STORES Magazine - January 2008 - (Page L6)

Industry provided by Downing & Downing Gauging Global Losses U .S. RETAILERS lost $40.5 billion to theft last year, according to the annual survey conducted by the University of Florida. How does that compare with losses experienced by retailers around the globe? According to the first Global Retail Theft Barometer, customer, employee and supplier/vendor theft cost the world’s retailers a staggering $98.6 billion. The research, published in November, was produced by The Centre for Retail Research in Nottingham, England, in conjunction with Checkpoint Systems. It gathered data from 820 retail corporations in 32 countries. Some key findings from the study: Total global shrinkage (stock loss from crime or waste expressed as a percentage of retail sales) cost retailers the equivalent of 1.36 percent of retail sales, up from 1.34 percent the year before. One-half of the countries suffered increased shrinkage, although Asia-Pacific retailers reduced shrinkage by 4.6 percent. Retailers in most countries thought customer theft (shoplifting) was their biggest problem, responsible for 42 percent of shrinkage. But the United States, Canada and Australia perceived employee theft to be a more critical threat. Disloyal employees were responsible for 35.2 percent of shrink; internal error and administrative failure (e.g. pricing or accounting mistakes) accounted for 16.5 percent of the total, and vendor theft and fraud added up to 6.3 percent. The most-stolen items included branded and expensive products such as cosmetics and skin care, alcohol, women’s apparel, fragrances and designer-labeled items. ’Tis the Season for Returns IRST COMES the holiday buying frenzy . . . then come the returns. Wrong size, wrong color — it’s bound to happen, but 8.93 percent of holiday returns will be fraudulent, up slightly from last year, according to the NRF’s second annual Return Fraud Survey. Even more unsettling is the effect these dishonest returns will have on retailers’ bottom lines. Return fraud is expected to cost retailers an estimated $3.7 billion during the holiday season (up from $3.5 billion a year ago), with total losses of $10.8 billion. Retailers are caught in a constant struggle when it comes to returns: they want to accommodate honest customers by taking back goods without a receipt, but they’re aware that lenient practices can be costly. Ninety-two percent of retailers have had stolen merchandise returned to stores within the past year. In addition, retailers report being victimized by returns of merchandise originally purchased with fraudulent or stolen tender (83.1 percent) and returns using counterfeit receipts (51 percent). Adding insult to injury, retailers report that L6 STORES / JANUARY 2008 F Bill Wagner was promoted to group asset protection team leader for Target. . . . Chuck Sipko was appointed district LP manager for OfficeMax. . . . Dawn Burnham has been promoted to corporate LP manager for OfficeMax. . . . John Slutz has been named senior manager of LP for Marc’s. . . . LeeRoy Hedwood has been appointed regional LP manager for Petco Stores. . . . Melissa Devlin has been named area asset protection manager for Circuit City. . . . Nate Pearson was promoted to asset protection team leader/analytics for Target. . . . Shon Rolfe has been promoted to regional LP director for Lowe’s. . . . Yalemy Bonnin has been named district LP manager for Gucci Group Americas. . . . Bill Gibson has been named distribution center asset protection manager for PetSmart. . . . Brittney Vachon has been named district LP manager for Polo Ralph Lauren. . . . Cathrine Lay has been named district LP manager for JCPenney. . . . Chris Spacaforno was promoted to divisional LP director/Northeast for Sears. . . . Christian Placencia has been named market investigator/West for JCPenney. . . . Dan Teller has been named corporate LP manager for Pep Boys. . . . David Lawwill has been named director of LP for Fossil. . . . David Lu has been named East Coast LP manager for Apple. . . . Derek Manfra has been named district LP manager for JCPenney. . . . Devon Sloan has been named market investigator/West for JCPenney. the unethical practice of “wardrobing” is escalating. “Wardrobing” describes the return of non-defective, used merchandise that is typically purchased by a shopper for a special occasion and returned to the store immediately following WWW.LPINFORMATION.COM WATCH NEWSbeat http://WWW.LPINFORMATION.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - January 2008

STORES Magazine - January 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Build a 'Bot Sneak Peek at Fashion Trends What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Fishing for Talent Retail CEO Compensation Research Concept2Watch E-Commerce Payment Solutions Online Merchandising POS LPInformation LP Vantage Point Newsbeat Industry Watch Cover Story: Making LP PCI-Compliant Mall Security Video Surveillance Industry Perspective Forum RFID Business Intelligence Data Management Logistics Turning Green into Gold Love of – and for – the Outdoors Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - January 2008

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