Shrinkage!!!!!!!!!!!
Explain, please..
It’s loss or a shortage. When something in a store, goes bad...and has to be thrown out. e.g. bananas, all black and funky....might get reduced [shrinkage] or thrown out...or given to a pig farmer.
An opened pack, like the batteries, could possibly be returned to the vendor for a credit...or deducted from a new invoice. FWIW, this manager was stealing from the owner of the store. But obviously, the good will he created was worth it. Unless the *manager* paid for the batts out of his own pocket, or owned them, his was employee theft.