National Retail Federation Retracts Claims on Organized Retail Crime's Impact on Inventory Losses

The National Retail Federation has retracted claims from an April report that organized retail crime accounted for nearly half of all inventory losses in 2021. The NRF report, conducted with K2 Integrity, has removed a line stating organized retail crime was responsible for almost half of total annual retail "shrink" (missing inventory). Retail crime data is difficult to analyze as law enforcement often doesn't break out organized crime and retailer-reported shoplifting stats vary between rising and falling in different cities in recent years. While some theft may be up, retailers could also be using crime concerns to draw attention away from other business challenges like higher costs and weaker inventory management.