The Australian Retailer Association whose CEO Paul Zahra, loves parading in front of TV cameras to talk about sales and promotion, appears to have gone shy when it comes revealing the true state of theft at retailers in Australia, or the outcome of a key retail crime industry event that was held yesterday in Melbourne, they have also failed to reveal the impact of theft on inflation with retailers lifting the cost of goods to facilitate losses due to theft.

ChannelNews understands that the retail industry developed a five-point plan following the Symposium, however the ARA is refusing to reveal the details of these plans or any other stats or the full extent of the crisis confronting retailers.

The organisation which only told media about the event a day after it was held, claims that they are taking the issue of crime seriously despite a puff press release issued earlier today, failing to deliver any information on the true extent of retail crime or which retail categories are the most affected.

The ARA and the National Retail Association have also failed to reveal what was agreed by attendees that included under siege Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen who has been linked with the CFMEU union an organisation that is facing being banned because of their links to organised crime.

Representing the Australian Federal Government was Senator Jaquie Lambie.

Other key speakers were Michael Schneider Managing Director of Bunnings, Alexandra Staley from Officeworks, Matt Dick Head of Stores Risk & Compliance at David Jones, Gary Stones General Manager of Retail at Myer.

There were no speakers from The Good Guys Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi or Bing Lee.

The only two Police speakers at the event were Julian Coram an inspector from South Australia and Commissioner Robert Hill from Victoria.

Paul Zara CEO left with NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb who appears to have not had any police speakers at the event.

Missing were representatives from Queensland and NSW where the most retail crime is committed.

Recently the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and the National Retail Association (NRA)joined forces to call for major changes to improve the safety of retail staff and business owners.

But despite these moves the Association is unable to paint a picture of the impact that retail crime is having on the bottom line of their members.

In both the USA and the UK retail associations have revealed the true state of retail crime in their respective Countries.

In the US Target recently closed down nine stores after massive losses due to theft.

In the USA retail crime in New York and San Francisco, is so bad that it’s impacting bottom line profits.

A US Target spokesperson said recently “We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” the retailer said. “We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”

Recently the National Retail Association claimed that retail theft, both external and internal, is costing Australian businesses up to $9 billion each year.

In a recent survey, the NRA found that 85% feel business profitability is affected by having to implement strategies to counter retail theft.

There are no indications of which retailers are affected most or which categories are facing the highest theft rates.

The latest ARA press release claims that they want stronger laws and deterrents for retail crime offenders, improved relationships between the retail sector and police, improved information sharing, increased focus on the human impact of retail crime, and increased adoption of technology.

Last year there was uproar after retailers revealed that they were using a new generation of cameras and software that allowed them to identify suspects of crime.

While Choice came out claiming that consumers found facial recognition by retailers ‘creepy and invasive’ and were concerned that stores may be using their information to create profiles which could cause them harm.

The ARE and the NRA failed to issue statements supporting the move by the likes of Bunning and The Good Guys who were using the technology to try and reduce crime rates.

Zahra claims that retail crime is one of the most pressing issues facing the retail sector today.

“Retail crime has devastating impacts on businesses and their teams. It’s an issue that is multifaceted – with increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks, organised crime rings targeting retail stores, and violent confrontations that are taking an emotional toll on frontline workers,” said Mr Zahra.

“It’s something that keeps our retail leaders up at night as they fear for the safety of their staff.”

The ARA has also failed to reveal the financial impact that retail theft is having on inflation and how much retailers are pushing up prices to compensate for high theft rates.

In the UK the British Retail Consortium came out with a report claiming that this year there had been a 50% increase in the level of retail violence and abuse, to 1,300 incidents a day.

The cost of theft doubled to A$3.47 billion in 2022/23 with over 45,000 thefts a day.

60% of respondents say police response is “poor” or “very poor”.

Zara claims that “Good progress has been made to provide legislative protections for frontline workers, but the coverage is not yet universal across Australia. We need to continue pushing for these laws because this type of aggressive behaviour isn’t tolerated in any other workplace, and shouldn’t have to be tolerated by retail workers,” said Mr Zahra.

Despite claiming that the symposium highlighted a number of key areas of concern for the retail sector and opportunities for further collaboration, they have failed to reveal those concerns to retail trade media.

The Australian Retail Association responded claiming:

We formally request the removal or retraction of your story, “Australian Retail Association Refuses to Reveal Extent of Oz Retail Crime Or New Five Point Plan.

You state the ARA is hiding the key outcomes of the 2024 Retail Crime Symposium.

This is blatantly incorrect.

The ARA has spoken extensively about the outcomes of the symposium as well as the five point plan as is evidenced in the media coverage. We offered you the same interview opportunity.

This event, like last year’s symposium, was industry only with Chatham House rules allowing open discussion of topics that are highly sensitive to retail workers and organisations as well as to safety authorities.

It is standard practice for industry associations to hold these events as a form of open workshop environment.

Tickets for the event were publicly advertised to retailers on our website and promoted on social media.

We also note your reference to the ARA not revealing “the impact of theft on inflation.”

This data does not fall within our realm and there is no such data available to us. The absence of some key data is an ongoing challenge that we are seeking to address in collaboration with government and authorities as well as the broader retail community, as discussed at the symposium and mentioned in media.

4Square Media Comment.

No retail trade media were invited to this symposium despite the subject being a critical issue for both retailers, their staff and consumers who are having to wear the costs associated with rampant thefts from retail stores.

Some brands have stopped supplying retailers on consignment because of the rampant growth in retail theft driving up the cost of doing business with a retailer.

One brand recently told ChannelNews that stock was disappearing even before it hit the shelfs at one mass retailer.

Retail l theft and the impact of retail theft is not an issue that should only be aired behind closed doors.

When retailers in Australia tried to introduce a deterrent in the form of cameras linked to social media databases woke publication Choice reported the retailers such as Kmart, Bunnings, and The Good Guys to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to investigate potential breaches of the Privacy Act over their use of facial recognition technology.

The organisation probed 25 of “Australia’s most-trusted retailers”, and then made claims that Kmart, Bunnings, and The Good Guys were “capturing the biometric data of their customers”.

For people who have nothing to hide and want security in their local stores this was not an issue because every time someone travels via an airport, they face the same sort of scrutiny.

It would be of interest to see if this subject was discussed at yesterday’s Symposium.