Retail Crime Increases in 2009, According to Recent NRF Study

Interesting study out of the National Retail Federation today reporting that 92% of retailers were affected by organized retail crime (ORC or "mega-shoplifting") in the past year. This is 8% higher than last year, contributing to the estimated $30 billion that ORC costs retailers every year.

The survey included retailers across industries, from grocery to restaurants and department stores. Security executives from 115 organizations participated, with 73 percent claiming that retail crime activity has increased over 2008.

In an interview with Security Director News' Rhianna Daniels, Tod Cohen, vice president and deputy general counsel for government relations at eBay, had some interesting things to say on reasons behind the increase and why retailers are continuing to struggle to prevent basic retail theft, also arguing against the hypothesis that Web shopping has spurred theft:

"...faced with challenging economic times, some retail giants have made a number of decisions that they were aware would contribute to their theft losses, including cuts in loss prevention staff and tools, as well as major reductions in sales staff, who serve as a powerful deterrent to potential thieves. They also continue to have major problems in dealing with the number one cause of inventory shrinkage -- employee theft. Retailers that are truly serious about this problem must invest resources to attack the problem at its source."

Obviously, retailers have specific security needs and require video surveillance features specifically tailored to their individual concerns -- for example, people counting capabilities and sophisticated object tracking. These statistics reaffirm my belief that investment in intelligent searchable video surveillance tools is crucial for retailers seeking to more efficiently combat fraud and organized crime, and here at 3VR we are now offering such tools and capabilities on all of our SmartRecorders.

With the slow economy taking a toll on profits while spurring a spike in crime, there is no better time to invest in a solution that has the ability to integrate with critical retail systems like POS and access control, while greatly increasing visibility and control for security personnel.

For more info on our retail-specific features, go here. Also check out how Sammy's Woodfired Pizza is using 3VR to bolster its retail security, customer service and loss prevention capabilities.