Indian Retailer

For the third year in a row, India has recorded the highest rate of pilferage in its Rs3.7 trillion retail industry, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2009 (GRTB 2009) survey that was conducted across 40 countries, and results of which will be released Tuesday.

The shrinkage, or losses caused to the retailer, or shrinkage, caused by shoplifting, employees, administrative error, or vendors, amounted to 3.2% of the total size of the country’s retail industry, including the unorganized sector. The survey is prepared by the Centre for Retail Research, Nottingham, UK, and is funded by Checkpoint Systems Inc., a US-based security systems provider.

“The shrinkage increased by 3.2% over last year,” Dharmesh Lamba, country manager for Checkpoint Systems, told Mint.

At 45.2%,, shoplifting was the leading source of retail shrinkage, followed by employee theft (23.3%). Electronics, cosmetics, alcohol/ food, clothing and jewellery were among the leading items of theft.