Shoplifters ravaging retailers' margins

Shoplifters - both teenagers trying their luck and professionals stealing to order - are estimated to be costing retailers $600 million a year.

New Zealand Retailers Association spokesman Cliff Daly said shoplifting was a huge problem for retailers, and the Government in lost tax on profits and GST.

"You are looking at between 1 per cent and 2 per cent of turnover in many cases, and if your turnover is $1 million, that's a lot off the bottom line," Mr Daly said. "For owner-operators that's a big figure in an industry where margins are tight."

Megan Walters, manager of Amazon in Wellington, said people were stealing more expensive goods like designer T-shirts, jackets and jeans to order. "There must be thousands of people out there making a living out of shoplifting to order. It's a whole industry."

Another shop manager said that although her store had a security system it didn't "cut it" because staff were often too busy to keep track of people, and loud music meant they could not hear the security alarms going off.

The Retailers Association says 2004 was a "satisfactory" year, with sales up 7.4 per cent to September.

- NZPA