SAN DIEGO — Total retail losses attributable to shrinkage increased last year to $41.6 billion, according to the preliminary results of the National Retail Security Survey, released yesterday at the National Retail Federation’s Loss Prevention Conference & Expo here. The survey, in its 15th year, is a collaborative effort between NRF, Washington, and the University of Florida. The survey found that retail shrinkage — defined as inventory losses occurring from employee theft, shoplifting, organized retail crime, administrative error and vendor fraud — averaged 1.61% of retail sales last year, nearly unchanged from 1.60 percent in 2005. Even though shrinkage as a percentage of sales stayed virtually the same, overall shrinkage grew as a result of higher retail sales in 2006 compared to 2005. “Though total retail losses continue to rise in correlation with industry sales, it is encouraging that shrinkage as a percentage of sales has stayed flat,” said Dr. Richard Hollinger, lead author of the survey and a criminology professor at the University of Florida, in a statement. “Retailers seem to be putting a dent in the amount of criminal activity in their stores, though they acknowledge they have a lot of work left to do.”
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