A grocery store chain in Europe said losses from theft exceeded the company’s profits in 2023, reports show.
“We often find people who don’t scan products or pay at the register. People are becoming more and more sophisticated about not paying for products. Sometimes you are shocked to witness how creative people are in taking products without paying,” Ton van Veen, CEO of supermarket chain Jumbo, told Dutch media outlet ANP.
Jumbo is a food chain with more than 700 stores operating in both Belgium and the Netherlands. The company detailed in an earnings release that the value of items stolen from stores was 25% higher than profits made last year, the NL Times reported.
The chain said theft typically causes a loss of 100 million euros ($110 million) each year, exceeding the expected annual profit of around 80 million euros ($88 million) after taxes in 2023.
“In many stores, losses due to stolen goods currently amount to around 1 percent of turnover, and store employees are faced with unpleasant situations and increasing tensions,” the company says, according to the NL Times.
A grocery store chain in Europe said theft losses exceeded the company’s profits in 2023. Getty Images Jumbo officials said there was an estimated 60% increase in shoplifting incidents in 2023 compared with 2022. Mihail – stock.adobe.com
Jumbo officials said there was an estimated 60% increase in shoplifting incidents in 2023 compared to 2022, with the cost of living fanning the flames of theft and crime, the Financial Times reported. The supermarket chain added that self-checkout has also contributed to the increase in store theft, accounting for a third of thefts.
“This is a growing problem and we are appealing to politicians to address it,” Van Veen said, according to the NL Times.
“It also depends a lot on the neighborhood. There are areas of the market where we are more concerned and others where it is less prevalent,” she continued.
To combat the crime trend, the supermarket boss said the company is deploying security guards at a “growing number” of grocery store doors and will focus on adding surveillance cameras to the locations.
“We will communicate with customers so they know they are being recorded. We respect all privacy regulations. As soon as we take concrete measures, we will provide more information on this,” Van Veen said, according to NL Times.
Jumbo is a food chain with more than 700 stores operating in both Belgium and the Netherlands. google maps
As in a handful of American cities, some areas of Europe have reported increases in retail theft in recent years.
A study published late last year found that four in 10 people in Belgium would leave a grocery store with at least one item they didn’t pay for, the Brussels Times reported.
In the Netherlands, a study found that incidents of shoplifting increased by at least 15% in 2023, compared to the previous year.
Fox News Digital reached out to Jumbo’s press team on Thursday for additional comment.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn