Loss Prevention priorities aligned with the C-Suite
With the recent surge in organized retail crime, it is now getting much-needed attention from the highest levels of the organization. On December 9th, 2021, the CEOs of 20 leading retailers expressed in an open letter to Congressional leadership, their concerns about the impact organized retail crime is having on employees and communities across the U.S. and urged Congress to pass the Integrity, Notification and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces (INFORM) for Consumers Act. As CEOs are leaning on congress to address the ease of resale issue with legislation, they are also looking internally for solutions to keep their employees and shoppers safe while protecting their merchandise.
“Retailers have made significant investments to combat organized retail crime, but as they note in their letter, criminals will continue these brazen acts of theft as long as they are able to anonymously sell their stolen goods using online marketplaces,” said Dodge. (Dodge, 2021)
What exactly are the CEOs saying?
“ORC is on the rise at Best Buy. The tactic involves an organized “gang” of people who steal entire shelves of high-value products, such as electronics, to resell them for a profit. This is traumatizing for our associates and is unacceptable. We are doing everything we can to try to create a safe as possible environment.” -Corie Barry, CEO Best Buy
“They’re criminals, and it is impacting our stores. What they’re doing is they’re taking our products off the shelf and they’re putting them online and we need to go after that.” -Karen Lynch, CEO CVS
About 25% of the decline in gross margin came from loss of inventory – what grocery stores and other retailers refer to as shrink. That’s heavily driven by organized crime or at least it appears to be.” -Rodney McMullen, CEO The Kroger Co.
The right solution to prevent ORC
Shrink reduction and keeping people safe has continued to be loss prevention’s core purpose. Retail executives know that their organization requires strategic alignment, from top to bottom, to fulfill the organization’s objectives to fight against ORC. The goal is to implement strategies and solutions that support the customer experience, drive sales, protect employees and prevent thefts from occurring. Coming into 2022 and with the increase of ORC, more executives turn to Gatekeeper’s Purchek® Solution.
Pushout theft allows thieves to clear out shelves and exit with a shopping cart filled with stolen merchandise. According to Gatekeeper Systems, most pushout theft is never recorded, with multiple unnoticed smaller thefts for every major ORC pushout theft.
Gatekeeper’s Purchek® solution is a highly effective cart-based pushout theft prevention system that thwarts ORC and opportunistic shoplifters at the moment a theft occurs. As a thief attempts to leave the store with a cartload of unpaid for merchandise, the pushout prevention system locks the cart in place, thereby keeping the merchandise in the store. When this occurs, most thieves walk away empty handed. As shoplifters experience this type of disruption, they commonly seek easier targets.
This presents a number of advantages for retail leaders:
- Apprehend merchandise: With automatic locking wheels, merchandise never leaves the store.
- Eliminates confrontation with shoplifters: With Purchek®, the cart stops the behavior not the person. Resulting in confrontation-free stops thus reducing the possibility of violence against employees.
- Uncovering the real problem: Gain valuable insight to the scope and frequency of pushout theft events and the repeat offenders who commit them.
- More sales: Removing shopping carts from ORC’s tool chest helps prevent shelf sweeps and other shelf clearing events that create unplanned out of stocks on high demand products making more merchandise available for paying customers.
- Customer experience: Unlike locked cases, faulty EAS systems, and similar product protection devices, the Purchek® system is invisible to good customers.
Gatekeeper Systems’ Purchek® solution may be your key to finding common ground with your CEO on how to retain your merchandise while improving safety. Contact Gatekeeper to learn a little more.
About Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper Systems’ expanded product suite of intelligent cart solutions offers solutions for EVERY retailer’s needs to minimize merchandise loss and reduce asset and labor expenditures.
Gatekeeper’s loss prevention, retail analytics, and cart containment solutions utilize patented locking wheel technology to put an end to cart-based shoplifting, shopping cart loss, and uninformed decision-making. Cart management solutions increase safety and reduce labor costs by maximizing productivity while simultaneously resulting in a positive store image.
Intelligent pushout theft prevention solutions stop thieves and their cart full of unpaid merchandise from leaving the store. Customizable wheel technology allows retailers to defend their entire store or just a high loss department based on the store’s unique layout.
NEW Retail Analytics solutions provide increased visibility for informed decision making. Increase efficiency, optimize fleet size, and perfect the entire customer shopping experience with store and enterprise-level analytics.
Find out why the top 20 retailers that use shopping carts rely on Gatekeeper solutions.
To learn more or to schedule a free consultation, click here.
References:
Trevor, J. and Varcoe, B. (2017, February 7). How Aligned Is Your Organization? Link to Article
Dodge, B. (2021, March 10). Retail CEOs Speak: Seven Imperatives for the Retail Industry. Link to Article
Dodge, B. (2021, December 9). CEOs call on Congress to Address Surge of Retail Crime. Link to Article
“Best Buy beats earnings estimates as holiday season kicks off.” Squawk on the Street. CNBC., 2021, November 23. Television.
“CVS Health shares pop after company’s bullish outlook.” Power Lunch. CNBC., 2021, December 9. Television.
The Kroger Company. “Second Quarter Earnings for 2021.” The Kroger Company Profile (2021). Teleconference.
