CRS 481 - Blog #6

U.S. Retail Crime Grows



Since the recession has hit, many consumers are looking for new products at the best deal! HOwever, with this demand organized crime has increased with shoplifters selling stolen goods on the Internet at cheap prices! Websites such as Ebay and Craigslist have been hit hard by organized crime and while the websites say this is unexceptable it is hard to regulate goods sold through these sites. At least Craigslist creates an electronic tag on all of their postings so that stolen goods can be tracked.

85% of all retailers surveyed said that they have been victims of organized crime, and 40% of all goods sold through websites such as ebay that are tagged as new are actually stolen goods. On average U.S. retialers lose $15-$30 billion a year from stolen goods and with theft increasing Congress has planned to introduce three federal anti crime bills within the next week. These new concepts will allow law enforcement to further fight retail theft, including tightening up on goods sold online. Retailers are also starting to use GPS systems to track theives but with the recession many retailers have had to cut back on employee spending, decreasing the number of associates working in stores at one time and allowing more people to get away with shoplifting.

This situation just goes to show that all retailers must be on their toes during an enconomic recession...not only are retailers losing money by decreased customer spending, but retailers are also losing money and merchandise from organized theft. If theives would only think about the consequences of their actions...they would see that they are only further harming the US economic situation and actually taking jobs away from others. If retailers are not making money and are losing merchandise, they can no longer afford to hire or employ new people and thus add to the rising unemployment rate...ultimately affecting the theives themselves when they are fired from their own jobs.

Source: US retail crime grows with demand for discounts. 25 February, 2009. Retreived from http://uk.reuters.com/article/regulatoryNewsConsumerGoodsAndRetail/idUKN2442588420090225?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0 .