Retail Shrink Is a Real Challenge, But Locked-Up Merchandise Isn’t The Answer

Customers would switch retailers or abandon purchase altogether instead of waiting for assistance for a locked-up product.

A person describing themselves as a free swiper wrote a blog on how they had mastered the art of stealing from self-checkout lines. That’s right—15% of people are admitting openly to retail theft. Even more surprisingly, 44% plan to do it again. Security cameras and added staff to self-serve lanes aren’t adding up to be enough borders for store theft.

Termed as ‘shrink’ in the retail industry, theft has become a significant contributor to revenue losses for many retailers. For items like electronics and those on the upper end of the price range, stores decided to lock the shelves. As per research by Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, 60% of shoppers report seeing locked-up merchandise on a regular basis. Access to items has become difficult without assistance from store staff, which has shown a negative sentiment amidst customers. More than a quarter of shoppers say a retailer loses their purchase when items are locked up.

The report by Numerator titled Unlocking Shopper Reactions to Secured Products is sourced from verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of over 5,000 consumers on their awareness of and reaction to merchandise being locked up in stores. As per the study, 27% of shoppers say they would switch retailers or abandon the purchase altogether instead of waiting for assistance for a locked-up product.

Key findings from the report include:

More and More Items Under Guardrails

Among shoppers who encounter locked-up products, 28% report seeing them every time they shop, 32% see them sometimes, and 29% see them often. Only 11% of shoppers say they rarely see locked-up products. In fact, 61% reported seeing an increase in the number of products under lock and key over the past year.

Drug Stores, Mass Retailers Lead the Locks

The stores where consumers see the most product lock-ups are mass retailers (68% of consumers), drug stores (62%), grocery stores (31%), department stores (25%), and home improvement stores (23%). Dollar stores (18%) see the lowest levels of lock-ups.

The most commonly observed locked-up items are personal electronics (58% of consumers report seeing), OTC medications (38%), physical media (36%), personal hygiene products (34%), makeup & cosmetics (33%), large electronics (32%), and accessories (29%).

Does Store Assistance Help?

At a retailer level, CVS (+16%), Walgreens (+12%) and Target (+12%) had the highest net ratings for easy assistance retrieving locked items, while Walmart (-13%) had the lowest. Net ratings showcase the difference between the percent of consumers who say getting assistance is easy and the percent who say it is difficult.

Locked-Up Items Equal Lost Purchases

While 62% of shoppers typically wait for assistance when they encounter locked up merchandise, 9% order the item online from that same retailer. Upon coming across locked merchandise, 17% say they will switch retailers (10% online, 7% in-store), and 10% say they will abandon the purchase altogether.

Shoppers who are not willing to wait for assistance when encountering a locked-up product spend 21% of their dollars online, compared to 18% for those who are willing to wait.

Patience Differs by Generation

Willingness to wait varies by generation, ethnicity, guardianship, and retailer memberships. 69% of Boomers will wait for assistance, compared to only 57% of Millennials. 71% of Black consumers will wait, compared to 58% of Asian consumers. Among shoppers with children, those with kids in the 6-12 age range are the least likely to wait for assistance (58%).

Shoppers with retailer memberships such as Amazon Prime or Walmart+ are more likely to shift their purchases online when faced with locked products (22% vs. 19% for the average consumer).

Research indicates that customer sentiment towards locked-up products on store aisles isn’t positive and implementing measures like security cameras, tags and added staffing is the middle way to the issue of retail shrink.