Five Sources Of Produce Shrink Every Grocer Should Monitor

White Paper by Karen VanBrunt

Global retail shrink in 2010 reached $107.284 billion according to the Centre for Retail Research’s annual Global Retail Theft Barometer (GRTB)—down -5.6% over the previous year as retailers put nearly 10% more funds into security and loss prevention. In the U.S., internal error and administrative failure counted for a substantial 16.9% of losses, or $18.1 billion

For grocers, a healthy portion of that $18.1 billion loss can be traced back to operational errors, such as those that occur when produce scale / PLU items are handled at POS. All too often, these items are not calculated accurately into the customer’s order, resulting in substantial shrink.

Below are five key areas that grocers should monitor to stay ahead of produce shrink:

OPERATIONAL LOSSES

1. PLU Entry
   
   Red and yellow peppers cost more than green peppers, while vine tomatoes cost more than plum tomatoes. Similarly, prices are different for organic versus regular produce. Cashiers often confuse PLU numbers for produce items that are similar to each other, particularly when they are in a rush. Proper aging of these items and cashier awareness are essential to preventing unnecessary losses.

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