Skip to content
Crime-and-justice — Retail — The — General-news — Industry — Finance — Business

Increase in Retail Theft Destruction: The Impact on Commerce by Shoplifters

Daily, merchandise worth millions vanishes from stores, despite the presence of surveillance cameras, cash registers, and control systems. Bold thieves and increasingly proficient criminal gangs are making it difficult for stores to maintain their inventory. This piece explores the reasons...

,   and  Administrator
3 min read
Daily Millions Squandered as goods mysteriously disappear in stores, thieves grow bolder and gangs...
Daily Millions Squandered as goods mysteriously disappear in stores, thieves grow bolder and gangs more organized. Retailers struggle to keep up – insights and requirements revealed.

Increase in Retail Theft Destruction: The Impact on Commerce by Shoplifters

Stealing on the Rise: Unreported Theft Costing Retailers Billions

Thieves are taking advantage of unmonitored store displays and self-service checkouts, leading to thousands of unscanned items each day. This troubling trend is being fueled by skilled gangs snatching high-value products for resale online.

According to investigators, these thieves are targeting expensive items and larger quantities, causing more damage overall, despite a decrease in reported cases. Overwhelmed police and frustrated retailers call for lighter data protection restrictions and improved communication with investigators to combat the growing issue.

Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Last year, 43,910 cases of shoplifting were reported - a decrease of 6.7% compared to the previous year. However, both the retail industry and politics suspect an enormous hidden figure, with many thefts going undetected or unreported. "The bureaucratic effort is often greater than the gain," says Sabine Hagmann, CEO of the Baden-Württemberg Trade Association (HBW). The Cologne Retail Research Institute EHI Retail Institute (EHI) estimates that only 2% of actual cases are reported nationwide. Based on their study, they estimate 100,000 shoplifting cases every sales day, each worth around 117 euros, going unreported.

The Hidden Damage

The actual damage in Baden-Württemberg far surpasses the official statistics of around 6.6 million euros (plus 14.1%) for the year 2024. Alone for the previous year, the EHI study estimates the damage in the southwest at a staggering 580 million euros. Hagmann is skeptical of the official numbers: "The statistics only show a fraction of the actual theft burden. The gap is significant."

Professionally Organized Theft Gangs

Professionally organized gangs are employing coordinated strategies to bypass security measures and steal large quantities, explains the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, a lucrative market for high-end consumer goods has emerged, driving the demand for these items. Moreover, with products becoming pricier, the value of stolen goods has grown exponentially.

Most Stolen Items

Shoplifters often target items that are small, relatively expensive, and can be easily concealed, such as designer clothing, small electronics, and cosmetics. In fact, shoplifters have even been caught walking out with coffee machines.

Of the nationwide 4.1 billion euros in shoplifting incidents in 2023, the EHI attributes approximately 2.82 billion to customers, 910 million to store employees, and 370 million to personnel from suppliers and service companies.

The retail industry is particularly alarmed by organized criminal gangs with well-defined roles within their groups. According to the EHI, at least a quarter of the total damage is due to these criminal networks. Police reports show that every fifth suspect has been found to be a repeat offender. More than half of suspects are not German, and more than a quarter were under 18 years old in the past year - a significant decrease from two years ago.

The Retail Industry's Demands

The retail association is pressing for a lower age of criminal responsibility - currently 14 years old - to combat the use of minors by organized crime rings. They argue that today's children are maturing at an earlier age and believe that police, prosecutors, and courts need to be better equipped. "Shoplifting should not go unpunished," says Hagmann.

However, the Ministry of the Interior does not believe harsher penalties are necessary, instead relying on the deterrent effect of swift procedures.

Protecting the Stores

Retailers are arming themselves with store detectives, CCTV, artificial intelligence, secured merchandise, and door stewards, but these measures are costly and offer limited deterrent effects. The costs for security measures in stores amount to around 200 million euros per year.

  1. Despite the decrease in reported shoplifting cases, the retail industry suspects that the actual number of unreported thefts is enormous, with estimates placing unreported shoplifting cases at 100,000 each sales day.
  2. According to the EHI Retail Institute, the actual damage in Baden-Württemberg far surpasses the official statistics, with the damage estimated at 580 million euros for the previous year alone.
  3. Professionally organized theft gangs are employing coordinated strategies to bypass security measures and steal large quantities of high-value products, particularly targeting small, expensive, and easily concealable items like designer clothing, small electronics, and cosmetics.

Read also:

    Related

    Latest