Workers steal 33% of all goods that go missing at retailers: survey -
Sticky-fingered employees pose a much bigger threat to retailers than their employers might have believed, according to a new survey from PWC and Retail Council of Canada.
While the overall amount of theft has not changed significantly in 2012 compared with 2008, a whopping third of all merchandise that is unaccounted for because of theft or an inventory or supply chain error — a figure known in the retail industry as “shrink rate” — happens as a result of employees who steal. That compared with an estimated 19% in 2008.
“Retailers’ level of awareness has improved,” said Paul Beaumont, Canadian leader of retail consulting at PWC. “In years gone by, external theft may have been assumed to represent a certain percentage of total shrink, and I think there may have been some internal theft that was blended into that, so there was not the level of visibility that there is today.”
External theft, which made up the majority of shrink rate in 2008 at 65%, appears to be less of a problem now than it was in the past, estimated as the cause of missing retail goods in 43% of all cases in 2012. Paperwork errors account for 20% of retail shrink, compared with 16% in 2008.
Retailers have more robust internal investigation departments today and far more evolved technologies to track shrink rate than existed before. The latest findings could make retailers more aware of the depth of threat they are facing when it comes to employee theft, Mr. Beaumont said, and shape their theft prevention measures and employee screening procedures accordingly.
Read more -
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/10/31/workers-steal-33-of-all-goods-that-go-missing-at-retailers-survey/
Sticky-fingered employees pose a much bigger threat to retailers than their employers might have believed, according to a new survey from PWC and Retail Council of Canada.
While the overall amount of theft has not changed significantly in 2012 compared with 2008, a whopping third of all merchandise that is unaccounted for because of theft or an inventory or supply chain error — a figure known in the retail industry as “shrink rate” — happens as a result of employees who steal. That compared with an estimated 19% in 2008.
“Retailers’ level of awareness has improved,” said Paul Beaumont, Canadian leader of retail consulting at PWC. “In years gone by, external theft may have been assumed to represent a certain percentage of total shrink, and I think there may have been some internal theft that was blended into that, so there was not the level of visibility that there is today.”
External theft, which made up the majority of shrink rate in 2008 at 65%, appears to be less of a problem now than it was in the past, estimated as the cause of missing retail goods in 43% of all cases in 2012. Paperwork errors account for 20% of retail shrink, compared with 16% in 2008.
Retailers have more robust internal investigation departments today and far more evolved technologies to track shrink rate than existed before. The latest findings could make retailers more aware of the depth of threat they are facing when it comes to employee theft, Mr. Beaumont said, and shape their theft prevention measures and employee screening procedures accordingly.
Read more -
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/10/31/workers-steal-33-of-all-goods-that-go-missing-at-retailers-survey/
