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Fact Sheet: Shoplifting
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According to the Non-Profit U.S. National Association for Shoplifting Prevention:
- One in 11 people is a shoplifter.
- There is no profile of a typical shoplifter. Men and women shoplift about equally as often.
- Many shoplifters buy and steal merchandise in the same visit.
- Approximately 25 percent of shoplifters are kids, 75 percent are adults.
- Shoplifters say they are caught an average of only once in every 48 times they steal. They are turned over to the police 50 percent of the time.
- Habitual shoplifters steal an average of 1.6 times per week.
According to the Retail Council of Canada's (a not-for-profit association representing more than 40,000 retailers) Canadian Retail Survey 2007:
- Retail crime costs Canadian retailers $3.6 billion per year.
- According to Ipsos Reid, small independent retailers lose $1000 a month.
- 28% of retailers reported overall losses of more than $500,000 to Organized Retail Crime (ORC).
- 56% of retailers report that they apprehended individuals linked to ORC.
- 87.5% of smaller retailers report being victims of crime.
- Employee theft and shop theft were reported in 95% of the retailers.
- The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says 950 organized crime groups operated in 2007.
- Canada's privacy laws place severe demands on retailers and limit what information they can share about criminals with other retailers.
- Canadians don't have the same concern about organized retail crime as Americans therefore Canada is a good place to turn a quick, tidy and dirty profit.
According to Jack L. Hayes International Inc. (a private U.S. loss-prevention and security provider's annual retail theft survey):
- There are more than 615,000 shoplifting incidents every day, in the United States.
- One out of every 30 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2008. (Based on comparison data of over 2.1 million employees.)
- On a per case average, dishonest employees steal a little over 7 times the amount stolen by shoplifters ($969.14 versus $135.81).
- It's estimated that for every dollar recovered from shoplifters, $37.00 is lost.
According to the U.S. Loss Prevention Research Council (Survey of Active Shoplifters):
- 82.5% of the interviewed shoplifters indicate that they usually make personal use of the items they steal. 15% say that they "give the items to friends or family."
- 72.5% of the respondents report they also make a normal purchase at the store when they are shoplifting.
- 77.5% of the interviewed shoplifters indicate they are usually alone when they shoplift.
- About one-half (52.5%) of the surveyed shoplifters say they usually steal from stores that are fairly close to where they live or work, while about two-fifths (42.5%) say they target different areas.
International facts and statistics from Global Theft Barometer-Center for Retail Research 2008 Report:
Most Shoplifted Items
1) Razor blades (Gillette)
2) Alcohol (branded spirits)
3) Toiletries, cosmetics and fine fragrances
4) Clothing and lingerie
5) Batteries (Duracell)
6) DVDs, CDs (rap and dance) and computer games
7) Pills, vitamins, contraceptives and pregnancy testers.
8) Electric toothbrushes, Braun gas cylinders
9) Instant coffee
10) Steak and packs of meat
- Customers steal $14 billion worth of merchandise from North American stores every year.
- In 2008, Canada had the highest per capita rate of refund fraud in the world.
- Convenience stores have the highest rate of employee theft, furniture stores the lowest.
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