[qbasic_forever]

Is shoplifting actually increasing? Data trumps anecdotes.

Combatting it is easy, you need to pay someone to stand at the door and check receipts. But stores don't want to spend money on labor and instead just want to whine and claim there is nothing that can be done, we need to hire more police, etc. to make it someone else's problem.

[Gamemaster1379]

> Data trumps anecdotes That's just it. The way politicians solved it is by making theft under a certain dollar amount a lesser offense so nobody bothers reporting it anymore.

Apparently one way of reducing crime is by making certain types of theft not illegal.

> pay someone to stand at the door and check receipts ... And if the person refuses to have their receipt checked? Is the store going to risk liability of their employee or being sued by the customer if they're injured? Very real risks and not worth letting a person just walk out. My local grocery stores have receipt checkers and I still see people walk out with full carts. Security will stand in front of them but the thieves just walk around them because even security isn't allowed to touch shoplifters

[flutas]

> Combatting it is easy, you need to pay someone to stand at the door and check receipts.

Which won't help because they can't actually do anything, they have no right to actually see your receipt. They can't require it, they can't use it as probable cause, and they can't detain you.

Worst they can do is ban you from the premises.

Store's like Costco and Sam's Club can require it because it's part of your membership agreement.

[qbasic_forever]

Yes but it's still a deterrent for the vast majority of casual shoplifters. And if shoplifting is really such a horrible cost for these stores, why don't they go private and require shoppers to agree to a membership to shop inside (which includes an agreement to have your receipt checked)? There is no law that says stores have to be open to the general public.

[gjsman-1000]

It's gone berserk since the pandemic. CVS claims they have had a 300% increase.

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2022/why-has-shopl...

https://www.axios.com/2022/02/11/shoplifting-retail-crisis-o...

[qbasic_forever]

And other data points say the opposite: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/business/retail-shoplifting-s...

"In a major shift, Walgreens, which said it saw a spike in shrink during the pandemic and cited organized retail crime in its decision to close five San Francisco stores in 2021, is backtracking.

“Maybe we cried too much last year” about shrink numbers, Walgreens finance chief James Kehoe said on an earnings call earlier this month.

During its latest quarter, the company’s shrink rate fell to around 2.5% from 3.5% of total sales last year."

I don't see a clear picture of increasing shoplifting. I do see a clear incentive for stores to claim there is an increase in shoplifting though.

[ericd]

I don't think they were crying too much, it felt like >50% of the time I was at Walgreens on Mission St in SF that I witnessed someone very blatantly shoplifting. And pretty often, I'd see a spread of someone selling standard drugstore wares on the sidewalk outside. I'd have been beyond frustrated if I managed that store.

[Brian_K_White]

I also wonder if the stores reduced staffing.

All stores have had less staff ever since self checkout was invented, and seems to have gotten even worse lately.

Let's have a big store and no staff, treat the staff you do have like shit, and then complain about shoplifting.

[qbasic_forever]

Exactly what I've seen too. It's wild seeing one employee trying to watch a dozen self checkout kiosks during an after work rush of grocery shopping.

[geodel]

> money on labor and instead just want to whine and claim there is nothing that can be done,

Huh, stores are doing what they can by installing facial recognition system. The whining I am seeing are in the comments here.