On September 26, Target announced it was closing nine stores "because theft and organized retail crime are…contributing to unsustainable business performance." Target said that before making the decision to close stores, it "invested heavily in strategies to prevent and stop theft and organized retail crime." But ultimately, the company asserted, those efforts were not enough to make those stores "successful."

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In 2022, according to the survey, “shrink” — an industry term for inventory losses from theft, damage, or administrative errors — was 1.57% of total retail sales, up from 1.44% in 2021. This means that an average of $1.57 in inventory was lost for every $100 in sales. The shrink rate in 2022, the NRF reports, is the same as it was in 2020 and 2019. Over the last seven years, shrink has oscillated between 1.3% and 1.6%. Experts note that “the share is largely in line with past years and is considered a normal and healthy level of shrink.” In addition, “when retail sales go up, as they did in 2022, shrink also tends to rise,” the Los Angeles Times reports. Retailers, according to the New York Times, are more likely to talk about shrink “during times of economic distress…when their profits are already being squeezed.”

  • andrew_bidlawEnglish
    13·
    1 year ago

    … an industry term for inventory losses from theft, damage, or administrative errors — was 1.57%

    As it’s a combination of these things, this number is impressively low.