Shoplifters pinch Sh3 billion from supermarkets

Supermarkets are losing an estimated Sh3 billion annually to shoplifters, a recent conference of retailers was told. Participants at the first ever Kenya Retail Industry Conference noted that the vice has evolved from theft of small items in these shops to expensive goods like electronics and furniture items.

“It’s extremely alarming to note that conventional in store policing measures are not helping much and there’s an urgent need to review existing laws to make them more punitive both for shoplifters and also for employees tried under theft by servant clauses,” said Nakumatt MD Atul Shah in his speech to delegates at the conference.

According to the 2011 Global Retail Theft Barometer (GRTB), produced by The Centre For Retail Research, global shrinkage covering customer theft, employee theft and general stock losses due to internal systems errors last year exceeded US$119 billion in a study covering 1,187 global retailers.

The 2011 GRTB study conducted in 43 countries indicated that the global shrink rate grew 6.6% from 1.36% of global sales to stand at 1.45% with India, Russia and Morocco emerging as the most affected countries. In his address, Shah further urged industry players to form a lobby groups to champion for favourable policies concerning their business niche.

The wholesale and retails sector registered a 7.3 per cent growth according to the 2012 economic survey report. “Providing a platform to encourage formal retail trade has a potential to significantly raise government revenues by more than a quarter of the current measure,” urged Shah.