General
shrink
What does shrink mean?
Shrink (short for 'shrinkage') is the gap between what the books say you should have on the shelf and what's actually there. Shoplifting is the famous cause, but it also covers employee theft, miscounts at receiving, damaged stock, spoilage, and vendor fraud. Measured as a percentage of sales, and every store manager lives and dies by the number.
"Our shrink was 2.1% last quarter — half of it was self-checkout, the rest was the deli throwing out too much rotisserie."
Frequently asked questions
What does shrink mean in retail?
Shrink is retail's catch-all word for inventory that vanished — whether through theft, error, damage, or fraud.
How do you use shrink in a sentence?
"Our shrink numbers are up this quarter, mostly down to shoplifting."
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