Home Depot Adds Security Measures, Remains Committed to High-Theft Locations

Despite rampant retail theft forcing many retailers to close their doors, Home Depot has reportedly reaffirmed its commitment to major U.S. cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Oakland, California.

The home improvement retailer has been heavily investing in technology to combat the significant increase in organized retail crime that’s been seen over the past five years, Home Depot CEO Ted Decker told Bloomberg in a report posted Friday (March 15).

In 2023 alone, Home Depot experienced over 142,000 instances of shrinkage, which included petty crimes, stolen or lost goods and organized retail crime, according to the report. This has led to the company absorbing billions of dollars into its cost structure. Decker attributed this rise in theft to serious societal problems plaguing many cities.

Despite these challenges, Home Depot has chosen to remain in cities where other major retailers have closed their doors, the report said. For instance, in Oakland, restaurant chains Taco Bell and In-N-Out, as well as retailer Target, have shut down locations due to rising crime rates.

To combat theft, Home Depot has implemented various measures, including shopping carts that lock when customers haven’t paid, license-plate-recognition cameras in parking lots, and a portal where employees can report crimes, per the report.

Despite these efforts, merchandise losses, including theft, remain a significant financial concern for the company, per the report. Home Depot Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail told Bloomberg that merchandise losses are one of the company’s highest priorities from a financial perspective.

Retail shrinkage cost the industry nearly $100 billion in 2021, twice the $45.2 billion reported in 2015, according to the National Retail Federation.

Retailers are combating the problem in several different ways.

Dollar General is reducing its self-checkout options in response to increasing rates of shrink. The retailer is converting self-checkout registers to assisted-checkout options in some stores, limiting the number of items allowed in self-checkout in other stores, and removing the self-checkout option altogether in the stores with highest shrink. 

Target is hiring more guards and locking up some of the items on its shelves; Zara has replaced easily detachable hard plastic security tags on clothing items with tiny RFID chips; and Ulta Beauty is collaborating with law enforcement, government agencies and other retailers to mitigate theft.