Jim Gannon sees gloom as he picks up on a reported rise in shoplifting. From the February print issue of Professional Security magazine.
As I predicted 12 months ago the lack of positive police action and courts reluctance to issue heavy penalties is now forcing retailers to hire in private firms to pursue offenders and recover costs incurred by the retailers in dealing with those caught. The economic environment together with the lack of support from the police is driving a number of the high street retailers into the arms of firms specialising in a combination of skill-sets in investigation, legal expertise and debt recovery, to prevent and recover losses in relation to the replacement of the products being shoplifted and all costs associated with the dealing of offenders. Figures being banded around in the third quarter of the year indicate that losses through shoplifting alone will rise to circa £6 billion in 2009 a rise of some 20 per cent over 2008.
Retailers faced with a tidal wave of shop theft are being forced to seek alternative methods, to try and recoup the losses being incurred; and deter offenders. Frustrated by the inability of the police to deal with shoplifters, businesses are mounting their own attack on offenders who are biting hard into the profit line.
With fierce competition in the high street simply to just turn in a commercial profit, retailers can ill-afford this continued assault on their business, so they are seeking private legal methods to actively target shoplifters and in some cases their own employees who steal from the shop floor and associated shop warehouses.
Thieves get smarter
Retailers are being forced to get more aggressive towards those intent on damaging their business in the face of unprecedented theft by, in many cases, organised criminals who are also involving shop and warehouse staff. Whilst the little old lady stealing a few day to day groceries is still apparent, it’s the volume of ‘heavy hitters’ in the organised sectors who do the most damage and there is no sign of this letting up in 2010.
The BRC say
The British Retail Consortium which represents shop owners was quoted in December as saying that its members were the victims of crimes and that they were being failed by the system. The courts and local police are reluctant to pursue these cases in the way they ought and retailers are only trying to recover the costs involved,the value of the goods stolen and the costs of pursuing the case. Retailers are being criticised by organisations like Citizens Advice, who maintain that they [retailers] are creating a shadow justice system by pursuing vulnerable people to pay disproportionate costs involved by private investigation and recovery. The simple answer to this of course is don’t shoplift and you won’t subject yourself to any of this action; common sense, really.
Not able to respond
Whilst criticism is being levelled at the police from some areas, an increase in activity by private security firms employed by the retail sector, means an ever-increasing rise in the apprehension of offenders, which in itself causes problems for the police because they simply do not have the manpower to attend retail stores and deal with each incident. This means the retailer has to deal with more of the whole process themselves, which in turns involves higher overhead costs and therefore a greater recovery cost from the offender where offences are admitted. The advent of on the spot cautions and fixed penalty fines has done nothing for the complainant; and thieves view it as part of the risk, weighing up the gains to be had.
Deterrents
It has been said by many a security advisor that ‘it’s cheaper to deter than it is to detect offenders’ and some retailers are pursuing civil recovery as a method to protect their business and all the customers and staff who do not resort to dishonesty. Civil recovery sends out a very clear message that theft will not be tolerated and offenders subsequently caught will be made the subject of full cost recovery action. Retailers have been forced up this path by the surge in loss from theft, as what goes out of the back door comes straight off the bottom line and while many of the large retail operations build in shrinkage allowances to combat loss from affecting their balance sheets, many of the small retailers do not have the luxury of this cushion and therefore are often faced with the balance of survival or go bust, when only a small percentage of the stock is pilfered. The fact is of course it often represents the profit.
Vigorous defence
Whilst retailers continue to vigorously defend their position, it is not too difficult to understand why we are where we are today in our society. The materialistic approach to life often defines the course of action taken by many in the UK. It almost appears normal to see people shoplifting and there is rarely a time when I am in a major store where I do not observe someone in the act of shoplifting. If retailers were able to ban pushchairs from their stores I feel this would go a long way to reducing theft from the shop floor. I suspect that professional gangs often rent a kid and a pushchair, to carry out organised theft.
How does the future look
To put it mildly I believe it looks bleak. Retail stores are such a soft target and display everything a person needs in an environment which often lends itself to temptation. It is common now to have to search around to find a shop floor assistant at certain times of the day in some of the major stores, and those who do make themselves available frequently appear under pressure. Villains keen to take advantage of any opportunity will continue to exploit the opportunities presented to them every day and is it not unsurprising that retailers will make those caught pay heavily for their misdemeanours. If the retailers are suffering in the high street you can just imagine what is happening in those massive warehouses and distribution networks where lone ranger security investigators operate?
