Average number shoplifting incident jumped 93% in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic times and financial losses for retailers have increased 90%, according to the country's largest retail trade group.

with"Impact of Retail Theft & Violence 2024"A study by the National Retail Federation (NRF) highlights the seriousness of this issue. For example, despite ongoing efforts by retailers to combat such crimes and an increasing number of states that have updated their laws to prosecute organized retail crime as a felony, the number of retail theft incidents continues to increase.

According to data from the report, conducted in collaboration with the Loss Prevention Research Council, incidents have jumped 26% in 2023 from the previous year.

"This is not something we normally do. This is not a shoplifting I caught 30 years ago," David Johnston, NRF's vice president of asset protection and retail operations, told FOX Business. "These are people who shoplift because they know when they have a store to sell this stuff."

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Johnston refers to organized retail crime groups, which resell stolen goods.

"Not every robber goes out there and sells their stolen goods online or at a flea market. They sell it in much larger quantities to these local, regional or transnational organizations that help set up the system," Johnston said.

A loss prevention security guard is seen at a Target department store in Miami Beach, Florida. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Image Group via / Getty Images)

Last year, there were an average of 177 shoplifting incidents per day, but in certain retail sectors, the number reached more than 1,000, the data showed.

"Retailers don't cry wolf," he said.

Not only are the number of incidents increasing, but retailers say they are also becoming more violent. About 73% of those surveyed reported that shoplifters displayed more violence and aggression than a year ago. About 91% reported that these criminals were more violent and aggressive than in 2019.

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Stores, at the behest of their corporate parent, have consistently worked to improve protection for their employees and customers. Some measures such as locking up items have been successful in deterring crime, although it frustrates both stores and customers, Johnston said.

"We've seen some of these locations, depending on where they are in the country, become vending machines," he added.

A suspected shoplifter is arrested in downtown New York City on August 11, 2021. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via / Getty Images)

In addition to measures such as locking down products, approximately 71% of retailers have increased their budgets to support employee training related to workplace violence compared to the previous fiscal year.

Other stores, such as TJ Maxx and Walmartis testing the use of body-worn cameras in an effort to keep workers safe.

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Although states have stepped up their laws to crack down on such crimes, Johnston said the federal legislation is required to really move the needle.

Currently, Johnston said 48 states have "established organized retail crime associations that bring law enforcement and retailers together on a regular basis to help share information and support investigations."

A community member assesses the damage after looters damaged several businesses overnight in the Mt Airy/Wadsworth section of Philadelphia on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Bastian Slabbers/Nur via Getty Images)

"We need coordination between state, local and federal law enforcement to go after these organized retail crime groups, because when you dismantle one of them, you then dismantle all of their basic opportunities or supply needs, which is shoplifting that happens within a store -store," he said.

The NRF is advocating for the passage of the Organized Retail Crime Suppression Act, which is a bill that would increase federal coordination with state and local law enforcement to combat retail crime.

Johnston said that the bill would specifically create a coordination center at the Department of Homeland Security under Homeland Security investigations.

It unites all federal agency that can work and support this type of crime, along with state and local resources, while also involving the private sector, he said.