Supermarkets are having trouble with shoppers smuggling raw meat out of stores in their pants. And hiding detergent between their legs.
Not only that, customers are trying on products like deodorant, hair gel and after-shave lotion - and putting used products back on the shelves without buying them.A poll of 200 supermarket general managers across the country by The 100 Percent Recycled Paperboard Alliance found numerous "outrageous behaviors" and "strange occurrences."
Like, customers fist-fighting with cashiers, proposing on bended knee to grocery checkers, and driving motorbikes through stores.
Strange requests heard in supermarkets included demands for packing each item in a separate bag, for pizza-flavored dog food, for stocking blow-up dolls, and "Can my dog ride in my cart?"
Eighteen store managers cited examples of shoplifting techniques, including two men who slipped meat into their pants, five women who tried to leave stores with frozen hams, whole turkeys and packs of detergent between their legs, and a woman who stuck a salami in her shirt.
Eighteen others reported instances of customers fist-fighting with cashiers and fellow shoppers.
Forty percent of the managers reported that cigarettes and liquor account for the most frequently shoplifted items this year. Last year, they said pharmaceuticals, beauty aids and batteries accounted for 75 percent of products smuggled out of stores.
And 80 percent say kids influence their parents' purchasing with a combination of out-of-control behavior including "begging, whining and screaming tantrums."
"The thing is, everyone goes to supermarkets," one manager responded to the survey. "Supermarkets are a reflection of what's going on in the community at large."