage of returning consumer confidence, it is essential to make a conscious effort to tackle the problem.

Yes, you could put every item of merchandise under lock and key, but it is important not to detract from the positive shopping experience. Customers need to be able to see, touch and feel objects or they will simply shop elsewhere. Over the years there have been a number of advances in loss prevention technology, such as paper thin security labels that can be incorporated onto food and drink packaging, that help retailers cut theft. But to make a significant difference it is important to get to the root of the problem and to do that you have to understand which items are at most risk from thieves.

I always get quizzical looks when I say that cooked and fresh meat, cheese, seafood and fish all feature strongly on the most stolen list these days. But that is the reality of modern day shoplifting, knowing which areas of a store are at most risk allows you to apply adequate solutions to help tackle the problem – be it putting a store detective in the area or introducing new loss prevention technology to a certain product line.

If retailers are serious about making a profit this year, they must sit up and take notice of the inherent risks that shoplifting can pose to the bottom line. Understanding the nature of shoplifting will go some way to helping retailers achieve their goals this year.