How Does Shoplifting Effect the Economy?

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Shoplifting affects the economy in multiple ways. It causes the business to lose money, leading to higher prices. Consumers will take their shopping elsewhere, causing further losses of revenue. Less revenue and less demand lead to less need for workers. Layoffs increase unemployment and decrease consumer spending in all sectors. Less spending means more revenue loss, perpetuating the cycle. Shoplifting affects the economy because it means the store is losing money. When stores lose money, the raise their prices. This causes people to have to pay more for products. Stealing affects the economy because it causes the prices of products to rise. Stolen items are lost revenue. Businesses then have to raise the prices to recoup or make up for the loss of products that aren't available for sale, but have been purchased by the business for resale Who Pays the Price Retailers know when the economy plummets, shoplifting does the exact opposite. And when the holidays approach, they also have to brace themselves for the swell in retail theft. However, shoplifting hurts retailers and consumers as well. Shoplifting is big business, and during a recession it can grow. There are fewer employees on a sales floor when retailers cannot afford to pay them due to slow sales. This adjustment makes a shoplifter's job that much easier. However, shoplifters should also know that they continue to hurt the economy every time they leave a store with merchandise that does not belong to them. Retailers are fighting back Higher prices hurt the economy. However, retailers are forced to raise the cost of merchandise to recover some of the profits they lose to shoplifting. When retail theft escalates, the cost of doing business will also increase, and this leaves the paying customers to pick up the multi-billion-dollar annual tab left by

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