Retailers in America lost billions of dollars in 2016, largely due to shoplifting, employee theft and other types of inventory “shrink,” according to a new survey, FoxBusiness.com reported on Friday. The new data, compiled by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the University of Florida, said that inventory shrink grew to $48.9 billion in 2016 from $45.2 billion the year prior. The increase in losses were found to be largely due to the result of flat or declining retail security budgets. Nearly half (48.8 percent) of retailers surveyed said that they saw an increase in inventory shrink, while nearly 17 percent said it remained flat. Shoplifting accounted for the most losses, averaging $798.48 per incident, up $377 from 2015, according to the NRF survey.
