Theft is only one cause of loss. Stocking/admin/counting mistakes, accidental damage, spoilage, or simply people moving stuff around or misplacing items so they're not where it's expected all fall under loss.
The industry tends to use the even harder-to-understand term "shrink". Not always theft, just any loss of product versus what the books say they should have.
"Theft" is such a value-loaded, moralizing term. It collapses a wide spectrum of socioeconomic realities into a single criminalized label, ignoring the structural inequities that often shape people's choices. When we say "loss prevention", we're deliberately reframing the conversation away from individual blame and toward systems, environments, and institutional responsibility.
Loss prevention isn't about vilifying people - it's about acknowledging that harm occurs within a broader context. It centers the idea that organizations can design safer, more equitable spaces that minimize material loss without resorting to punitive narratives rooted in classism, racism, and centuries-old assumptions about who is "dangerous". Calling something "theft" externalizes accountability onto the most vulnerable actors; calling it "loss" recognizes that institutions have agency, too. And preventing that loss focuses on proactive, compassionate strategies rather than reactive punishment.
So preventing theft?