Walgreens says locking up products to prevent shoplifting hurts sales
The pharmacy chain's CEO Tim Wentworth said in Walgreens Boots Alliance's first-quarter earnings call Tuesday that "When you lock things up … you don't sell as many of them. We've kind of proven that pretty conclusively."
Keeping retail products under lock and key is a maneuver designed to thwart rising retail theft . But it also irks — and turns away — would-be paying customers who don't have the patience to wait for a retail clerk to retrieve goods they wish to buy.
Walgreens and other retailers have had to combat so-called "retail shrink," or the loss of inventory from causes other than sales, Wentworth noted. The company took steps to secure more products after it found retail theft accounted for a rising share of shrink. However, locking products behind plastic has not proved effective, he said.
"I don't have anything magnificent to share with you today. It is a hand-to-hand combat battle still, unfortunately," Wentworth said.
