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Ever since the pandemic shut down much of the retail and other industries, figures around retail crime have been steadily rising. With people more anxious and frustrated, customer aggression became more common, and with an ever deepening cost-of-living crisis (which includes increased prices at the till), theft is becoming more of an issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So much so, that several retailers are starting to make more dedicated efforts to stamp it out. Myer, for example, recently announced that it would be partnering with undercover police officers to curb theft in its department stores.<\/p>\n
However, according to Professor Michael Townsley from Griffith University\u2019s Criminology Institute, most of the retail crime taking place across Australia and New Zealand is spontaneous, accidental and not especially complicated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our recent report, we asked loss prevention managers the most common tactics used, and the most common are still very simple tactics that require no planning,\u201d Townsley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s stuff like putting something in a handbag, or leaving the store with no attempt to hide. They don\u2019t require any advanced knowledge, just the gumption to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
These kinds of theft can be designed out of the retail experience, Townsley said, but most retailers aren\u2019t doing enough. A third of loss prevention officers Townsley surveyed were running a one-man team across a national business, making it difficult to implement a large-scale loss prevention strategy.<\/p>\n
Many retailers have also invested in technology to solve the problem, but it hasn\u2019t always worked. <\/p>\n
Self-scan checkouts, for example, are hailed as an example of retailers successfully improving their staff-to-customer productivity ratio – with one staff member regularly presiding over several customers serving themselves. But this has also made it easier for everyday shoplifting to occur. <\/p>\n
\u201cLots of us accidentally shoplift,\u201d Townsley said, \u201cbecause quite often the technology is implemented poorly, or there\u2019s problems with scanning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s the case where [retailers] really didn\u2019t think shoplifting would increase with self-checkout, but it\u2019s made it really easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
This \u2018technology as a silver bullet\u2019 mentality has had the detrimental effect of allowing retailers to further cut floor staff levels, which has made it easier for theft to occur.<\/p>\n
Add to that an exodus of experienced personnel in the security industry, said Townsley, and there is less institutional knowledge in-store to keep product safe from those that actually do intend on stealing.<\/p>\n