People talking about shoplifting often picture teenagers shoving items in their pockets or adults engaged in grab-and-dash operations. People enter businesses, fill their arms with high-value items and then run from the premises as quickly as possible.
While these overt forms of shoplifting are a real cause for concern for retail establishments, other forms of shoplifting are not as obvious. In fact, some people may think that they have successfully tricked the retail system. They may not realize that their actions could lead to shoplifting charges under current state statutes.
What types of conduct might lead to shoplifting allegations?
Creativity at a self-checkout lane
After years of pushing for self-checkout options, some retailers have started moving away from this model. Consumers ringing up their own items may input the produce code for traditional apples when their cart contains much more expensive organic apples, for example. Others might leave items under their cart in an attempt to create plausible deniability when they exit the store with unpurchased merchandise. Those seemingly clever shopping hacks can actually lead to businesses prosecuting visitors for shoplifting.
Tampering with price tags or barcodes
Another way that people try to limit what they pay for merchandise involves replacing or altering price tags or scannable barcodes. The customer might remove a sticker from a more affordable product and place it over the barcode for the item they intend to purchase. They might also put a price tag from another item onto the item they intend to purchase so that they can then demand that the store honor the lower price. These theoretically clever tactics can lead to shoplifting allegations, as it is illegal to deprive the business of the full sale price of the items.
Putting items inside other items
Some shopping behaviors may draw the attention of managers, security workers or loss prevention professionals even before people reach the checkout or try to leave the store. The act of placing smaller merchandise inside larger merchandise can lead to suspicions of shoplifting. For example, if someone intends to buy a storage bin, they might put a pair of sunglasses or a couple of books in the bin as they move through the store. Professionals who witness that misconduct may attempt to detain that shopper and could accuse them of trying to hide merchandise with the intent of stealing it later.
People do not need to actually leave the store or successfully shoplift merchandise for professionals to detain them or contact law enforcement. In some cases, consumers who had no intention of stealing may end up accused of shoplifting due to behavior that appears suspicious to others.
Understanding what may trigger shoplifting suspicions can help people respond to pending shoplifting charges. Many consumers unintentionally put themselves at risk through small choices that they make while shopping.