Has shoplifting become a global problem?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2023
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Shoplifting has long been a concern for small and large retailers worldwide, but many believe the issue has recently increased - including incidents of retail violence.
Sam Gruet speaks to some of these retailers in New Zealand, India, Pakistan and the UK, to explore the possible reasons behind the rise in retail crime and what measures they’re introducing to respond to the escalating issue. These include covert security, body cameras and stab-proof vests.
He also asks if advances in technology can act as a powerful deterrent to potential shoplifters, and if it could be the solution to minimise retail loss.
(Picture: Security camera. Credit: Getty Images)
Presenter: Sam Gruet Producer: Amber Mehmood
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Something mysterious plagues County Mayo on the West Coast of Ireland |
| 0:03.7 | and its legendary Gaelic football team. |
| 0:06.1 | I believe in the curse. |
| 0:07.4 | Yeah, I think it's real. |
| 0:09.0 | Is it just superstition? |
| 0:10.8 | Or could there be more to it? |
| 0:12.5 | Sometimes I think there's something sinister going on. |
| 0:16.0 | What do we need to do to win an all-Ilan final for Mayo? |
| 0:18.4 | Listen to the curious tale of the Mayo Curse on Amazing Sports Stories from the BBC World |
| 0:24.4 | Service. Search for amazing sports stories wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:30.0 | Hello and welcome to Business Daily on the BBC World Service. My name is Sam Gruet. |
| 0:35.2 | Today, shoplifting. |
| 0:40.0 | Retailers are losing billions and billions of dollars in retail theft. |
| 0:46.3 | I would say that in the last 25 years that I've been in food retailing, |
| 0:50.5 | I have never seen or witnessed anything like we're seeing this year. |
| 0:54.0 | Almost 2% of our next sales are affected by shoplifting |
| 0:58.3 | and it is definitely an increasing concern |
| 1:01.1 | which has made us look towards better security measures as well. |
| 1:06.1 | Around the world, retailers say there's been a rise in incidents of crime, |
| 1:10.7 | particularly theft from shops and abuse towards staff. |
| 1:15.0 | So she's got four stakes there and then she'll walk around. |
| 1:18.7 | So she'll be going back there to see what else she can get. |
... |
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