Retail Theft in Washington State

Whether it’s an organized mob of thieves looting a store in broad daylight or innocent-looking customers not actually paying for their stuff before walking out the door, retail theft is on the rise. It’s big business for them, and big problems for stores large and small. And that means it’s a big problem for anyone who shops at those stores.

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We looked recently at the impact of retail theft across the country. Now let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into Washington State in particular.

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Here are Five Fast Facts on retail theft in the Evergreen State:

1. 💰 Big Bucks - In 2022, Washington State retailers lost almost $1.7 billion to retail theft, and return fraud cost them another $1.8 billion. That means almost $230 million in sales tax revenue was lost that could otherwise have been spent fixing roads, helping the homeless, or other projects.

2. 📈 Topping The Charts - Depending on which list you look at, Washington ranks from third to first of states most impacted by retail theft. It’s not the kind of “winning” you want to see no matter which list you use.

3. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Loss By Population - The average loss per resident in the state is about $347. That’s 48% more retail theft than expected based on our share of the country’s population. Efficiency is usually a good thing, but maybe let’s take a pass here, okay?

4. 🏪 Loss By Incident - The average value of each theft incident is about $350. Eighteen percent of small businesses – those with 50 or fewer employees – report that theft happens weekly, and 13% report daily. 

5. 😣 Not Great Odds - The chances of a store actually catching a shoplifter is only about 2%. Even when caught, the shoplifter is only arrested about one out of a hundred times. It’s not great odds for justice.

🔥Bottom line: This is a problem for everyone. The stores lose money, so they raise prices to compensate, and that means you, the customer, pay more. If stores lose too much, they go out of business, which means the employees and the customers lose out entirely (just ask Target). 

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There needs to be a return to sanity on this, and we need state and local governments to crack down on retail theft before things get even more out of hand than they already are.

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What do you think should be done about retail theft?

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