Remember during the pandemic, when they kept bitching about the incredible wave of shoplifting going on, and it turned out that what they were actually bitching about was “shrink”. The thing is that shrink refers to loss of inventory from all causes.

So yes, it includes shoplifting. It also includes spoilage, like if you over-order something and you can’t sell it all before it spoils (management error). Or you order something and it arrives late (supply chain issues during the pandemic, tarriff and ensuing port-clearance issues these days (especially with cuts to government staff)) and you can no longer sell your spooky"Happy Halloween" merchandise/candy for full price in November. It includes employee theft and vendor fraud, administrative error and return fraud, inefficient processes and a poor economy. It’s the difference between optimal sales during a period, and actual sales excluding items that can be carried over to next period. Like, if I don’t sell enough tvs, I can carry that over to next quarter, but I can’t do the same thing with lettuce and tomatoes.

And I can’t help but wonder if this is the same thing happening again. Yes, there’s an increase in shrink, but how much of it is actually shoplifting, and how much of it is due to tariffs and shipping difficulties, managers having ordered products for the economy they expect to have vs the one we actually have. Like, maybe prior can’t afford your organically-grown arugula and bought plain lettuce instead - or just stopped buying short-lived leafy green stuff because they can’t afford it Just because you didn’t get the sales you wanted doesn’t mean the entire difference disappeared into shoplifting - but admitting that would admit that you’re not a perfect manager, and that would threaten your bonus, so shoplifting it is!