Frickin' shoplifters...

I'm sure it differs depending on the store, but at the ToysRUs I'm at - a manager would have to manually update the stock in the system if something is stolen. So, another employee or someone else would have to find the empty box or whatever and then let a manager know. It definitely hurts everyone when stuff is stolen, as it usually takes longer to get new product in if the computer still thinks there's stuff on the shelves. Ideally, the stock people will adjust numbers as they go over their sections. Knowing our stock team though...I don't have a lot of faith there.

Aside from stolen things, some items just get lost or misplaced, so the inventory can remain inaccurate for some time if no one's interested in the product. So, occasionally, the computer will say there is a very low number of something in the store, when in fact the item is out of stock. This is usually more common with products that ship in larger quantities, like art supplies and such, I find. Or, if something's new or in low quantities, there's the annoying chance that someone is just walking around with it in their cart. Additionally, we tend to have carts of "reshop" (stuff that is returned or left behind that needs to be put back out on the floor) sitting around that are full of stuff. It's usually random junk, but I have occasionally found the odd figure.