Razor blades have the edge with shoplifters
The Gillette Mach 3 razor is the most popular item with shoplifters worldwide because of its high price (up to €10.49 for four blades) and its relatively small size.
Most of the major Irish retailers have moved the triple-bladed razor to the checkout, where shoplifters face more scrutiny. A Tesco store in Abbeycourt in Tralee has even resorted to attaching enormous security tags to the razor boxes. “The blades were certainly the most popular item for shoplifters, but putting them behind the counter has worked and people accept it,” Tesco spokeswoman Freda Molamphy said. However, Gillette, the giant US multinational which sells $1 billion worth of Mach 3 razors every year, is unhappy with the practice of storing its product behind a counter.
“It’s not ideal for us because customers have to go and ask for it,” said a spokeswoman at its headquarters in Boston. Gillette is providing some US retailers with Mach 3 dispensing machines, which make a loud noise when a packet of blades is picked up. The introduction of the new Mach 3 Turbo range, which is significantly more expensive, has increased the razor’s attraction to shoplifters even more.
Criminal gangs known as “razorheads” are stripping German shops of stocks to resell the razor in Russia and Eastern Europe, where it has become a socially desirable item. According to the Centre for Retail Research in Nottingham, the Mach 3’s shoplifting appeal is primarily based on economics. “Razorblades are small and of high value. You can get between 50% and 60% of the retail price for them and sell them on almost immediately. And the Mach 3 is the easiest brand to get rid of,” the centre’s director Professor Joshua Bamfield said. He has also noticed that heavily advertised items like the Mach 3 are targeted by shoplifters. “The best example we have is the Lynx deodorant, which was reported to us in lots of shoplifting incidents. There was a blitz advertising campaign for Lynx at the time, so it shows shoplifting is very market-driven.” Irish supermarket retailers are keen to downplay the extent of shoplifting and point out that just €10m worth of goods are stolen from a turnover of more than €8bn.
But the Centre for Retail Research’s latest figures reveal that our shoplifting rate has increased marginally from 1.34% of all goods in 2001 to 1.35% last year. In contrast, shoplifting rates dropped in most other European states. “That’s not a terrible situation but it is worrying,” said Prof Bamfield.
