Have you heard that crime rates are going down? The crime rate is not going down in the retail crime sector. The 2009 Global Retail Theft Barometer Study find that 41.2% of retailer worldwide experienced a significant increase in shoplifting in the previous year’s period. Retail crime was down in the 2009-2010 period, but it’s up again in the 2010-2011 period.
The list of most commonly reported retail theft items
Razor blades (e.g., Gillette Fusion Razors and replacement cartridges)
Braun electric razors
Cosmetics and over-the-counter (See most resold items below)
Wii — even though they’re hard to steal. They’re also hard to carry while sprinting across the parking lot while being chased by security.
Alcohol — probably one of the most common in-progress thefts reported in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove and Palatine.
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Blu-ray movies and player — possibly a favorite to steal from Walmart
Cigarettes
Meat — where’s the beef? Back on top in retail theft in America after cough medicines containing pseudoephedrine were taken off of the over-the-counter shelves (pseudoephedrine is used to make crystal meth).
GPS Satellite Navigation Devices — Hey why go out in the cold and steal them from cars when you can grab them in a nice warm store? Do crooks use them to plot routes to other crimes or use them to plan the best getaway routes.
High Fashion item, such as handbags, leather products — you might have a hard time counting the retail thefts at Woodfield Mall with two hands on a typical Friday night.
Baby Formula — Walgreens knows, grocers know — this is a common retail theft item in northwest suburbs.
Watches and jewelry
Cellphones — Crooks distract store clerks and make a run for it. Of course, they are also commonly taken in strong arm robberies on the streets and armed robberies in public places — especially public transit areas.
Dyson vacuums — Often involves thefts related to receipts by either returning the stolen item without a receipt; or buying one, then removing the security device from a second vacuum and using the receipt to pass undetected out of the store with the second Dyson vacuum.
Top Retail Items Stolen and Resold by Criminals (Updated List from the National Retail Federation with new additions for 2009 in bold). The organization warns against buying these items from auction sites because they pose health risks of being tainted, improperly stored and spoiled.
• Abreva
• Advil
• Aleve
• Alli weight loss pills
• Benadryl
• Braun toothbrushes & replacement heads
• Bumble and Bumble
• Claritin
• Cover Girl cosmetics
• Crest Whitestrips
• diabetic testing strips
• e.p.t. pregnancy tests
• Gillette Fusion Razors and replacement cartridges
• Gillette MACH3, Venus and Sensor razors and refill cartridges
• Lotrimin
• Matrix
• Nicorette
• Oil of Olay
• Oral B replacement heads
• Pepcid AC
• Prilosec
• Primatene
• Pureology
• RoC
• Rogaine
• Similac
• Sudafed
• Schick Quattro razors and all Schick refill cartridges
• Sonicare replacement heads
• Tylenol Extra Strength
• Visine
• Zantac
Many of the items end up on Craigslist or Ebay.
According to the National Retail Federation, United States retailers report they have the most problems with criminal gangs and organized retail crime in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Dallas. Making the list for the first time recently are Las Vegas and Phoenix — they’re now in the top 10 metropolitan areas retailers affected by oranized criminal gangs. The NRF report concludes that criminal enterprises travel the country and cross state lines within hours.
GLOBAL RETAIL THEFT BAROMETER 2011
(Centre for Retail Research The Global Retail Theft Barometer)
Shrinkage rises to $119 billion in 2011, up 6.6% since 2010.
Shrinkage an average of 1.45% in 43 countries compared to 1.36% in 2010.
35.9% of retailers reported that actual and attempted shoplifting rose last year and 24% suffered higher employee theft.
The costs of retail crime-plus-loss prevention were $128 billion in 2011 equivalent to $199.89 per family. ($66.27 per individual).
The group reported that retail theft is up after a decrease reported for 2009-10.
See also …
Centre for Retail Research — retailresearch.org
National Retail Federation — NRF Updates “Buyer Beware” List Of Products For Shoppers To Steer Clear On Auction Sites
And many of these items end up in Chicago’s Six Corners neighborhood being sold in taverns and out of car trunks!