Stores are locking up entire aisles of items. They blame shoplifters — but some of it is their own fault.

• Retailers like CVS, Walmart, and Target have tried to fight theft by locking up aisles of products.
• Stores must also consider staffing and supply chain issues, a retail theft expert told UBS.
• Tech can help fight organized retail crime, but "it's necessary to follow up with human intervention," the expert said.

Retailers like CVS, Walmart, and Target have been trying to fight theft by locking up aisles of products.

But this practice might be alienating shoppers more than shoplifters. And it misses some key issues driving retailers' $95 billion problem with shrink, or inventory losses due to theft and other causes, according to a UBS note published Monday.

UBS analysts interviewed the former manager of asset protection and risk mitigation at a major retailer and shared takeaways from the conversation. UBS didn't disclose the expert's name or former employer. When Insider asked for their identity, a spokesperson cited "strict confidentiality rules as a standard practice."

The source told UBS that retailers often miss two key elements — staffing levels and supply chain issues — when trying to tackle shrink.

"The lack of sufficient staffing remains a major contributor to shrink, as shrink monitoring technologies are only effective insofar as they flag risk," the UBS note said. "It's necessary to follow up with human intervention."

"Staffing has declined" as organized retail crime has grown and become increasingly violent, the note said. 

Losses can also occur along the supply chain and in operations, the note said.

Supply chain losses can happen when a product is transported from vendors to distribution centers to stores. Technologies like RFID tags that track items can help, the note said.

The expert also told UBS that retailers need to better understand how organized retail crime has evolved and consider new technologies like AI to fight it.

"The expert believes that retailers must make substantial investments rather than spending minimally on solutions such as padlocks and off-duty officers that have already been in place for decades, and work with third-party providers that are at the forefront of leveraging AI and existing surveillance infrastructure to deploy innovative technologies that mitigate pain points and flag shrink risks," the UBS note said.