The big temptation

Self-service brought with it a new phenomenon: shoplifting. To fight it, Migros installed mirrors, hired security personnel and encouraged customers to keep an eye on each other. The most frequently stolen products were fresh meat and chocolate.
With the introduction of self-service, Migros is confronted with a new phenomenon. Migros calls it “inventory deficiency” but means by that, shoplifting: “Does not the person in the self-service shop suddenly offer, in the middle of a world of suspicion, distrust and accusation, the image of naive trust in fellow people? Can one not simply take the opportunity and fill the basket – unobserved and quietly alone?”, it asks in 1949, immediately before affirming a belief that “the great majority are honest people”. Nevertheless, “suitable measures” are taken. In addition to installing mirrors, Gottlieb Duttweiler “invites the people” to “mutual control” and also makes use of a card library of the “definitely proven shoplifting thefts”. About 1,000 of the offences registered here are solved with customers’ help. For a long time, the legal status of shoplifting is unclear. Only in 1964 does the Federal Court decide that it is not a matter of embezzlement, but a more severe crime that must be penalised. The Brückenbauer opines that these criminal proceedings are “absolutely correct”, since if shoplifting continues to increase “then the self-service system will become practically unusable. And who has to bear the loss in the end? The honest customer!” In 1971, the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) organises a conference on the subject of shoplifting with psychologists, politicians and the chief of Zurich criminal police, who has a register of more than 21,000 shoplifters. The situation is sobering: while the number of cases and the value of stolen goods increases, the number of undetected cases is estimated to be 95 percent higher. The ‘deficiency’ amounts to between 0.5 and 2 percent, which for Migros means an annual loss of at least CHF16 million, not counting the wages for surveillance personnel of almost CHF1 million. The hit list of stolen articles is interesting: fresh meat leads the list, followed by chocolate, ladies’ underwear, butter, cheese, children’s clothes, purses, stockings and writing instruments. The psychologists blame the “current advertising and sales methods” for providing a “permanent temptation for unstable people” in which “the barriers of reason, morals or even the conscience often do not count”. The politicians request that the upbringing of the children “raises the awareness of the impermissible smaller thefts” and demand a clear regulation in the penal law. Finally, Migros boss Pierre Arnold, who has headed the conference, expresses “his satisfaction with the valuable discussions” and the Brückenbauer concludes: “It is never good to conceal the damages instead of talking about them openly and trying to find a remedy through joint effort.” Today, Migros does not publish any statistics on the subject of shoplifting.