There has been a shocking escalation in retail crime over the past year, new SGF figures reveal.
The SGF Crime Report & Safer Business Guide 2023/24 shows that the average cost of retail crime skyrocketed to £12,164 per store in 2023/24. As an average across the 763 stores which took part in the SGF annual crime survey. Scaling up the sample to represent all 5,171 convenience stores in Scotland, this accounts for an annual cost of approximately £62.9m, which is crippling the sector.
Information gathered for the report and published during the SGF annual Crime & Wellbeing Seminar, being held at Hampden Park, shows that:
- 100% of convenience retailers agree that shoplifting has increased in the past year, while 99.5% say that shoplifting is now a daily occurrence.
- 92.8% of stores report that violence against staff occurs at least once a week and 92.7% of stores report a hate crime once a month.
- 56.9% of respondents also report experiencing daily incidents of abuse when refusing a sale or when asking for proof of age.
Analysis of the data also reveals a fall in confidence in the Scottish Justice System to tackle the growing problem of retail crime. With, for example, over two thirds of respondents saying they are either unlikely or very unlikely to report shoplifting incidents to the police.
SGF Chief Executive, Pete Cheema, said: “It’s not just the escalating price tag of theft and vandalism that is costing convenience businesses, but harm to the physical health and wellbeing of retailers and staff. That trauma is then carried home to people’s families and their local communities.
“That is why we desperately need ministers to take urgent action, now. The police and courts can’t cope, and many crimes are going unreported because retailers don’t believe the authorities will respond. Offenders know they’re unlikely to face any consequences for their crimes and even if they are arrested, many will spend years awaiting conviction.
“We are urging the Scottish government to act now, before things get even worse. If not now, then when?”
The SGF Crime Report & Safer Business Guide 2023/24 provides a range of resources and materials, including crime case studies from Retailers Against Crime and advice for retailers on conflict management, in-store security measures and cybercrime.
