MONTREAL - While most shoppers worry about getting clothes that fit and trying not to max out their credit cards, another cat-and-mouse drama takes place daily behind the scenes at all retail outlets.

Stores invest massive time and effort to prevent shoplifting but a considerable percentage of their wares go unaccounted for at the end of the day.

That's partly because shoplifters think stealing is a forgivable offence, according to one security expert.

"For them, the stores have a lot of money so they think it's not so bad if they take something," says Jacques Alain, who heads security at the downtown Simons department store, where approximately five shoplifters are nabbed daily.

Alain says that the thieves cost honest consumers. "The losses for every store, not only Simons, are in the price tag."

A recent large-scale study conducted by the Retail Council of Quebec indicated that Quebec retailers suffer the loss of $585 million worth of goods each year, which amounts to a staggering $1.6 million worth of items stolen per day.

Employees steal about the same amount as shoplifters, the survey discovered.

The Quebec Retail Council says that it's absolutely necessary to check the employment history of each employee before hiring them.

"At the time they employ someone they should do proper verification of prior employers," says Gaston Lafleur, President of the Retail Council of Quebec.

High tech solutions, in the form of hidden cameras and sensors, can cut down on theft but often require costly investment.

And while the total number of retail theft has decreased by eight percent thus far in 2011, the average value per item stolen has risen.