Shrink in 2012 Cost Retailers $112 Billion, Averaging 1.4% of Sales
Shrink, comprised of shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors, cost the retail industry more than $112 billion globally last year, according to the 2012-2013 Global Retail Theft Barometer, and represented 1.4 percent of retail sales, on average.
The study, underwritten by an independent grant from Checkpoint Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CKP), was undertaken in 2013 by Euromonitor International, and was based upon in-depth phone and written survey interviews conducted in 16 countries among retailers covering 160,000 stores representing $1.5 trillion in sales in 2012.