A report by Retail NZ has found that nearly 40 per cent of retail crimes go unreported in New Zealand. 

The COMS Retail Crime Report 2024 found that 99 per cent of respondents across New Zealand and online had faced some form of retail crime, resulting in 140,746 such incidents. 

“Our 2023 Retail Crime Report found that the cost of retail crime is around $2.6 billion a year,” said Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young.

Retail crimes included shoplifting, credit card fraud, criminal damage, threatening behaviour and physical assault. 

Reasons for not reporting the crimes to the police ranged from low-value items being taken, the offence being discovered too late or having been dealt with directly, and even concerns that the police would not do anything. 

Retail NZ stated that this was a serious health and safety issue for employees and strongly encouraged the reporting of these crimes to the police. 

The use of facial recognition technology has been beneficial in addressing retail crime, such as Foodstuffs North Island’s trial of the technology.

A Ministerial Advisory Group for the victims of retail crime has also been established, and police have been rolling out new Community Beat Teams across Aotearoa New Zealand, with stronger legislation and sentencing being enacted.

Retail NZ has formed a working group of large retailers that have agreed to try methods such as using FRT and enacting legislative change to better address retail crime.