The Northern Beaches has seen retail theft creep up to pre-COVID-19 levels, but aggression towards retail workers is also on the rise. Peninsula Living Pittwater investigates the issue.
Retail theft is up by almost 40 per cent on the Northern Beaches over a two-year average to March, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR).
It was also found that NSW retail theft has returned to pre- COVID-19 levels faster than any other property crime, and increased 48 per cent from 2021/22 to 2022/23.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) chief executive officer Paul Zahra tells Peninsula Living Pittwater that shoplifting is costing the industry over $9 billion per year, but it could be higher as a lot of retail theft goes unreported.
“Shoplifting has become increasingly prevalent in the last six months, at a time when retailers are already battling rising operating costs associated with fuel, energy, labour, supply chains, rent and loans,” Mr Zahra says.
“For retailers, a two to three percent loss of merchandise can amount to a 25 per cent loss in profit,” Mr Zahra says. “This is debilitating for small businesses, which operate on tighter margins.”
It is difficult to draw a direct line between the shoplifting increase and the cost of living crisis, with some organisations ruling it out. BOCSAR executive director, Jackie Fitzgerald, says incidents of retail theft fell dramatically at the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, and then increased steadily from late-2021.
“There have been concerns that high inflation and rising cost of living have triggered a surge in shoplifting, but the view of retail theft presented by Police data does not support this. If emerging external factors like cost of living were driving an increase in retail theft, we would expect theft volumes to be noticeably higher than pre-pandemic levels.”
But for small business owners like Shirley Xie, who has operated a store at Warringah Mall for seven years, the problem is worse than ever. “Before, we might have one or two (thefts) per week. Now, it’s every day,” she says. “Shoplifting is (making things worse) for small business owners, especially with increasing costs like interest rates. Small businesses cannot survive,” Ms Xie said.
Ms Xie says that teenagers steal valuable items such as charging power banks, whereas older people will try and steal a bottle of dishwashing liquid. She thinks some people might be finding it tough economically, but many teenagers steal because ‘it’s fun’.
Ms Xie says calling mall security is just a temporary fix, but calling the police gets the thieves banned from the shopping centre for a period of time. But that they always come back.
A NSW Police spokesperson tells Peninsula Living Pittwater that it is ‘committed to cracking down on those who attempt to take goods without paying for them,’ and that ‘this sort of criminal behaviour will not be tolerated’. In addition, the spokesperson says anecdotal evidence suggests that there has been an increase in reporting of retail theft offences as a result of CCTV.
“NSW Police conducts regular proactive operations targeting retail theft, with police running high-visibility operations to target recidivist and opportunistic offenders.
“Officers work closely with shopping centre management and other relevant stakeholders to run these proactive operations,” the spokesperson adds.
Ms Xie says she has noticed a rise in disrespectful attitudes from some customers. The ARA’s Mr Zahra says that one in four cases of retail theft involves abusive or threatening behaviour towards staff. In September, the ARA brought major retailers together at its Retail Crime Symposium to identify how to protect retail workers and prevent any further escalation of retail crime in Australia. Possible tougher penalties for assault on retail workers was discussed.
Woolworths Group chief executive officer Brad Banducci affirms an increase in threatening behaviour towards Woolworths employees, saying that aggression incidents have tripled.
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci says shoplifting has returned to pre-COVID-19 levels.
“We have seen a rise in aggression. We see that as more important than the theft issue,” Mr Balducci comments. “All of us (need) to lean in and provide care for retail workers.”
The supermarket behemoth reported earlier this year that the majority of ‘stock adjustments’ in their stores were due to retail theft, which has increased in the last year.
Mr Banducci says that items that are easily resold, such as razors and electric toothbrushes, are high on the theft hitlist. Also stolen are large cans of olive oil and pet worms and flea tablets.
But Mr Banducci says that this increase needs to be placed in context with COVID-19.
“If you look at stock loss in a Woolworths, it is running at what it was four years ago. So in the time of COVID-19, a lot of these types of activities disappeared. Unfortunately, they have come back.”
Mr Banducci says Big W has been particularly challenged.
“It’s not something we have been used to seeing in BIG W, and so we haven’t had the same processes around it there than perhaps we might have had in our food business.
ARA’s Paul Zahra also says that businesses are turning to technology for help in reducing retail theft. He says technology’s effectiveness depends on its sophistication.
“Gates at self-serve checkouts, for example, are likely to have a greater immediate effect than surveillance cameras,” Mr Zahra says.
This year, Woolworths has spent ‘$50 million and climbing’ introducing assisted scans in supermarkets as a way of monitoring self-serve checkouts, Mr Balducci says.
“It’s a computer vision with very strict privacy restrictions around it. It makes sure the customer actually scans all the products before they leave,” says Mr Banducci.
“If they don’t, it stops (the checkout process) and (employees) help them make sure that they scan all the products. That’s now in over 500 stores.”
Woolworths is currently trialling an exit gate in eight stores which only opens when the customer has paid. It’s all part of the new technology available to monitor the increased amount of self-serve checkouts that have been rolled out in supermarkets, hardware and department stores.
Bunnings says that while the hardware chain has seen an increase in incidents year-on-year across its Australian store network, stock loss relative to sales is returning to pre-COVID-19 levels.
Ben Camire, director of store operations at Bunnings, tells Peninsula Living Pittwater that retail crime is a challenge faced every day.
“Sadly, this often involves aggressive, violent and abusive behaviour towards our team members, which is something we don’t tolerate,” states Mr Camire.
Mr Camire adds that Bunnings ‘invests significantly’ in addressing crime. “This includes team training and security, as well as working closely with police and government.”
Bunnings is also exploring the use of team member safety cameras to support staff if they feel unsafe or threatened.
Locally, Pittwater Place centre manager Michelle Fragias says that the centre takes the safety and security of business owners, staff and shoppers ‘very seriously’.
“Our centre is monitored during trade hours by a dedicated security team, and we have an extensive CCTV network,” Ms Fragias says. “These security measured are bolstered by our close work with local police.”
Westfield Warringah Mall, Stockland Balgowlah and Warriewood Square declined to comment.
RETAIL THEFTS REPORTED BY NSW POLICE IN NORTHERN BEACHES LGA
For 12 months, from April to March
2019 – 2020 → 587
2020 – 2021 → 351
2021 – 2022 → 455
2022 – 2023 → 570