Theft continues to plague the retail industry, by both shoplifters and retail employees.
One out of every 35 employees was apprehended for theft from their employers in 2017 according to the 30th Annual Retail Theft Survey conducted by loss prevention and inventory shrinkage control consulting firm Jack L. Hayes International. Twenty-one large retail companies, accounting for 16,409 stores and over $428 billion in retail sales in 2017, participated in the survey.
Over 432,000 shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2017 by survey participants, who recovered over $188 million from these thieves. Shoplifting apprehensions increased 2.3%, with the dollars recovered from these shoplifters increasing almost 13%, the survey found. The average shoplifting case value in 2017 was $381.25, up from $345.35 in 2016.
“This is the eighth rise in both shoplifter apprehensions and dollar recoveries in the past 10 years,” said Mark R. Doyle, president of Jack L. Hayes International. “Recoveries from shoplifters where no apprehension was made increased for the 21st consecutive year, up an amazing 18% in 2017.
Dishonest employee apprehensions and recovery dollars were down (almost 4% and 7% respectively). Dollars recovered from dishonest employee apprehensions totaled over $38 million in 2017, down 7.0% from 2016. The average case value related to dishonest employees was $966.61 in 2017, compared to an average case value for shoplifters of $381.25
Here are the highlights of the survey:
Shrink: 61.9% of survey participants reported an increase in shrink in 2017, with 28.6% reporting a decrease in shrink, and another 9.5% reported shrink stayed about the same.
Apprehensions: 432,046 shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2017, up 1.7% from 2016.
Recovery Dollars: Over $188 million was recovered from apprehended shoplifters and dishonest employees in 2017, up 8.1% from 2016.
Shoplifter Apprehensions: 391,760 shoplifters were apprehended in 2017, up 2.3% from 2016.
Shoplifter Recovery Dollars: Over $149 million was recovered from apprehended shoplifters in 2017, up 12.9% from 2016. An additional $185 million was recovered from shoplifters where no apprehension was made, up a significant 18.1% from 2016.
Employee Apprehensions: 40,286 dishonest employees were apprehended in 2017, down 4.0% from 2016.
Employee Recovery Dollars: Over $38 million was recovered from employee apprehensions in 2017, down 7.0% from 2016.
