|
| If you would prefer
to print off the information below, please select your preferred
version from the icons on the right and 'save target as' to
your computer. |
 |
 |
UK RETAIL CRIME STATISTICS >>
The National Survey of Retail Crime and Security
From the Centre for Retail Research.
The National Survey of Retail Crime and Security
found that total shrinkage was equivalent to 24.1% of retail
profit. 16.7% of shrinkage was perceived to be administrative
error.
Large companies had shrinkage rates that were 18% lower than
smaller retailers (defined as retailers with turnovers of £5
million or less). |
 |
Views about who stole from shops varied significantly with company
size.
Percentage of losses caused by:
| |
Small
Retailers |
Multiples |
Large
Multiples |
| Employees |
20% |
29% |
36% |
| Customers |
54% |
47% |
37% |
| Vendors |
10% |
8% |
10% |
| Administration |
16% |
16% |
17% |
| |
100% |
100% |
100% |
The surveyed retailers only handed 40.5% of thieves they apprehended
to the police. The reasons why so few were handed over were as follows:
| Factors Explaining the Non-reporting
of Customer Thieves |
| Take
up too much staff time (particularly in owner operated stores) |
24.5% |
| Did
not want to prosecute elderly, juveniles or mentally ill |
23.6% |
| Low
success rate in courts |
19.7% |
| Fines/Penalties
not a deterrent |
18.5% |
| Low
prosecution rate by the Crown Prosecution Service |
17.2% |
| Only
report the worst offenders |
12.9% |
| Afraid
of bad publicity |
9.0% |
 |
The report provides some evidence that low shrink
is associated with higher rates of pay, the existence of profit-sharing
schemes, lower staff turnover and low proportions of part-timers.
Above all, low theft rates seemed to be related to good leadership
at store level. |
The National Survey of Retail Theft and Security
was conducted by the Centre for Retail Research.
Retail Crime Costs >>
From the British Retail Consortium
The British Retail Consortium has carried out annual surveys of the
cost of retail crime since 1993/4. The main trends are:
- Crime costs have fallen annually since 1993/4, but rose by 15%
in 1999/2000.
- Retail crime as a percentage of turnover (sales) has fallen
from 1.6% to 0.91% since 1993/4.
- There has been a large drop in robbery, arson, burglary and
terrorism since 1993/4
- In 1998, retailers have noted a growth in employee theft as
well as customer theft of 23%.
British Retail Consortium 2000 RESULTS
| Crime |
£ millions |
Crime |
£ millions |
| Customer theft |
£746 |
Burglary |
£26 |
| Staff theft |
£426 |
Criminal Damage |
£10 |
| Fraud |
£54 |
Arson |
£3 |
| Other |
£147 |
Robbery/snatch |
£4 |
| |
|
Terrorism |
£2 |
| Subtotal |
£1418 |
Subtotal |
£45 |
| Loss prevention costs |
£626 |
|
|
| TOTAL CRIME COSTS |
£2044 |
|
|
| Shrink % sales |
0.91% |
|
|
Comparison between 1997 and 1999
Total crime costs rose from £1,834m (1997) to £2,230m (1999) (+22%)
- Perceived customer theft ('shoplifting') increased by 22% from
£608m to £740m.
- Perceived employee theft rose by 41.3% to £519m.
- Burglary costs fell by 48% to £80m.
- Robbery fell by 70% to £15m
- Fraud rose.
- The money spent on the security (loss prevention) department
rose by 36% from £450m to £612m.
Average loss per incident
- Employee theft average loss per incident was £320 in 1999.
- Customer theft average loss per incident was £42.
<< back to Crime & Fraud
|
