National larceny rates in at least the US (but I'm fairly sure most Western countries) have consistently gone down for decades. There's significantly less shoplifting now on average than there was in the '80s or '90s.
possibly, but are you seriously comparing now to the height of the crack epidemic in the US?
https://www.statista.com/graphic/1/191247/reported-larceny-t...
Retailers have no reason to report crime they do not expect to be investigated or prosecuted.
Don't say insurance because nobody is reporting shoplifting to their insurance.
Big retailers just bake crime into the cost of goods sold.
Of course, you cannot know, but statistics is quite clear that shoplifting decrease is way more probable than increase, and you need some other reasons to advocate for increasing shoplifting. So when somebody does that, it’s highly probable that not because shoplifting is actually increasing.