It underscores the big challenges that retailers like Target face in reducing theft in stores as they wrestle with protecting their workers and customers while trying to serve the community, particularly low-income and minority groups who rely on the local stores for necessities.
"Our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime," Cornell told analysts. "Unfortunately, safety incidents associated with theft are moving in the wrong direction." The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, said its latest security survey of roughly 177 retailers found that inventory loss -- called shrink - clocked in at an average rate of 1.6 % last year, representing $112.1 billion in losses. That is up from an estimated $94 billion in 2021.
The survey also estimates that just 36% of shrink in 2022 came from external theft, including organized retail crime. That means 64% came from other sources such as employee theft, loss, etc.