The Christmas period is a make-or-break time for many companies, but the risk of retail business insolvency could be particularly high for those that do not take precautions to protect against festive thefts.
Updated figures from the Centre for Retail Research outline the likely increase in Christmas losses due to a variety of different crimes.
Shoplifting alone is predicted to rise by 8% compared with last year, taking total losses in the UK to £485 million.
Employee thefts are forecasted to rise by a relatively modest 3% to £369 million, meaning companies should be vigilant for threats from within.
Supply chain and warehouse fraud is a smaller risk at an estimated £54 million in 2013, but is also growing much faster at 11% year on year.
And cyberfraud is the fastest growing risk of all, up a predicted 23% over the past 12 months to £70 million.
In all, the combined total losses are an estimated £978 million, an average increase of 7.1%.
Taking all of this into account, retailers should be on the lookout for would-be thieves, either among their customers or their staff, in order to cut the risk of business insolvency before the holiday season is over.
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