Retail theft rose by a third in 2009, as an incident occurred almost every minute. These are the findings of the British Retail Consortium's Retail Crime Survey 2009, published today.
Acts of violence and abuse against shop staff doubled in the same period with at least 22,000 retail employees suffering threats, physical or verbal attack - and those are only the reported incidences.

For the first time the BRC survey assessed the proportion of retail crimes that go unreported - retailers around two thirds of customer thefts according to the survey, which takes the total number of thefts to more than a million.

The survey found the cost of retail crime to be £1.1bn in 2008/09, a 10% increase on the previous year and equivalent to 72,000 retail jobs.

Customers shoplifting accounted for the largest percentage of total retail thefts at 94%, but only accounted for 42% of the total value of goods stolen, meaning employee theft is costing retailers more than half of all losses.

BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: "The increase in retail crime during the recession can't be justified as a move from 'greed' to 'need'. Whatever the motivation, shoplifting is never victimless or acceptable. The cash costs are met by honest customers who end up paying more and the human costs by shop staff who intervene.

"It's shocking that a shop theft happens almost every minute, 24 hours a day. We need tougher sentencing to deter thieves and more consistent use of fixed penalty notices between police forces. Too many fines for shoplifting remain unpaid. We need more effective enforcement so they aren't devalued as a deterrent.

"The police and criminal justice system must take retail theft more seriously. There's been some progress but, with a fifth of retailers saying they don't report crime because they have no confidence in the police and two thirds of shop thefts going unreported, not enough."

"The doubling in violence and abuse against retail staff is the biggest concern of all. It should never be regarded as 'part of the job'. Punishments must be strong enough to deter and the police should measure workplace violence when they assess business crime in the community and determine local policing priorities."

For more information about retail crime, and the latest facts and figures, see the next issue of DIY Week out on January 15.