The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual Retail Crime Survey has revealed that not only is retail crime escalating, but also that more retailers are investing in cyber security.
“The spiralling cost of retail crime – both in losses and the cost of prevention – are a huge burden to a retail sector that is already weighed down by the twin challenges of skyrocketing business costs and Brexit uncertainty,” comments Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
“We hope this report will act as a catalyst for police and crime commissioners around the country to take action. Retail crime should be explicitly addressed by police and crime plans. Furthermore, Parliament must play its part in stemming this tide of crime by creating a specific criminal offence to protect retail employees from assault at work, as has been done for emergency workers.”
The total cost of crime and crime prevention for retailers was £1.9bn last year, up 12% from the previous year (£1.7bn). This was made up of £900m direct cost from retail crime, and £1bn spent in efforts to prevent crime.
The direct costs of crime included a £700m from customer theft, a 31% rise on the previous year. The total cost of crime, at £1.9bn, is equivalent to approximately 20% of the estimated profits of the entire retail industry.
Some 70% of respondents described the police response to retail crime as poor or very poor. And while opinions showed the police response was generally better for violent incidents, as compared to customer theft or fraud, only 20% of respondents considered the response good or excellent.
Retailers are spending 17% more on cyber security than last year (£162m), and nearly 80% of the retailers surveyed have seen an increase in the number of cyber attacks.
Top: Shop theft is increasing in the UK.
