Remember the days when a major retailer's biggest concern was consumers' shoplifting? Now instead of having to only worry about consumers, retailers now have to worry about internal employees stealing. A staggering 71,095 employees were apprehended in 2012 for stealing from their respective employers, a 5.5% increase from 2011.
The reason for dishonest employees deciding to steal varies from employee to employee, not getting a raise or feeling unappreciated are just a few. Companies are also dealing with people who are aware of their security protocols, these employees are privy to information that most consumers are not, for example; whether or not those security cameras are dummy cameras or if there is a sensor to set off the metal detectors. When retailers were asked for reasons they feel this is occurring, they stated factors such as economic conditions, lack of resources, lack of process controls, etc.
This epidemic not only affects retailers but consumers as well because at the end of the day the money has to come from somewhere for these items—and you guessed it—that means that retailers will have to start increasing the cost of goods. In our next blog post, we will discuss how retailers can attempt to take control of this situation and hopefully get the numbers back down.