Shoplifting and organized crime have surpassed employee stealing as the biggest sources of retail theft for the first time in 24 years, a new survey found.
A report Wednesday from the National Retail Federation said businesses lost an estimated $44 billion in 2014 because of shoplifting, fraud or administrative error.
Shoplifting accounted for 38% of the losses; employee theft followed at 34.5%.
The average shoplifting incident cost retailers $317.84. Department stores suffered the highest average losses at $482.50 per incident, while grocery stores had the lowest with $96.83 per incident.
Despite the high numbers, 62.