Three Days Away!

October 26 is NRF's Fight Retail Crime Day

The retail industry will come together on Fight Retail Crime Day, an annual event to advocate for effective solutions to combat organized retail crime (ORC).

The surge of theft and violence associated with ORC has racked up over $112 billion in losses for retailers and has a broader impact on the safety of store employees and customers.

Join NRF on Oct. 26 for Fight Retail Crime Day to:

• Advocate for policies that promote community safety and address rising retail crime such as the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA).

• Connect with leading policymakers to help drive change and call for action.

• Activate the retail community to spread awareness and recognize lawmakers who support retail as Retail Crime Fighters.

Mark your calendars and learn more at nrf.com/FightRetailCrimeDay.

Retail Theft: 'Full-Blown National Crisis'
Washington Post Opinion: Rising crime affects everyone

By Neil Bradley, Executive VP & Chief Policy Officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Petula Dvorak's Oct. 17 Metro column, "Alarm over empty shelves obscures the full picture," missed the mark on the real-world impact of crime on businesses. We have good reason to be alarmed as retail theft has become a full-blown national crisis on an unprecedented scale.

At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, we increasingly hear from businesses of all sizes affected by crime. Our own surveys, along with surveys by the National Retail Federation and the FBI, point to a dramatic surge in retail crime. Retail theft losses more than doubled since 2019, climbing to $112.1 billion in 2022 from $50.6 billion pre-pandemic.

We are not talking one-time shoplifters stealing out of need but criminal rings pilfering large amounts of goods with the intent to resell, usually online. These crimes increasingly turn violent. According to the National Retail Federation, 80 percent of retailers reported increased incidents of violence in the past year.

Rising crime is especially devastating to small businesses struggling with increasing costs to secure their stores and a dwindling customer base as people avoid crime-ridden areas. No store should have to close because of theft, but, unfortunately, many have.

Congress has made it more difficult for criminals to sell stolen goods online, but state and local laws must be updated to address organized retail crime, and prosecutors must duly prosecute criminals.

There are complex problems contributing to rising crime, including laws that do not address organized theft and prosecutors who won't hold criminals accountable. However, this level of organized crime and looting is not simple shoplifting. At its core is wholesale disregard for the law. washingtonpost.com


Shoplifting Incidents in Minnesota Increased 13%
Will a new state theft task force be the next item on the agenda?

New Minnesota law cracks down on organized retail theft
Police pfficer Charlie Anderson's experiences more than a decade ago led him to start an organized retail crime association that grew into a statewide nonprofit, and he and others in the field have been pushing to change state law to distinguish shoplifting for personal use from stealing with the intent to resell items. After legislative approval last session, Gov. Tim Walz signed it into law.

The new law that took effect in August spells out that a person is guilty of organized retail theft if they're working with at least one other person in "a retail theft enterprise," they previously were involved in at least two separate retail thefts in a six-month period and they attempt to sell the merchandise or return it for anything of value. It increases the penalties compared to other theft.

If stolen merchandise exceeds $5,000, a person who's convicted could receive a prison term of up to 15 years, rather than 10 years. No one had been charged in Minnesota under the new law as of Tuesday, though Anderson said it will take some time for police and prosecutors to build cases.

Local shoplifting trends

Shoplifting incidents across Minnesota, during the first nine months of each year, increased 13 percent from 2021 to 2022 and 2 percent from 2022 to this year at convenience stores, department/discount stores, grocery/supermarkets, shopping malls and specialty stores.

State task force?

During the next legislative session, Nustad said he plans to push for an organized retail crime task force in the state. That would get "prosecutors, financial investigators, law enforcement, retail loss prevention and store owners to all work together to identify these career criminal networks faster than we're doing today," he said.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said he, prosecutors from his office and prosecutors from cities in the county are planning training around the new law, developing plans to work with police investigators, and utilizing industry-led resources to help with uncovering organized retail theft operations.'

How organized retail theft works - Locking up merchandise:  twincities.com


Membership-Based Business Model: The Solution to Theft?
Costco is winning the war against retail theft, boasts it's 'not a big issue' as Target and Walmart shutter stores across the country - here's why
Costco isn't losing as much to retail theft as its peers. "Thankfully, it's not a big issue for us," chief financial officer Richard Galanti reportedly told investors last month during the company's earnings call. Here's how one of the largest retailers in the country is circumventing one of the industry's biggest threats to its collective bottom line

According to the CFO, shrinkage was between "0.1% and 0.2%," during the most recent quarter. That's significantly lower than the nationwide average of 1.44%, as reported by the NRF.

