Inventory shrinkage is a serious problem.
Here we see, this was an inside job.
There are reports that big amounts of “shrinkage” happens due to inside jobs. Shoplifting is a serious problem, but some retailers learn their own employees are pilfering. Sad state of affairs.
After retiring from a career in corporate marketing, I took a job in a retail chainstore for something to do. I learned that shoplifters were selling their plunder on online sites, which was then a rapidly growing phenomenon. Every practical suggestion I made to my higher ups to control shrink was either against existing company policy, not allowed because local stores could not customize in ways that varied with national averages, or dismissed because of ageism and sexism directed against me.
I'm sure I'm not the only employee who tried to help; but while the market still exists for that product line, that large, long-time national chain went out of business a few years ago, and no other store has yet fulfilled its niche. Lawlessness kills capitalism.