Glenn FleishmanDec 9, 2023
Retail theft went down and the national retailers federation had to admit 5% not 50% of theft was from criminal gangs. This whole panic was concocted to close underperforming and unionized stores and the media bought it. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ek0.cMux.iabRLNkE-vqu&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Retail Group Retracts Startling Claim About ‘Organized’ Shoplifting

The National Retail Federation had said that nearly half of the industry’s $94.5 billion in missing merchandise in 2021 was the result of organized theft. It was likely closer to 5 percent, experts say.

The New York Times
Show threadTapas EaswarDec 10, 2023

@glennf I spent just under a decade in retail for same company in 4 different malls, half as a manager. In that time, I only ever witnessed large-scale ($1k+) and organized (2+ people) theft exactly 4 times.

That said, at my last store, one couple was busted for running a black-market store from their basement with stolen goods from a few dozen different brands worth over $2 million ($35k from our store alone). And there was a jewelry store smash-n-grab down the hall during the holidays.

Show threadTapas Easwar

@glennf You don't ever hear how embedded racism is (and how that drives customers away), or how in every onboarding, managers are required to give a lengthy anti-union shpiel. Or how online is operated differently than physical (and boosted in-store for "CX"), or how physical is now the returns portal online. i.e. we could sell $10k/day but end up reporting only $2k sold because online returns didn't count as online returns, but instead physical returns.

Basically just Dunder-Mifflin Infinity.

Dec 10, 2023 at 1:49pmMastodon for Android
Show threadpejacobyDec 10, 2023

@tapas @glennf My wife had a (very frustrated post-Black-Friday) store manager lay into her a bit for returning online purchases to the brick-and-mortar and impacting her in-store numbers.

If the message had been delivered differently, it would have been enlightening -- had no idea 'corporate' treated the entities that way. In this case, it was unfortunately a big "FU not my problem” feeling.

Show threadTapas EaswarDec 11, 2023
@pejacoby @glennf I've been in that store manager's shoes, so I fully understand where she's coming from and how they might've been feeling. Unfortunately, corporate doesn't care how online sales/returns impact brick-and-mortar (let alone the staff's morale at said physical locations). It took me years to understand that it's not /my/ money, but once I did, working in that environment became WAY more pleasant because I was no longer invested in men in suits profiting from my labour.
Show threadpejacobyDec 11, 2023
@tapas @glennf it was an eye-opener, have to feel for the physical location operators in expensive suburban mall locations getting dinged by online sales a half a country away…
Show threadTapas EaswarDec 11, 2023
@pejacoby @glennf it's nice to hear that, honestly. I think more people should spend a year working in retail. I learned so many genuinely valuable skills (managing up, conflict de-escalation, sending/receiving constructive feedback, empathy, etc.) that I still use in my corporate job today.