NRF removes ‘mistaken’ fact on severity of organized retail crime

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has removed a “mistaken” fact from a recent report claiming that organized retail crime (ORC) made up “nearly half” of inventory losses in 2021.

Mary McGinty, VP of communications for the NRF, told Retail Brew that the claim was a “mistaken inference” made by an analyst, which was based on an assertion made by Ben Dugan, president of the National Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail (Clear), during Senate testimony in 2021 and in a Wall Street Journal feature story.

• Dugan claimed that ORC accounted for $45 billion in losses, and the NRF estimated that total losses were $94.5 billion in 2021. He later clarified that his estimate was based on a 2016 NRF survey.

The retraction came as the lobbying group continues to advocate for harsher laws around retail crime, including the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023, which aims to bolster federal enforcement of the problem.

In the meantime, the NRF is sticking to its guns that ORC is a serious challenge for retailers, while acknowledging that gathering data on the practice is an ongoing challenge.

“We stand behind the widely understood fact that organized retail crime is a serious problem impacting retailers of all sizes and communities across our nation,” McGinty said. “At the same time, we recognize the challenges the retail industry and law enforcement have with gathering and analyzing an accurate and agreed-upon set of data to measure the number of incidents in communities across the country.”