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November 14, 2007 16:49 IST
The Indian retail industry suffered a total loss of staggering Rs 9,691 crore (Rs 96.91 billion) due to shoplifting and waste in 2007.
As the Indian retail sector booms with international retail giants gearing up for their Indian market foray, a study found that the average shrinkage rate(stock loss from crime or waste expressed as a percentage of retail sales) for India is 2.90 per cent of sales.
The first edition of the 'Global Theft Barometer' conducted by the Centre for Retail Research in Nottingham, United Kingdom and Checkpoint Systems also said that the Indian shrinkage rate has actually fallen dowm from 3.20 per
cent in 2006.
The results from the 32 countries surveyed show that global retail shrinkage cost retailers a whopping Rs 4,01,647 crore (Rs 4,016.47 billion) and that for the Indian retailers, the costs of retail crime (the cost of theft by customers, disloyal employees, and suppliers and vendors, plus the cost of loss prevention) were Rs 8160 crore (Rs 81.6 billion).
The study points out that retailers have apprehended almost 6 million store thieves during this year, and 87.5 per cent of these thieves were customers.
Indian retailers apprehended 74,540 retail thieves and 93.3 per cent of them were customers and North American retailers apprehended the largest number of employee thieves while the majority of customer thieves (3,481,490) were caught in Europe.
The study also threw some interesting facts about the nature of shoplifters and their interests across continents. While Asia Pacific loves stealing alcohol the most like the Europeans, North Americans prefer stealing cosmetics and skincare products.
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