A shoplifter says she feels bad about stealing from shops: ‘the police need to stop people like me… [the shops] are trying to do business, so when you’re stealing it’s costing them money’ (BBC News, 1 Oct)
She might imagine they put up their prices to cover the loss, but that’s not how it works. They already charge what the market will bear, so any ‘shrinkage’ has to come out of their profits.
Why do people steal? See this month’s Standard for a personal view.
A John Lewis executive argues that people are not stealing for need, but for greed. Easy for them to say. The cost of living has skyrocketed, while Nottingham police report a 36% rise in shoplifting since July 2022. Surely no coincidence there.