If you exist to squeeze the margin
do not be surprised when the margin squeezes back.
Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
51–60 of 108 posts
Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#52Casual reminder shoplifting figures report the msrp value of goods stolen, not the cost to the company itself. Discount the figure by about 300%.
That’s fair though, isn’t it? That reflects the lost income potential from the shoplifting. Not just how much money it took to physically build an individual unit (and package and ship and stock it etc). Now if they never sell at MSRP, then probably a slight discount from MSRP when reporting is fair. But definitely not just the BOM cost or similar…
Nope, because shrinkage is an expense against inventory in the accounting books; fundamentally, it's a "tax" on your COGS to get to your revenue. Overreporting losses is just a bit of financial kabuki to shift underperformance over to something other than executive leadership.
Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#53Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like this reasoning. To take it further, is anyone truly needy enough to shop at a dollar tree? I’m not sure how we would get good data, but I suspect everybody has what they need at all times based off of the fact that I’ve never known anyone that is starving.
This is just bad. You are not making the clever joke you think you are. For one thing, shopping at Dollar Tree is not an antisocial behavior that harms other people, so you do not need to justify it by saying you needed to do it. You are free to shop at Dollar Tree whether you "need" to or not if it pleases you to do so. The equivalency you're trying to draw between shoplifting and shopping at Dollar Tree isn't there…
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Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#55If retailers really want brick and mortar style shopping, go back to trading post style. Take orders at the front, they pay, wait for the goods to be neatly packaged for them, then leave with goods. It halts all shoplifting and people can have the same selections.
That's going to result in needing more employees. When the cost of the shoplifting exceeds the cost of the employees, some companies will probably do that.
Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#56OTOH you shouldn’t necessarily trust what corporations say about this. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/business/walgreens-shopliftin...
That's an odd way to frame it when you're citing corporate reports and an executive's statements as evidence that the many videos of groups of people ransacking stores in broad daylight are overblown.
They play with stats a lot, comparing 2022 to 2023, instead of to prior to the problem, using national figures to hide a regional problem, ignoring interventions, etc.
I mean there is a point that a lot of crime is done by a few people, such as the 327 people in New York who were responsible for about 1/3rd of the shoplifting arrests. But I don't think the usual answer to this is going to be "it's okay to do crime, actually."
Maybe the answer should be to incapacitate those 327 people so they don't keep hurting people continually, since it sure looks doubtful that reform is even possible.
Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#57Casual reminder shoplifting figures report the msrp value of goods stolen, not the cost to the company itself. Discount the figure by about 300%.
There is no way that is correct as any sort of generally true statement.
A random google shows that it's highly sector dependent, but it's probably closer to 20%.
Having worked in consumer electronics, and knowing rough BOM cost of products that we made in the millions, I can say (at least for the companies I worked for), that there wasn't anywhere close to a 300% multiplier, even going from BOM cost to MSRP. Even extreme outliers like Apple (who supposedly have a raw BOM cost of $475 on an MSRP of $1099 for the 14 Pro Max) don't get to 300%. That markup goes directly to Apple; As a retailer, you might be making 10%.
Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
From what I've heard, the most commonly stolen items are things like chewing gum and energy drinks. So in the cast majority of cases, probably not.
I heard baby formula was the up there until they started locking it up.
It's commonly fenced for profit, apparently.
Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like this reasoning. To take it further, is anyone truly needy enough to shop at a dollar tree? I’m not sure how we would get good data, but I suspect everybody has what they need at all times based off of the fact that I’ve never known anyone that is starving.
This is just bad. You are not making the clever joke you think you are. For one thing, shopping at Dollar Tree is not an antisocial behavior that harms other people, so you do not need to justify it by saying you needed to do it. You are free to shop at Dollar Tree whether you "need" to or not if it pleases you to do so. The equivalency you're trying to draw between shoplifting and shopping at Dollar Tree isn't there…
Wait can you explain the clever joke?
Re: Dollar Tree is the latest retailer to say shoplifting is squeezing margins
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
What would you have the state do?
The state, using its various powers such as monopoly on use of force, could: 1. Intervene and prevent the loss 2. Prosecute perpetrators of theft as a deterrent
Why do you think they aren't doing 1 and/or 2 currently?