Last year, more was stolen at Jumbo supermarkets than made in profit. “That is not a healthy situation,” CEO Ton van Veen said on Wednesday in an explanation of the annual results of the Dutch group. More than 100 million euros were stolen last year, an increase of 60 percent compared to 2022. Jumbo expects a net profit of 80 million euros for the past financial year.
According to Jumbo, the increase in the number of shoplifting has been going on for some time. “This is not something that happened today or yesterday. We often catch people not scanning products or not paying at the cash register. People are becoming increasingly sophisticated about not paying for products. You are sometimes amazed to see how creative people are in getting products out without paying,” says the CEO.
Self-scanners
According to Van Veen, more theft is also because there are more self-scanners in stores, with fewer cashiers. A third of all thefts occur at self-scanners. “But it is not necessarily the case that stores where we do not have self-scanners suffer less from shoplifting. It also very much depends on the neighborhood. There are areas where it affects us more and there are areas where it affects us less,” said the director.
Thefts are not always reported; Van Veen does not provide details about how often this happens. The products that are stolen most often are chicken fillet, meat, fish, toothpaste and other cosmetic products.
More security and shopping ban
As a solution, security guards are stationed at the door of a “growing number” of supermarkets. People who steal are also banned from shopping. This year, Jumbo will focus on more intensive camera surveillance. The CEO also launched a call to politicians on Wednesday to tackle the problem of shoplifting.
In many stores, thefts represent about 1 percent of turnover. There are no separate figures for Jumbo in Belgium.
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