Opinion | The Many Costs of Shoplifting

In a recent study, a team of marketing professors looked at how service employees perceive “customer deviant behaviors,” which include minor infractions like incivility and aggression, as well as more serious offenses like shoplifting and fraudulent returns. The researchers found that shoplifting was “by far” the most prevalent and detrimental form of deviant behavior. According to the study, in the presence of a suspected thief the burden of policing often falls to frontline employees, who, depending on company policy, may be expected to guard the store, stand by passively or even assist the thieves as if they were paying customers. These behaviors leave employees feeling frustrated, angry, helpless, targeted, unmotivated and uncomfortable. Allowing shoplifting to continue unimpeded, the authors found, undermines the sense of pride they might otherwise find in their work and the workplace.

Policies that require employees to remain passive in the face of shoplifting can be frustrating. As one employee quoted in the study put it: “You want me to prevent loss, but at the end of the day, if I can’t physically stop someone that I know is stealing, essentially, I’m not loss prevention. I’m just, I’m here to just watch it.” Another employee said policies preventing action make shoplifting too easy: “It is not fair. They have restrained our powers. They have tied our hands. The criminals have all the rights, and we don’t.”

City officials are increasingly aware that shoplifting discourages workers and worsens labor conditions. In May, Mayor Eric Adams announced a program to fight retail theft in New York City, reports of which have increased by 77 percent in recent years, up 45 percent between 2021 and 2022 alone. Among the proposals is an “employee support program” meant to train retail workers in “de-escalation tactics, anti-theft tools and security best practices” to help ensure their own safety.

Shoplifting adds pressure to retailers still reeling from Covid-19 and the ongoing pressures of online alternatives. For small shopkeepers, bodegas and mom-and-pops, losses from theft can be devastating to the bottom line. Even large chains like Walmart, Whole Foods, REI and Walgreens have closed or are planning to close major retail locations in cities like Portland, Ore., and San Francisco. While multiple factors are behind the closures, shoplifting is frequently cited as one of them.

In May, Brian Cornell, the chief executive of Target, called theft “a worsening trend that emerged last year,” warning of a projected loss from retail theft of $500 million more than the previous year. “The problem affects all of us, limiting product availability, creating a less convenient shopping experience and putting our team and guests in harm’s way,” Cornell said. It can also lead to higher prices for everyone else.