Shrinkage in Europe: Stock Loss in the Fast-moving Consumer Goods Sector.

This paper presents the findings of the first pan-European survey of companies withinthe Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector. It provides a discussion on the definition ofshrinkage and presents data on the extent, nature and causes of stock loss throughout thesupply chain – from point of manufacture through to point of sale – as well as some ofthe approaches adopted to tackle the problem. It highlights the role of security and auditdepartments in minimising losses, and the need for companies to adopt a more strategicapproach by involving not only other parts of their own organisations, but also cooperatingwith other companies within the supply chain. It concludes that unlesscompanies begin to realise the extent of the problem and that all points of the supplychain are vulnerable to a wide range of threats, then losses will continue to represent asignificant proportion of their annual turnover.