NRF retraction of key retail theft claim fuels skeptics of issue's scale
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
The nation's largest retail trade group retracted a key assertion from an April report that "nearly half" of the $94.5 billion inventory losses reported by retailers in a 2021 survey "was attributable" to organized retail crime.
Why it matters: Skeptics of the recent narrative of retail theft's growing size and scale have been given more reason to double down.
- That narrative has been shaped, in part, by claims from the National Retail Federation, which published that April report.
- It's been fueled by viral surveillance videos of local smash and grab robberies, and has been used by retailers — from Safeway to Walmart to Target — to justify shortened operating hours and store closures.
The other side: Other data suggests retail theft is a localized issue — and isn't rising on a national level.
The big picture: Regardless of its actual scale, retail theft is just one factor in a wider story of the current state of retail, and one that critics feel is being increasingly cited as companies seek to protect slimmer profit margins, and as a convenient justification for wider business decisions. Other factors at play include:
- Low foot traffic in some larger cities.
- Retailers experimenting more with smaller footprint stores.
- Slimmed-down inventory, the rise of online delivery and in-store pickup have also changed the way retailers think about where and how stores should be set up.
What they're saying: The NRF said the original claim in its Organized Retail Crime Report was due to a misinterpretation of prior data by its partner in the study.
- "We stand behind the widely understood fact that organized retail crime is a serious problem impacting retailers of all sizes and communities across our nation," a spokesperson said in a statement to Axios.
