Retail theft is a billion-dollar problem that merchants throughout the world are faced with. Fortunately, the issue is getting better for retailers, with a recent report from the National Retail Federation suggesting that theft rates declined in 2011.

The NRF's Retail Security Survey suggests that retail shrinkage (which includes inventory loss stemming from employee theft, shoplifting, supplier fraud and paperwork errors) decreased to 1.41 percent. However, that still translates to $34.5 billion worth of sales, highlighting the severity of retail shrinkage.

"Retail theft continues to plague the industry, with billions of dollars of merchandise walking out of the store every day without ever being paid for," said NRF vice president of loss prevention Rich Mellor. "Fighting these self-serving and unethical criminals has been a tedious battle, but we remain resolute in our efforts and our partnerships with law enforcement to combat this growing problem."

Many companies supplement their store operations by leveraging technology to detect shrink. These tools can help them better monitor their inventory levels and identify when merchandise has gone missing.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, July 2nd, 2012 at 9:49 am .