Employee Theft Costs Retailers More Than Shoplifting, Organized Crime

Retailers nationwide lose less to shoplifters and organized crime than they do to another group: their own employees. Thefts by employees accounted for about 45 percent of retail losses in 2010, according to the National Retail Security Survey. Shoplifting and organized retail crime made up about 31 percent of inventory shrinkage, the accounting term for loss of products between the point of purchase from a supplier and point of sale.