Shoplifting (also known as boosting and five-finger discount) is a popular term used for theft of goods from a retail establishment. Shoplifting is typically undertaken by amateurs, and involves concealing an item and leaving the store without paying for it. Other forms of shoplifting include swapping price labels of different items, and eating a store's food without paying for it. Commonly shoplifted items are those with a high value in proportion to their size, such as razor blades and cigarettes. Retailers have reported that 0.6% of their inventory is lost to shoplifting.
The term shoplifting and shoplifter has not been defined in Law. The word shrinkage is not a synonym for shoplifting, as it includes merchandise loss by means other than shoplifting.