Coles has reduced the amounts of groceries lost to shoplifters, but staff are continuing to face threatening situations as retailers around the country grapple with an industry-wide issue of theft and organised crime.
Chief executive Leah Weckert said stock loss volumes had fallen back down to 2015 levels after the company rolled out theft prevention measures such as camera monitoring (“skip scan”), automated security gates (“smart gates”), and “bottom of trolley” technology in hundreds of stores.
Coles has reduced theft at a time when other retailers are grappling with an industry-wide crisis.Credit: Eamon Gallagher
“During that period, as we have improved on loss, the market has not,” said Weckert.
“Despite the investments that we’ve made in safety initiatives for our team, we are continuing to see increases in threatening situations in store. And it is definitely the case that in Victoria, retail crime is escalating more than what we are seeing in other states.”
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Retailers are increasingly saying that rising theft is punching a hole in sales and putting the safety of workers at risk. Dan Murphy’s and BWS have implemented body-worn cameras and augmented technology to help train staff, while Rebel Sport’s margins have been dented by persistent thievery.
Coles’ group sales rose 3.6 per cent to $44.35 billion, with underlying net profit rising 3.1 per cent to nearly $1.2 billion. Its grocery business increased sales by 4.3 per cent to nearly $40 billion as Coles focused on fewer, but deeper, promotions and said it locked in everyday low prices on a broad range of products during the year.
Weckert said a focus on quality, value for money, availability and customer experience improved customer experience metrics, resulting in bigger basket sizes and numbers of transactions. Australians were also continuing to buy more groceries online, with Coles’ e-commerce sales climbing 24.4 per cent to $4.5 billion.
Investors welcomed the result, sending Coles’ share price 8.1 per cent higher. Rival Woolworths, which is due to report on Wednesday, went along for the ride, gaining 2.4 per cent.
