Supermarkets have reported a leap in thefts of expensive products such as meat joints and parmesan cheese - with the finger of blame being increasingly pointed at the middle classes.
The latest Global Retail Theft Barometer found the squeeze on living standards has become so intense that increasing numbers of middle class shoppers are turning to crime to maintain their lifestyles.
It measured the cost of total retail theft at £3.4bn over the past financial year in the UK - equating to £124 per household - roughly in line with the previous year but only because stores have been investing to improve security.
The report suggested the loss from shoplifting was passed on to customers in the form of higher prices - a scenario families do not need given the continuing divide between wage increases and living costs.
Prime cuts are increasingly not being paid for The report highlighted a growing trend among food retailers to place security tags on the most expensive items including premium steak and spirits as shoplifters attempted to take items with higher value though easily concealable products continued to account for the bulk of thefts.
Russell Holland of Checkpoint Systems, which carried out the research, told Sky News: "We're seeing the variety of people shoplifting and the amount stolen on the increase - only contained by the efforts retailers are making.
"A greater range of products is being stolen - cosmetics in particular - and there is no doubt a broader range of people are lifting products ... it includes Middle England.
"In electrical stores even TVs are going out the front door."
The study found that supermarkets using self-service checkouts were making a greater use of security tagging alongside an increased security presence and staff training costs were rising as the big chains put a greater emphasis on stopping criminality - some of it blamed on its own workers.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Middle Classes Join Retail Theft Spree
Dengan url
http://cembururabun.blogspot.com/2013/11/middle-classes-join-retail-theft-spree.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Middle Classes Join Retail Theft Spree
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Middle Classes Join Retail Theft Spree
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar