Most shoplifters are amateurs; however, there are people and groups who make their living from shoplifting, and they tend to be more skilled. One technique is to have a group of people rush a store and grab as much merchandise as possible and then rush out, the large numbers making it difficult to pursue. Some individuals insist that they shoplift in an effort to resist selling their labor, and/or to protest corporate power. These individuals focus--often exclusively--on targeting chain stores; Wal-Mart is an especially popular target for political shoplifters.
A common Slang term for shoplifting in Australia, Britain and the United States is "Five finger discount". In the US, it is often referred to as "boosting"; those who sell shoplifted goods (at a steep discount) are referred to as "boosters."
Companies have introduced many technologies to combat shoplifting. Many stores have video cameras filming all areas of the store; larger stores are often are patrolled by undercover investigators. Security devices are often affixed to products that set off alarms at the store exit if they are not deactivated by a cashier.
In some jurisdictions within the United States, certain egregious instances of shoplifting involving large dollar amounts of merchandise and/or a high degree of criminal sophistication may be prosecuted and punished as Burglary or otherwise as a Felony. California law, moreover, states that any instance of a person entering a store with intent to shoplift constitutes burglary regardless of the value of items actually shoplifted; this state also makes it a felony when an accused shoplifter has any prior theft conviction, whether such prior conviction was for shoplifting itself or not - see Felony petty theft.
Some recidivist shoplifters in the United States have been given long sentences under three-strikes laws, such as Leandro Andrade, who received a sentence of 50 years to life; such sentences have been affirmed as neither cruel nor unusual punishment by the U.S. Supreme Court. See also Fixing Broken Windows for an explanation of the theory underlying such laws.
Increasingly, retail companies are using the civil courts as a means of recovering compensation and obtaining exclusion orders where appropriate. In addition, companies are issuing exclusion letters to offenders and those they suspect as a means of attempting to encourage the police to charge those arrested for theft with Burglary on the basis that they are trespassers. This remains a controversial issue and, generally, the police are reluctant to charge with the more serious offence.