Does This Sound Familiar?
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr7ZI6rgvdZuvmWXPoAyt5Pzb1JwrE2ScOTFMU1Z1hC6Jxgb-TAGoQhhyelr0gYyCcxjsrrmtObKL6z2169F1nky_xMooeBt1eiL5sH-Saqm1gf-EgrDxAYgJPvXsCiP4ANPgF/s400/20101023_wbc493.gif)
Now that over a week has passed since this Economist article was published, I wanted to cite it and ask if the problem it describes sounds familiar: Globally, shrinkage [(losses from shoplifting, theft by workers and accounting errors)] cost retailers $107 billion in the year to June . This was 5.6% less than the previous year, but still the equivalent of 1.36% of sales... When it comes to thwarting thieves, shop-owners are on their own. In most countries the criminal justice system has all but given up trying to punish shoplifters... So retailers install CCTV cameras, attach so-called electronic article surveillance tags to their wares, train their staff to spot thieves and screen workers for criminal records before hiring them. This year retailers spent $26.8 billion, or 0.34% of sales, on preventing theft. Some dismiss shoplifting simply as a cost of doing business. Yet it can be serious. Some shoplifters work in organised gangs. Some turn violent when interrupted. Some, especial...