Department-store chain JC Penney, already hurting financially from a misguided plan to end price promotions, was so plagued by shoplifters in the third quarter of this year that it lost a full percentage point of profit margin to theft, says the Wall Street Journal. When thieves learned that Penney had removed sensor security tags as part of the transition to a new type of inventory tracking, they targeted the company’s stores. At the same time, Penney stopped requiring customers to provide receipts with returned merchandise, so shoppers grabbed merchandise and “returned” it at cash registers without leaving the stores, the Journal says.
Source: Jump in Shoplifting Hurt Penney