Walmart CEO Doug McMillon says theft is ‘higher than it has been historically’

CEO of Walmart Doug McMillon Tuesday became the latest retail executive to intervene on the issue of theft, calling it a “problem” that has worsened.

During an appearance on CNBC, McMillon said the theft is “higher than it has been historically.” It is to explain Walmart They have “we put in place by store location” safety and security measures to help combat this problem.

“I think it’s local law enforcement Being an employee and being a good partner is part of that equation, and that’s usually what we deal with,” McMillon added.

Crime in the retail world doesn’t make holiday shopping happy

In mid-September, the National Retail Federation found that total losses from shrinkage, a term retailers use for theft and other types of inventory losses, had risen to $94.5 billion in 2021. Organized retail crime incidents They rose an average of 26.5% in the same year, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey.

The Walmart CEO also said during an appearance on CNBC that “prices will be higher and/or stores will close” if authorities aren’t strict about prosecuting theft “and it isn’t corrected over time.”

McMillon, in response to a separate question on What policy makers would likementioned “policy consistency and clarity so that we can make capital investments with some vision.”

Wal-Mart declined to provide details for Fox Business about the rise in retail crime faced by the company.

WalletHub recently published a report that found which retailers have the best deals for holiday shopping. (iStock/iStock)

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Target and Rite Aid executives are among other retail leaders who have raised the alarm about retail store theft in recent months.

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Michael Fidelk, Target’s chief financial officerHe told investors and analysts in mid-November that the year-to-date downturn “has already reduced our gross margin by more than $400 million compared to last year, and we expect to reduce our gross margin by more than 600 million.” dollars for the whole year.

A Target employee pulls red shopping carts into a Santa Fe, New Mexico store. (iStock/iStock)

“This is an industry-wide problem that is often driven by criminal networks, and we are collaborating with many stakeholders to find industry-wide solutions,” he said.

At the time, Target CEO Brian Cornell called theft a “growing financial headwind” among retailers, noting that the company had “seen an increase in theft and organized retail crime across our business” that spurred “significant” investments in Training and technology to help prevent it.

Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan reported during the company’s September earnings call that the drugstore chain faced “unexpected headwinds” from the downturn, “Especially in our urban stores in New YorkAccording to Chief Financial Officer Matt Schroeder, the company’s “preliminary total earnings were affected by an increase in downturn by $5 million.”

A person walks into a Rite Aid store on December 22, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/Getty Images)

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in january, Home Depot Scott Glenn, vice president of asset protection, told FOX Business that the home improvement company is “doing more physical security” and “inventing some new tools and technologies to make it more difficult for bad guys and girls to steal products.”

Ken Martin and Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.