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The
survey, which during March and April interviewed 100 senior loss
prevention executives from various retail sectors, found
inventory shrinkage, or loss, averaged 1.38 percent of overall
retail sales, which stood at $3.19 trillion in 2014.
Shoplifting accounted for the largest portion of the loss at 38
percent, followed by employee theft at 34.5 percent,
administrative and paperwork theft at 16.5 percent, vendor fraud
or error at 6.8 percent and unknown loss at 6.1 percent.
Average rates of shrinkage, however, decreased or remained flat
for almost two-thirds of the retailers surveyed with grocery and
supermarket chains reporting the highest average loss due to
fraud.
A common misconception about shoplifting is that retailers can
absorb the loss of a candy bar or a pair of jeans, said Bob
Moraca, the NRF's vice president of loss prevention.
"The truth is that the industry loses billions of dollars each
year at the hands of callous criminals that could be put toward
human capital, promotions and other necessary business
operations," Moraca said.
Among the executives interviewed for the survey, 39.4 percent
said their fraud prevention budget for 2015 was up from last
year, while 36.6 percent said it would remain at similar levels
and 23.9 percent said they their budget to tackle fraud was
lower than a year earlier.
Loss prevention budgets in 2014 averaged less than 1 percent of
total 2014 sales.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago, editing by G Crosse)
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