After initial assertions about “organized” shoplifting–in which a group of people steal products from several stores and then sell them on the black market, the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association, has now corrected themselves. They had previously shared a startling estimate that “organized retail crime” accounted for nearly half the $94.5 billion worth of store merchandise lost in 2021, proved later to be wrong. This only served to fuel the narrative that the United States was experiencing a nationwide shoplifting epidemic.
This correction came after the trade publication Retail Dive revealed last week that erroneous data had been used by the National Retail Federation to fill a widely cited report issued in April. The analysis began with a quote referring to “$45 billion annual losses for retailers” caused by organized retail crime. It was later corrected that this number was instead the overall cost of shrink, i.e. lost inventory through theft, damage and even inventory tracking mistakes, in 2015, not accounting exclusively for the amount lost to organized retail crime.
After the corrections were made, the National Retail Federation sent an email to put the attention again on the shoplifting problem. “We stand behind the widely understood fact that organized retail crime is a serious problem impacting retailers of all sizes and communities across our nation,” the statement said, reported by The New York Times. “At the same time, we recognize the challenges the retail industry and law enforcement have with gathering and analyzing an accurate and agreed-upon set of data.”
Indeed, it is difficult to determine whether and when it is organized shoplifting or not. But, according to police, data shows a tiny improvement from a few years ago. General shoplifting has decreased by 7 percent since 2019 and has been lower this year in most of the United States, with some exceptions, including New York City.
Shoplifting fake news is supported by continued claims by retail chains like Target and Walgreens, and recurrent videos and images that show online waves of masked groups of people smashing windows and grabbing high-end purses and cellphones.
