Study Finds Shoplifting Surged 5.9% Worldwide in Past Year
Timereports that recession has sparked a worldwide shoplifting spree. The Center for Retail Research's Global Retail Theft Barometer 2009 reported that shoplifting climbed 5.9% in the past year at 1,000 global retail chains surveyed. In North America there was an 8.1% increase in shoplifting.
The researchers found that shoplifting — or what's euphemistically known as product "shrinkage" — jumped 5.9% in the past year at the more than 1,000 retail chains the group surveyed globally. In previous years, the increase hovered at 1.5% annually. Though the problem was documented across all regions, the steepest increases occurred in North America (8.1%), the Middle East (7.5%) and Europe (4.7%). In terms of total losses, retailers in North America topped the charts at $46 billion, followed by Europe's $44 billion and $17.9 billion in the Asia-Pacific region. In North America and Latin America, store owners and employees were the leading pilferers; in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, it was customers who were swiping the most loot.
Joshua Bamfield, director of the Britain-based Center for Retail Research, told Time, "People already feeling, or merely anticipating, the negative impact of recession have taken to stealing ... at the very time retailers also suffering from the downturn have had to cut back on security staff."
