Bira is warning retailers of a growing “industrial scale” of theft after a Dorset shop owner discovered stolen stock listed for sale on Vinted.
Charlie Groves, who runs Groves Garden Centre in Bridport, Dorset, first learned of the theft after reviewing CCTV footage. Its camera had recorded a woman hiding Jellycat toys inside a pram and then leaving the premises without paying.
Groves used clues from the footage, including the thief’s personalised number plate, to locate her Facebook profile, as reported by the BBC. He later linked the stolen items to a Vinted account run by the woman’s husband, who denies knowledge of the theft.
Bira CEO Andrew Goodacre says: “The industrial scale of this is worrying. We feel these incidents are almost definitely being fuelled by the availability, expediency and lack of control in online marketplaces.”
Bira’s recent retail crime survey found that over three-quarters (78 per cent) of businesses that had experienced theft in the past 12 months have seen the frequency or severity increase. Bira estimates that at least three-in-five items shoplifted from its members end up being sold online.