Shoplifting forces retailers to add 3% to price of products

Shoplifting adds 3% to the price of products, and around Christmas, it reaches epidemic proportions.

Gardaí reckon shoplifting at Christmas time last year cost retailers €55m — while the overall annual loss was €255m.

Director general of the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades Association, Tara Buckley, said most of the shoplifting is carried out by organised criminal gangs.