Troubled Economy Increased Shoplifting Rates in 2008; Consumers and Employees Got More Greedy

LOS ANGELES, CA - Preliminary results of the latest National Retail Security Survey show that retail shrinkage averaged 1.52% of retail sales in 2008, up from 1.44% in 2007. According to the survey, total retail losses increased last year to $36.5 billion, up from $34.8 billion in 2007. According to the survey, the majority of retail shrinkage last year was due to employee theft, at $15.9 billion, which represented almost half of losses (44%).

"While the economy plays a role in the amount of shoplifting around the country, these crimes are mostly the case of greed instead of need," said National Retail Federation's Joe LaRocca. "People aren't stealing to feed their families; they're stealing iPods, handbags, and other discretionary items."

MP: We hear a lot about corporate greed (526,000 Google hits), but don't hear very much about consumer greed (27,300 Google hits), and even less about employee greed (only 1,990 Google hits). But as the story above highlights, many consumers and employees are quite greedy themselves, and they helped themselves to more than $36 billion worth of merchandise owned by the corporations that are so often accused of being "greedy," (or whose managers are accused of "greed").

Even the majority of consumers who don't shoplift, can still in fact be pretty ruthless, cutthroat and disloyal, read about it here.