A study found that the average shrinkage rate (stock loss from crime or waste expressed as a percentage of retail sales) for Canadian retail businesses is 3.80 per cent of sales.
First of all, What is shoplifting? Shoplifting is the act of stealing goods that are on display in a store.
But why do people shoplift? Is it a need, or is it greed or is it something entirely different that tempts approximately 23 million people to steal from retail stores each year. Except for the drug addicts and hardened professionals who steal for resale and profit as a business, most shoplifters are decent, otherwise law-abiding citizens. The vast majority of adult offenders have no idea about how or why they become a thief, or why they continue to shoplift, even after getting caught.
Losses in retail prove to be hazardous for retailers as it results in a pure loss to the organization. The people involved in this activity could vary from the actual thieves, to the organizers, decoys and unscrupulous sales personnel who get the merchandise back out to the market.
While Asia Pacific loves stealing alcohol the most like the Europeans, North Americans prefer stealing cosmetics and skincare products. Ladies apparel seems to be the preferred choice across the world as it is in almost equal demand among the shoplifters in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Malls are easy targets and a favorite destination for shoplifters.
The types of shoplifters:
People who steal from stores can be of any age, race, gender and social and economic background. Shoplifters generally fall into following categories:1. Professional shoplifters: These people usually steal expensive items, like clothing, electronics and jewelry that they can resell easily.
2. Amateur shoplifters: They are the casual shoplifters who don't usually go into a store with the intention of stealing — they simply see the opportunity to take something and do.
3. Addicted shoplifters: They are also found to be addicted to certain things such as drugs, shopping, drinking, overeating, gambling, etc. They shoplift just to lose out their repressed negative emotions like anger or frustration. They generally indulge in this crime for others and have careless attitude towards themselves.
4. Needy shoplifters: There are certain people who steal because of the lack of resources with them. Their preference is generally for items of basic necessities like food, toiletries, diapers, etc.
5. Thrill seeking shoplifters: These shoplifters generally shoplift in groups. The age group of the shoplifters in this category is generally teenage. They steal to satisfy their urge of thrill and excitement, they get a sense of victory when they do so.
6. Absent minded shoplifters: Sometimes people don't do it deliberately, either they are in a hurry or due to effect of some medication they have memory loss whereby they forget to pay for the item.
A person might shoplift for any reason. But there's no way around the fact that shoplifting is stealing; and in most places there are heavy penalties for it, including being arrested and possibly charged with a crime. The following are some of the reasons that lure people to shoplift:
- Temptation: Many people have a desire to get something for nothing.
They don't want to pay money for it and so then indulge into shoplifting. If they are not caught, they don't get the feeling of guilt or moral fear.
- Justification: Some shoplifters feel that there is nothing wrong in shoplifting and give justifications to defend their act.
- Motivation: The primary motivation for shoplifters is that no body is watching them and their act will not produce any negative or harmful result. The
These are some of the reasons that lure people to shoplift as they feel that they are not hurting any body by indulging in such an act. But they fail to understand that shoplifting rarely affects the store as much as it affects the people who shop there.
What drives people to shoplift? Is it that they don’t have any money? Or are they trying to act cool or daring around their friends? Maybe they do have money, but they’re not in the mood to pay. Whatever the reason, shoplifters affect every and the consequences of shoplifting can be a burden on everyone.
The ripple effect of shoplifting
When people steal from stores, the stores may have to raise prices in order to make up for the lost merchandise. In turn, this affects everyone who patronizes the stores, causing them to pay more for the goods.
When a store notices that many of their shoplifters happen to be teens, they tend to become suspicious of every student that comes into their store. This can be very frustrating for those youth who are paying customers. In fact, it might actually discourage people from shopping there, causing them to spend their money elsewhere. This also results in less business for the store. Stores try to do everything they can to discourage people from trying to shoplift. Most stores have policies about backpacks and bags such as leaving them by the door or behind the counter, so people will be less tempted to put things in their bags. Those people that think shoplifting is acceptable and there are no repercussions, are wrong. Shoplifting is never okay; there are always consequences for peoples’ actions.
