Shoplifters and Dishonest Employees Continue to Steal Profits from United States Retailers

Wesley Chapel, FL — Shoplifters and dishonest employees stole over $6.0 billion in 2009 from just 25 major retailers, according to the 22nd Annual Retail Theft Survey conducted by Jack L. Hayes International, the leading loss prevention and inventory shrinkage control consulting firm. These 25 surveyed retailers apprehended over 1 million shoplifters and dishonest employees in 2009 and recovered more than $163 million from these thieves.

“Total shoplifter and dishonest employee apprehensions increased for the 4th consecutive year, up almost 15% from the previous year”, said Mark R. Doyle, President of Jack L. Hayes International. “Surveyed retailers made over 1 million shoplifting apprehensions in 2009, up almost 17% from 2008. However, the apprehension of dishonest employees decreased 9% in 2009, after being up the previous 5 years. It appears the poor economy had a hand in both an increase in shoplifting and a decrease in employee theft. Shoplifting apprehensions appear to have increased due to the hard times many people were having and less employees on the sales floor to prevent shoplifting. Employee apprehensions decreased in 2009 due to fewer new hires, less employees overall, and some employees being afraid to lose their jobs.” Mr. Doyle added, “Retail theft continues to steal profits from retailers’ bottom-line profits, which is driving consumer prices higher and can force companies to close unprofitable stores.”

Highlights from this highly anticipated annual theft survey include:

• Participants: 25 large retail companies with 18,906 stores and over $605 billion in retail sales (2009).
• Apprehensions: 1,085,226 shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2009, up 14.7% from 2008.
• Recovery Dollars: Over $163 million was recovered from apprehended shoplifters and dishonest employees in 2009, down 4.9% from 2008.
• Shoplifter Apprehensions: 1,014,817 shoplifters were apprehended in 2009, up an amazing 16.8% from 2008.
• Shoplifter Recovery Dollars: Over $111 million was recovered from apprehended shoplifters in 2009, a slight increase of 1.0% from 2008. An additional $29 million was recovered in 2009 from shoplifters where no apprehension was made, up 19.4% from 2008.
• Employee Apprehensions: 70,409 dishonest employees were apprehended in 2009, down 9.4% from 2008.
• Employee Recovery Dollars: Over $51 million was recovered from employee apprehensions in 2009, down 15.7% from 2008.
• On a per company basis, one in every 28.4 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2009. (Based on over 2.9 million employees.)
• On a per case average, dishonest employees steal 6.6 times the amount stolen by shoplifters ($728.90 vs $110.14).

Jack L. Hayes International, Inc. has been in the Loss Prevention/Shrinkage Control consulting business for over 30 years, and is recognized on an international level as the foremost loss prevention and inventory shrinkage control consulting firm in the world.

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