What is the Resale Shrink Index?
The Resale Shrink Index is a monthly measurement of shrink in resale retail — the percentage of items that leave a store without being sold. It is computed from item-level RFID data, not from surveys or estimates. Most shrink numbers in retail are self-reported. This one is counted.
How is the Index measured?
The Resale Shrink Index is computed from item-level RFID measurement across a panel of more than 20 stores operated by a multi-store resale organization. Every item is tagged at production; shrink is the count of items that left the system without being sold, as a percentage of items produced. Values are volume-weighted across the panel. The Index reflects measured loss — not survey estimates.
Monthly values may be refined slightly as later reporting cycles complete; revisions are small. The methodology is fixed — any future change to it will be versioned and noted on this page.
Why does measured shrink differ from estimates?
Most operators estimate shrink from industry averages or periodic inventory counts. Item-level measurement counts every tagged item from production to sale, so losses that estimates miss — items that never reach the floor, items rung at the wrong price, items that leave unscanned — are included in the number. Only an instrumented operation can produce this measurement, which is why no comparable published figure exists in resale.
How often is the Index updated?
Quarterly. Each update publishes the monthly readings accumulated since the prior update. The next update follows the July 2026 reporting cycle.