How to Protect Your Store Against Retail Violence

For decades I’ve attended leading Retail LP events including, Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and National Retail Federation (NRF) show for grocery retailers. Every year, the organizers survey attendees, asking which critical topics they hope to hear about at the show. Year after year, attendees responded: 1. ways to decrease shrink and 2. insights to increase profitability. At the FMI event in 2024, for the first time ever, the most demanded topic was how to maintain customer and employee safety. The numbers point to the sudden interest. According to the 2023 National Retail Security Survey, a hearty 67% of retailers said that they have seen even more violence and aggression from organized retail crime (ORC) perpetrators compared with a year ago. In addition, 81% reported that shoplifters (overall) are somewhat more or much more aggressive and violent compared with one year ago. How did we get here?

The proliferation of ORC has been a factor in surging violence in retail. Unfortunately, ORC incidents are more likely to end in violence than the casual shoplifting incident. There were 46 gun-related incidents at retail establishments in 2023. Post-pandemic life, in general, seems to teem with heightened emotions that tip into violence.

In-Store Violence is a Threat to Life, Assets and Business Vitality

Aside from obvious loss of life and property, another major threat of growing violence is to business viability. If the threat of in-store violence outweighs consumers’ risk tolerance, then there are plenty of alternatives available to consumers: from buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS), to online order and shipment, or local order with home delivery. Brick-and-mortar stores suffer from loss of foot traffic, declining impulse purchases and brand loyalty that is generated based on outstanding in-person customer experiences. Small businesses feel the brut of ORC violence the most as it deters customers from shopping, placing financial strain on businesses and making it difficult to recover.

Traditional methods of combatting in-store theft and ORC compromise the in-store experience by creating friction. When items are locked up, legitimate customers must flag an associate, request that cases be unlocked and wait for a response. EAS tags require associates to remove tags upon purchase and, if they forget, legitimate customers may sound the alarm. These and other LP/AP methods prevent loss while simultaneously preventing revenue generation. No customer wants the embarrassment of having an alarm sound as they walk out of a store. Worse, they may get the item home and find the EAS tag still attached, forcing them to return to the store.

Plan, Deter and Prosecute: A Three-pronged Approach to Safety

Fortunately, LP/AP professionals are well-known for their ability to innovate, leverage new approaches and apply effective strategies to overcome emerging challenges. There are three critical components to a strategy that combats in-store violence: plan, deter and prosecute.

Plan

Step one is to anticipate problems and formulate a plan or strategy. It’s imperative to involve an entire ecosystem of stakeholders to combat violent incidents. Together, LP/AP teams, solution providers, IT teams, local law enforcement and store operations bring to bear resources and expertise that can more effectively plan for and address violent incidents. The vision is to have integrated technologies that easily corroborate data for actionable, real-time insight. Information sharing across the industry is also an effective way to direct efforts to effectively combat ORC.

Deter

The second step is to create a hardened target. Emerging technologies offer many effective options. LP/AP teams now realize that disparate physical security solutions deliver maximum value when integrated. Consider GPS systems integrated with camera systems that offer law enforcement access to real-time coverage of a theft in progress. These systems may also be tied to perimeter security solutions, turning on lights in the parking lot for effective license plate recognition using outdoor cameras. Smart technology solutions create great deterrence. Part of what I love about collaborating with 3Si is that they understand the value of deterrence first and then detainment, offering solutions to optimize each step of crime prevention and pursuit.

Prosecute

Unfortunately, theft is the most underreported crime in America. We need alignment from retailers up through local law enforcement to federal law enforcement and retail associations to effectively combat theft and violence. To stop crime, you must take perpetrators off the streets and/or decrease the appeal of crime by increasing the consequences. This means working with law enforcement to detect, detain and prosecute criminals. It also requires incident documentation and reporting as well as information-sharing across the entire retail industry. Creating a deterrent at one retail store simply passes the criminal on to the next best opportunity, but continues to compromise the industry as a whole. 3Si’s solutions allow retailers to partner with law enforcement to pursue criminals when they steal merchandise covertly protected with 3Si’s tracking devices. Law enforcement can track stolen merchandise to the location where it is received and processed prior to resale, allowing them to uncover stolen merchandise and prosecute criminals in a way that is safely removed from retail stores full of employees and customers.

No matter where you are in the process, or the challenges your local store faces, LP/AP is a moving target. I’ve been in the industry for more than four decades and I’m still learning. If you’re interested in partnering with us to take next steps in employee and customer safety, reach out (info@3si.com) to schedule a discussion with our retail team. Now is the time to address and prevent violence.