Theft at c-stores almost doubles in the UK, says ACS
The total cost of crimes committed against the convenience sector over the last year was £193 million ($270mn), which equates to a 7p ‘crime tax’ on every transaction in stores.
The Association of Convenience Stores’ 2018 Crime Report has revealed a significant rise in the number of shop thefts committed against retailers over the last year, with shop theft increasingly being linked to aggressive behaviour towards retailers and their staff.
The 2018 ACS Crime Report shows that shop theft can often lead to abusive and violent behaviour, with retailers reporting that challenging shop thieves was the biggest cause of aggressive behaviour in stores. In total, there have been over 13,437 incidents of violence reported over the last year, although it’s likely that many more incidents have gone unreported. Retailers have reported that violence against staff is the number one thing that they are most concerned about when dealing with crime.
There were over 950,000 incidents of theft estimated over the last year, rising from 575,000 in the previous year, with the top three reasons reported by retailers as to why people steal from their stores being opportunism (36%), someone motivated by an alcohol or drug addiction (32%), and an organised group of criminals (22%).
“Retailers and their staff are facing violence and abuse on a regular basis for enforcing the law, whether it be through challenging shop thieves, refusing the sale of age restricted products like tobacco and alcohol, or refusing to serve people that are intoxicated,” said ACS chief executive James Lowman.
The report also shows that the total cost of fraud (counterfeit notes, credit/debit card fraud etc) over the last year is £24 million.