site.btaRetailers Hit by Shoplifting Epidemic, Companies Report up to 70% Increase in Losses on Annual Basis

Shoplifting has become an epidemic experienced by all retailers in recent years. Members of the Bulgarian Retail Association (BRA) have reported an increase in losses of up to 70% in 2023 compared to 2022, BRA Vice Chair Axiniya Baeva said at a press conference here on Wednesday. The event titled "Retailers Report Record Number of Thefts. Is the State Taking Adequate Measures to Tackle This Epidemic?" took place at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia. 

Baeva said that Sofia’s largest shopping centre has the highest number of thefts, with a 300 sq m store having incurred losses amounting to BGN 100,000 in 2023. She noted that the company that has reported the biggest rise in thefts had losses of BGN 220,000 last year.

The BRA Vice Chair pointed out that the aim of Wednesday’s press conference is to raise public awareness of the problem. She highlighted that shoplifting has taken on larger proportions than before, having turned into an "organized business at the expense of retailers and customers". Merchandise is stolen en masse and resold on Facebook or other places, Baeva added.

She said that some of the shoplifters get identified thanks to CCTV, but they change towns and shops to avoid getting caught.

Aside from the losses it incurs, the retail industry has to further invest in security (with a security guard currently earning EUR 7-8 an hour) and security systems, the most basic of which costs some BGN 15,000, to reward employees who manage to catch a thief and to recruit extra staff.

BRA Chair Ventsislav Nikolov pointed to a lack of support from the institutions, adding that in many cases, employees manage to catch potential thieves, but it all eventually comes to nothing. In Nikolov’s words, when they report missing items, they must pay VAT on them as well.

"We want to call for law enforcement instead of legislative changes," he stressed. Nikolov recalled that the trade sector is the second largest employer in Bulgaria after manufacturing.

According to BRA member Valya Veselinova, many underage thieves also go unpunished. A good part of the retailers choose not to file complaints because they consider it a waste of time, Veselinova noted, adding that there is only one known case of a convicted thief.