Shoplifting is escalating in Australia and globally, with the number of offences of stealing from NSW retail stores increasing by nearly 40% between March 2021 and 2023, according to data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, but Best Buy has tried having a larger staff presence and its working.
Best Buy has nearly 1,000 stores to oversee, but the electronics retailer is thwarting shoplifting through increased staffing levels in stores, full-service cashier lanes, security staff at entrances, and other tactics, CEO Corie Barry said.
“In certain parts of the country in particular, there is a real issue around theft and organized crime. With that being said… we have not called out material impacts to our business as a result of shrink for at least the last two years,” Barry said.
It is harder to steal a washer or dryer compared to smaller items, but electronics typically top the list of most frequently stolen items in retail, according to the National Retail Federation.
After the pandemic, retailers report that shrink caused by various factors, including shoplifting, increased 19% in 2022 to $112 billion and has nearly doubled from before 2020. Retailers attribute the rise to shoplifting and organized groups stealing merchandise from stores to resell online.
According to a Woolworths spokesperson, the retailer has seen a surge in retail crime. “We have a number of initiatives that we use, both covert and overt, to help reduce retail crime and keep our team members safe in our stores,” the spokesperson said.
For Best Buy, the company’s shoplifting strategy seems to be working, but analysts say it requires well-trained and well-staffed stores.
Previously, more stores had opted for self-checkouts and skeleton crews, but that approach is failing now, whereas previously, it did save money and boost profit margins.
Of the increase in retail crime, a criminologist at the University of Cincinnati John Eck said, “The more retailers go toward reducing their labour costs and putting more of the energy on shoppers, the higher the shoplifting.”
More staff won’t stop the shoplifting crisis completely, but it seems to make a difference, he said.
“If you’re being watched, you’re generally more careful. Not too many things in criminology are better understood than that.”
According to Best Buy’s CEO, there is no easy fix, but more staff is part of the solution.
“We tend to have more labor coverage in our stores because that interaction is a big part of our model,” Barry said.
Best Buy has returned to how stores used to operate by having security staff at the front of stores supervise customers entering and departing and discontinued self-checkout machines.
According to one study, retailers with self-checkout lanes and apps had a higher loss rate of about 4%, over 50% of the industry average.
“Whenever you walk in hopefully you’re going to see a friendly face in a yellow shirt who has access to cameras all over the store,” Barry said.
Another retailer, Lowe’s, has also credited its low stealing levels to increased store staffing levels.
“Having spent my entire adult life in retail at every level, the one thing that I understand clearly is that the greatest deterrent for any type of theft activity is effective customer service,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said.
