Shoplifting and stealing from a store is not a victim less crime. It costs the store money and guess what, they then add the costs to the price of the merchandise that you purchase.
Per Time, “Loss of inventory from stores — due to causes including shoplifting and employee theft — cost the U.S. retail industry nearly $48.9 billion in 2016.” Also “The survey — which included 83 retailers, some of which have multiple brands — found that the average cost per shoplifting incident doubled to $798.48. The average cost per employee theft incident was $1,922.80.”
This means places like mega stores are bound to lose a lot more money in theft costs. Per Fortune, “Walmart US CEO Greg Foran earlier this month told reporters that one area of opportunity for the discount chain to improve its gross margin would be to put a dent in shrink rates. Walmart loses about $300 million a year to shrinkage. If its shoplifting and employee-theft rates are in line with the industry average, then those crimes alone cost it $200 million a year.” Shrinkage is what is lost due to theft of inventory and for Walmart that is quite a sum of money.
To you the consumer that means that “Store theft added $423 to the average American family’s shopping bill” per an article in money/cnn written in 2010. That means it costs even more today and I don’t know about you, but that added cost means a lot to me. While the cost is hidden to you the consumer shopping in a store that does not prosecute shoplifters means that even more items are being stolen and you are actually paying more for the items you buy there.
I had a taste of shoplifting yesterday when an item I purchase in supposably shoplifting proof packaging. Well it turns out that the item had been returned and no one thought to look inside to see if everything was still there. Of course it was not, not a nice surprise for me to find out when I got home and opened the box!
Why people steal/shoplift items is another subject, but I will say this be careful on on-line sites where people are selling what they have. Because sometimes the items they are selling are what they stole from a store and in the end you the buyer will more than likely not be able to recover the money you put out to buy it.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