Businesses also use other methods to prevent shoplifting, such as cameras, security systems and special alarms that detect people leaving the store with stolen merchandise. Most stores have a zero tolerance policy against shoplifting. If the shoplifter happens to be a youth, a call to the criminal's parents is made, the RCMP becomes involved and the store might press charges. The shoplifter is usually banned from the store for up to a year. They could also end up in court, and, if convicted, a slap on the wrist probably won't be the only consequence.
Stores claimed an average a loss of $6,000 to $10,000 in merchandise due to shoplifters.
Most stores don’t raise prices to make up for losses due to shoplifting. Therefore, the money comes directly out of the stores' profit, making it hard for businesses to thrive in an already struggling economy. Some stores, already have a shoplifting factor built into the prices. Other stores, however, raise prices on everything in the store up to at least 10% to make up the profit lost by shoplifted goods.
Shoplifting not only affects youth criminals, but it also affects student shoppers. "I think it [shoplifting] gives teenagers a bad reputation", says Mike Pearson, grade 8. The majority of students interviewed feel they can comfortably shop in most stores in Port Hardy, but they also feel that they are treated differently than adults by store employees. Some of the students interviewed have been falsely accused of shoplifting; most of them while shopping in a large group. Stores tend to be more suspicious of people in large groups and teenagers are more likely than others to travel in groups when shopping. Many students feel that it reflects poorly on teenagers in general when people their age shoplift. Grade 11 student Sara Campbell comments, "I think it’s stupid for people to shoplift; they make prices go up. I have to spend my hard earned money, they should have to spend theirs". Students also don't have a very forgiving attitude to other students who shoplift and give teens a bad name. "If they get caught, it's their own fault," says Gregor Gamble, grade 10.
Students who shoplift may not realize that their poor choices affect store owners, employers, employees and teenagers in general. Shoplifters don't see that their new CD or shirt just cost the community more money. In the end, nothing good comes from shoplifting; all you end up with is something that will be cool for a couple of weeks and consequences that will last much longer.
But why do people shoplift??
most shoplifters who have developed a habit or addiction believe they should be punished according to the law when caught. What habitual offenders often resent, however, is when they are simply thrown into jail with many hardened career criminals and are never given any help or support to prevent them from repeating the offense.
Shoplifting among juveniles is remarkably similar to adult shoplifting in many ways. However, the primary issues which are related to shoplifting among youth revolve around family pressure, school pressure and peer pressure.
If you were to ask juveniles caught shoplifting, "Why did you do it"? The most frequent reply would be "I don't know". Like adults, the reasons teens shoplifted will vary, but most commonly it is because they wanted nice things, or felt pressuredby friends, or wanted to see if they could get away with it, or were angry, depressed, confused or bored. Sometimes they are just mad at the world and want to strike back.
While teens, like adults, usually know the difference between right and wrong, when their life becomes too stressful they become more vulnerable to temptation, peer pressure and other things that can lead them to shoplift. This is especially true when they feel unworthy, angry, depressed, unattractive or not accepted.
In summary, shoplifting for millions of our citizens, is simply another maladaptive way of coping with stressful life circumstances...ways similar to overeating, drinking, drugs or becoming withdrawn. It is not an issue of good vs. bad people, rich vs. poor people, young vs. old people, or education vs. illiteracy. At any time, or even many times in a persons life, the temptation to "get something for nothing" and reward oneself can easily be present. Although most people believe they could "never" do such a thing, if they do cross over the line, swift and effective action must be taken by both the retailer and the criminal justice system to help these people get back on track. While it is not appropriate for retailers or the criminal justice system to be sympathetic or forgiving after a shoplifting incident, what is appropriate is for retailers, prosecutors and judges to jointly support punitive sanctions along with community based educational rehabilitation programs.
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