SHOPLIFTING: How much do we really know? Available to Purchase

Nobody knows with any accuracy what is stolen from retail outlets each year, nor precisely the breakdown between staff and customer theft. And what about losses at the back door? Some generalisations, however, are valid: people of all age‐groups steal food, while it is the young who are most illegally active in boutiques, and the very young in sweetshops. But how much are retailers themselves to blame, for insufficient attention to what is in essence a management function?