Organized retail crime is continuing to grow, with 67 percent of retailers surveyed reporting an increase in the past year, according to the 13^th annual ORC study by the National Retail Federation.

Thefts from retailers and other inventory “shrink” grew to $48.9 billion in 2016 from $45.2 billion the year before even as budget constraints left retail security budgets flat or declining.

Organized retail crime (ORC) continues to grow, with 83 percent of merchants reporting an increase in the past year, according to the National Retail Foundation’s 12th annual ORC study.

Organized retail crime is continuing to grow, with 83 percent of merchants surveyed reporting an increase in the past year, according to the 12^th annual ORC study by the National Retail Federation.

When it comes to the organized crime gangs that wreak havoc on retail stores, inventory and the bottom line, retailers are getting more aggressive in their efforts to fight the problem.

The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone. Overall, 5.8 percent of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6 percent last night.

Shrink, comprised of shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors, cost the retail industry more than $112 billion globally last year, according to the 2012-2013 Global Retail Theft Barometer, and represented 1.4 percent of retail sales, on average.

As if the retail industry hasn’t suffered enough in recent years, growing in severity, number and type, retailers are reporting that organized retail crime (ORC) has become more troublesome than ever before.

Businesses lost $30 billion a year to organized retail crime, according to The National Retail Federation. Several Cook County enterprises are teaming up to get crime data and investigation material out to retailers in seconds, not days.

The National Retail Federation’s ninth annual Organized Retail Crime (ORC) Survey found that 93.5 percent of retailers say they have been a victim of organized retail crime in the past year, down slightly from 96.0 percent in 2012.