Explore the data
Pick a store type, a method or a month to filter the incident list below. Select a state to see what reporters published there.
Filter the incidents
We list store types instead of retailer names. All dollar figures come directly from published sources. When an incident date is unavailable, the card uses the publication date.
Incidents by store type
Each bar tracks external theft incidents per 1,000 stores in that category. For context, general merchandise and discount stores saw 307 incidents across 58,703 locations, which averages out to 5.23 per 1,000 stores. Store counts are based on 2022 US Census County Business Patterns data.
Theft methods
Single-actor shoplifting accounts for 33.1 percent of these incidents, while organized group theft makes up 24.9 percent. Robbery follows at 20.4 percent, with after-hours burglary at 13.4 percent. Refund fraud and gift card fraud barely appear because those cases rarely lead to an arrest and usually never make it to the news.
Time of day
Out of 1,120 total incidents, 535 specify a time of day. Overnight is the most common time slot, accounting for 29.9 percent of those cases, followed closely by evening and afternoon. The remaining 52 percent of incidents state no time at all.
This missing data is not spread evenly across the day because of how crimes are discovered. For instance, a manager opening a store to find a broken door reports a wide time window, while a cashier noticing missing stock during a count cannot provide a time at all.
Reported loss figures
What this page misses
Public reporting reaches a small share of retail theft, because reporters cover newsworthy incidents where public services get involved.
Please note the following:
About the data
How we collected, verified, and maintain the Retail Theft Incident Explorer.
Data sources
We collected incidents from local and regional news outlets, police and sheriff press releases, state attorney general announcements, and municipal crime blotters.
Data verification
We verified that each incident occurred at a retail store and recorded 24 fields using a schema finalized before data collection began.
Geographic coverage
We collect all incidents we can find in 12 states and a sample of approximately 10 incidents from each remaining state.
Expanded data collection
Starting in July 2026, we expanded our coverage of local news outlets and police logs. Between July and September 2026, the 12 states averaged 1.6 times as many recorded incidents per month. This reflects broader data collection, not an increase in theft.
Source exclusions
We excluded two websites that republish entire police logs because their coverage disproportionately represented a small number of locations.
How to interpret the data
The explorer provides examples of publicly reported retail theft. It should not be used to compare crime levels across months, states, or cities.
Quarterly updates
We review and improve our collection methods every quarter. The next database release is scheduled for February 2027. We update this page in February, May, August, and November.
Journalists may republish the charts on this page with attribution to Interface Systems. Every incident links to the source that published it. For the dataset or an interview, contact us at kimv@bubbleagency.com.
About Interface Systems
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