The overall cost of retail crime has soared by 15.6 per cent in a year to £1.6 billion, but dramatically fewer incidents are being reported to police, according to the British Retail Consortium.
The figure covers retail crime of all types and includes the value of goods stolen and damage done, plus the money retailers spend on prevention.
Numbers of incidents of crime rose across all categories, apart from violence against staff and robbery.
Customer thefts are the most common retail crime (83 per cent of all incidents), but saw the biggest fall in reporting.
In 2011 47 per cent of customer thefts were reported. In 2012 this was down to just 12 per cent, suggesting retailers’ confidence in police responses needs to be improved.
The survey indicates the retail sector suffers two million shoplifting incidents each year involving around £200 million worth of goods.
The average value of goods stolen in each offence has risen 28 per cent to £109.
The survey shows ‘e-crime’ is now the mostly costly form of retail crime.
“Systematic targeting of higher value goods by organised criminals is pushing up the cost of retail crime, but the proportion of shoplifting incidents reported to police has plummeted to just one in eight – highlighting just how much there is to do to build retailers’ confidence in the way police forces respond,” says Helen Dickinson, director general at the British Retail Consortium.
“There’s been some success from closer engagement.
“The BRC’s work with the Met has led to the Mayor’s office recognising retail crime as a force priority in London.
“But I’m concerned that police and crime commissioners, who are now responsible for determining local crime fighting priorities elsewhere, are not getting a true picture of the extent of retail crime.”
Other key findings include:
• On average, nearly one in 20 stores suffered a robbery during the year. The average cost of each incident trebled to £3,005 from £989 the previous year – a result of more serious, organised offending.
•The survey suggests 28,700 retail workers across the retail sector suffered physical attacks, threats or verbal abuse during the year, but the number of incidents per 1,000 employees had more than halved to 11.6, compared with 2011.
• Fraud accounted for 26 per cent of the total cost of retail crime last year. All types of fraud increased, with identity fraud rising for 80 per cent of retailers in the survey. E-crime accounted for 37 per cent of the total cost of crime – making it a more costly retail crime than shoplifting.
