ABSTRACT
This chapter presents shrinkage and identifies its main cause retail security. The key external threats to retail security includes burglary and criminal damage, which causes significant costs to retailers in terms of stock losses and staff time. It discusses the main types of retail crime such as customer theft, employee theft, and fraud. The chapter evaluates the scale and nature of retail crime in the UK. Some types of retailer in the UK faced above-average risk of customer theft, such as department stores, food and drink retailers and mixed retail businesses. The chapter explores how to deal with shoplifters. It analyses security issues and develop a strategy for retail crime prevention. There are three main categories of methods for retail crime prevention that retailers can employ to combat customer and staff theft, fraud and external threats to security such as human mechanical and electronic. Electronic deterrence devices, such as mobile wireless systems, allow discrete messages to be sent between stores.
