Shoplifting

Shoplifting involves the theft of goods from a retailer. It is also referred to as shrinkage in the retail industry. It usually involves concealing products by the person or his or her accomplice and leaving the store without paying. Some variants of shoplifting include swapping the price labels of goods, also called price switching; asking for fraudulent refunds; returning clothes after they have been worn, or “wardrobing”; and “grazing,” or eating a store’s products while shopping.

[Page 1472]According to Ronald Clarke, the Rutgers University criminologist, research shows that shoplifters usually steal “hot products” that are “CRAVED,” an acronym for “concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable, and disposable.” Shoplifting not only has been shown to affect the offender but also is a strain on the resources of the ...