Retail Glossary: Shrinkage

The term inventory shrinkage (sometimes truncated to shrink) is the loss of products between point of manufacture or purchase from supplier and point of sale. Inventory shrinkage, a combination of employee theft, shoplifting, vendor fraud and administrative error, cost United States retailers over $31 billion last year according to the latest National Retail Security Survey report on retail theft, which analyzed theft incidents from 118 of the largest U.S. retail chains.

Read Lori Penor's article on how you can minimize shrink using Microsoft Dynamics

Another method for minimizing Shrink is by using Point-of-sale data mining software solutions that detect potential theft problems at the cash register and alert appropriate personnel in real-time.