Peak body Retail NZ has issued a desperate plea for a federal crackdown on “rapidly escalating” retail crime across New Zealand after new research revealed the annual cost to be well over $2.5 billion.
“The aggression, violence and general crime in our shops is getting worse each day, as increasingly brazen and organised criminals are putting the public and retail employees in imminent danger,” Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young said.
“We can no longer stand by and watch a small section in our society destroy the livelihoods of the families who literally put their lives on the line to build their retail business.”
It comes as Retail NZ released its Retail Crime Position Statement, pinpointing issues and the impact of retail crime in New Zealand, as well as offering solutions.
The position statement is based off Retail NZ’s recently released Retail Crime Report 2023, which shows that 92% of retailers have experienced some form of retail crime in the past 12 months, with increased risk of physical injuries and even death severely impacting the mental health of employees and owners, as well as the ability to attract new staff.
Young said that organised crime groups stealing to order, drug addicts and youngsters looking for notoriety on social media are the main drivers behind the spike in retail crime.
“Retailers are more often dealing with threatening, violent or just unpleasant customers, trying to steal or damage their property,” Young said.
“What makes it worse is that most of them think they can get away with it, treat retail workers like second-class citizens and have no understanding how their actions impact the staff and the business.”
Young said that retailers identified the social-economic gap as a major factor, along with the lack of police protection, a clogged-up court system and inadequate deterrents for offenders.
“There is a role for retailers, Retail NZ and the Government to curb this rising tide of crime and call on the political parties elected to adequately resource police, unclog the court systems and create better deterrents, like the trespass laws used in the UK,” Young said.
The news comes as New Zealand heads to a federal election this weekend. Retail NZ is calling on the next Government to develop effective mechanisms to respond to younger children committing crimes, create instant fines for petty offences and specific offences against retail workers.
Young said the onus will also be on the retail sector to help themselves and the Government is one of three partners in the battle against crime. She said key immediate solutions for retailers include training their staff for emergencies, creating stronger links with local police, reviewing all security systems such as cameras and barriers and make sure they provide efficient staff support if an incident occurs.
“Retailers are fighting for their livelihood, in many cases literally, so we plead with the Government to step up and give them to support to protect the retail sector.
“If we continue to stand by, the pain and the costs will keep increasing and that cost will flow onto the customers and ultimately the New Zealand economy.”