British shops lose £800 million a year due to shoplifting

According to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, not only do British shops lose £800 million a year to shoplifters, it also shows that employees steal a further £770 million of goods. This means shops lose a total of £1.57 billion each year to theft.

The latest barometer, compiled by retail security firm Checkpoint Systems warned stores of a sharp rise in thefts in key winter sales periods, such as Boxing Day.

Small items with high resale value are the most likely to be stolen, although surprisingly items targeted by thieves include door locks and cheese.

According to official police data, there were more than 329,000 recorded incidents of shoplifting across the UK last year. This is a three percent rise on 2013.

Russell Holland of Checkpoint Systems told Retail Times: “Most people expect shoplifting to be the main source of losses in the retail industry – indeed with around 900 incidents being recorded by the police every day it remains a major issue for stores across the country.”