Retail NZ wants to "drive sector-wide solutions" including facial recognition and number plate technology to tackle crime in the sector.
The organisation has also pleaded for the next Government to work closer with retailers and itself on the "huge issue".
Carolyn Young, chief executive of Retail NZ, said aggression and violence are both getting worse in her members' stores.
“Increasingly brazen and organised criminals are putting the public and retail employees in imminent danger,” she claimed.
It comes after Retail NZ surveyed 297 of its members for their thoughts on retail crime. Ninety-one percent of respondents said they have experienced retail crime
Some members of the NZ Association of Convenience Stores also responded.
A whopping 92 percent of them said they had experienced retail crime in the past 12 months - although many of the respondents were larger businesses.
However, that's only a minor bump from 81 percent when Retail NZ last carried out its retail crime survey six years ago.
“And of course retailers themselves are already taking many steps to protect themselves, their customers and their business," Young said.
The survey estimated retail crime cost $2.5 billion in the past year.
That figure was made up of stolen goods, loss prevention, and wellbeing costs like counselling.
'We can no longer stand by'
Young blamed organised crime groups, drug addicts and youngsters looking for social media notoriety for increasing retail crime.
Retailers also identified socioeconomic gaps within Aotearoa society as another major factor.
“We can no longer stand by and watch a small section in our society destroy the livelihoods of the families who literally put their lives on the line to build their retail business," she said.
Retail NZ wants whoever is elected to the next Government to put more cash into resourcing police, clearing court backlogs, and creating better deterrents.
That could include instant fines for petty crimes, new offences against retail workers and trespass laws similar to the UK's, Young said.
The survey did not touch on differences between regions or cities within Aotearoa but those surveyed account for 15 percent of retail sales across Aotearoa - excluding accommodation and food or drink.
