Shoplifting On Rise As Consumers Cope With Rising Prices

June 19, 2008 8:18 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - The National Retail Federation is warning of the rising incidents of shoplifting across the nation as the economy crawls and consumers try to cope with soaring food and fuel prices, while tightening further their belts.

Retailers pointed to the weak economy as the major factor behind the rise in shoplifting incidents. According to a survey of 116 retailers, 74 percent observed a spike in shoplifting incidents in 2007 compared to 2006.

The estimated amount of filched goods average $40.5 billion annually, which is shouldered by the honest and paying shoppers.

Richard Hollinger, professor of criminology at the University of Florida, who makes the yearly National Retail Security Survey, explained to USA Today, "Retailers can't afford to just eat that loss. Their margins aren't large enough. So this hits right on the bottom line, and they're trying to plug all these leaks, because the economy is so tight."

The police pointed to the shift in filching habits of light-fingered shoppers. Sgt. Alfred Pratt of the Shrewsbury Police Department in Massachusetts said shoplifters before were usually junkies who stole to have money for their vice.

Samyah Jubran, assistant district attorney general of Knox County in Tennessee, said most of the shoplifting incidents the county now encounters involved food; repeaters had problems with their finances, not with drugs.

But shoplifting comprises only a part of the merchandise lost by retailers, accounting only for 32 percent in 2006. For the same year, the bulk of lost sales was traced to employee theft at 47 percent, administrative error 14 percent and vendor fraud 4 percent.