Revealed: The Most Popular Items Thieves Target at Wisconsin Walmart Stores

Stores all around the country are dealing with a rise in retail theft, many stores are resorting to locking up the most stolen items, here are the top things being stolen from Walmart stores in Wisconsin.

One of the biggest factors driving this trend of retail theft is the rise of Organized Retail Crime (ORC), what distinguishes shoplifting from Organized Retail Crime is what happens after the items are stolen, shoplifters generally take stuff for use, for instance, a mom stealing diapers for her baby. Organized retail crime groups will take the items and resell them, some of these groups can make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

According to Forbes, Wisconsin ranks #26 in retail crime with 73 incidents per 100,000 residents, costing the state $35 per resident in tax revenue. The problem has gotten so bad that the Wisconsin Organized Retail Crime Association was created to help educate the public, retailers and lawmakers about the problem.

The National Retail Foundation (NRF) says that organized crime groups have become dramatically more aggressive post-pandemic. Retailers are really starting to get worried about the safety of their employees and customers. The NRF says, "No merchandise is more valuable than the safety of retail employees and their customers. Every time someone enters a store to steal, they are putting retail employees and shoppers directly in harm’s way."

The NRF says that theft accounted for $112.1 billion in losses in 2022, "Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire," says the NRF.