Retail fraud expected to rise
A new research report has indicated that retail fraud in the UK is likely to increase in the year ahead as the coalition government implements its budget cuts.
The Retail Fraud Survey, commissioned by Retail Knowledge and conducted by Martec International, says that almost 60% of loss prevention executives believe there will be an increase in theft by consumers and retail staff as people steal for ‘need rather than greed’ due to the effects of the weak economy.
Martec interviewed the UK’s leading 100 retailers to find out the scale of current fraud threats and the preventative measures the retailers had put in place to mitigate those threats.
The report found that the biggest area of loss for retailers was shoplifting or external stock theft (34%), followed by employee theft (26% of respondents). Internal cash theft represented 10%. It also discovered that there was low investment in fraud management systems with the majority of retailers (64%) not using them. Furthermore, return goods fraud was found to be on the increase.
Commenting on the findings, Managing Director of Retail Knowledge Paul Bessant said: “For the vendor community this report should act as a catalyst to reassess their approach to loss prevention based on actual retailer needs, especially at a time when their challenges and needs are on the increase and likely to continue upwards.
“It is our intention to make this an annual exercise in our commitment to working with the industry to showcase best practice and share knowledge to reduce fraud across the sector.”