Among the reasons Galanti cited for Costco's relatively low shrinkage is the layout of its stores. Because Costco's stores are structured like warehouses, with only a single point of entry or exit, they're less vulnerable to thieves.

But Costco's membership-based business model is one of its strongest defenses, according to Galanti. "You have to show your picture ID when you come into our warehouse," he said, "so the fact that it's member-only is a positive."

Costco items are also relatively more difficult to steal. The chain sells bulk items that are inconvenient for shoplifters. It might be hard to carry out 96 rolls of toilet paper out without someone noticing, for example. Costco goes a step further by packing even small items in large boxes.

However, the chain isn't immune to theft. Costco executives admitted that shoplifting ticked up after they rolled out self-service checkouts three years ago. But the problem hasn't worsened enough to stop the company from continuing to offer the feature. aol.com


Self-Checkout Backlash Continues
Walmart shoppers feel 'treated like thieves' when self-checkout mistakes happen

Walmart uses automated missed-scan detection to reduce theft at self-checkouts.

The tech sends a message to workers monitoring the area when it detects behaviors it interprets as suspicious, which multiple current and former employees told Insider has led to uncomfortable interactions and even hostile confrontations with customers who trigger the system.

Even in cases where theft is suspected, the employees told Insider they are not allowed to accuse customers of stealing. But many shoppers shared experiences in which honest mistakes or technical glitches resulted in them feeling branded as a criminal, whether by store workers, local law enforcement, or even the technology itself.

"We're continuously working on our security processes, and we encourage customers with concerns to let us know," Walmart spokesperson Joe Pennington told Insider. "Our associates are trained to handle these situations professionally and respectfully, ensuring our customers have the best shopping experience possible."

Shopper Daniel Jones told Insider he was "appalled" when his kiosk lit up and began playing security video footage of an alleged missed scan. "Not only did I feel like I was being accused of a crime, I felt confused and upset because I was in my work uniform and other people may see the video playback and think that I'm stealing," Jones said. businessinsider.com


Californians Will Soon See More ORC Takedowns
Placer County gets $2 million grant to combat organized retail theft

The $2 million grant is for the Placer County District Attorney's Office's Retail Theft Vertical Prosecution Program.

The Placer County Board of Supervisors voted to accept the grant for the Placer County District Attorney's Office's Retail Theft Vertical Prosecution Program. The district attorney's office will use the grant to add a full-time deputy district attorney, a district attorney investigator and a crime analyst.

In Roseville, organized retail theft cases have increased 82% from May 2020 to April 2023, according to a staff report. The district attorney's office has had a 67% increase in cases involving retail theft that are referred for prosecution.

"Placer County is an incredible place to live, own a business, shop, and recreate," Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said in a statement. "This is why our county continues to be the home for large retail hubs like the Roseville Galleria Mall and its anchor stores, the Rocklin Commons Shopping Center, and all the vibrant small business districts in our cities and towns. It is critical we ensure the continued safety and economic vitality of our growing business community through proactive approaches to retail theft."

"Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs. With an unprecedented $267 million investment, Californians will soon see more takedowns, more police, more arrests, and more felony prosecutions. When shameless criminals walk out of stores with stolen goods, they'll walk straight into jail cells," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a previous statement. abc10.com


Los Angeles Theft Task Force: 89 Arrests & $370K Stolen Merchandise
LA County leaders announce progress in organized retail theft crackdown
Five weeks after Los Angeles County leaders announced the creation of a new organized retail theft task force that would go after smash-and-grab thieves, the sheriff's department says it has made progress.

Sheriff Robert Luna, Supervisor Janice Hahn and Supervisor Hilda Solis announced at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce that deputies have made 89 arrests and recovered more than $370,000 worth of stolen merchandise.

Business owners across Southern California are reacting to the news, and hoping the task force - which will receive $15.6 million of state funding each year for the next three years - will help reduce crime and help them feel safer. spectrumnews1.com


Retail theft an increasing threat for customers, retailers according to Springfield police

Albany County DA on efforts to prosecute cases involving organized retail theft

Organized retail theft's impact on N.Y.'s local businesses

Retail Tips for Cybersecurity Awareness Month
4 Tips for Retailers During Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Here are four tips for retailers on how they should increase their cybersecurity posture leading up to the busiest shopping season of the year.

Invest in Cybersecurity Training for Your Staff

As we approach peak season, it's important that retail employees are trained on the common cybersecurity threats that are out there, which threats pose the greatest risks and how best to protect corporate data. By training your staff on the most common threats, you can make it significantly harder for threat actors to exploit personnel and gain access to your environment.

Back Up Critical Data and Configs - and Validate

As we enter the holiday season, now is an ideal time to focus on ensuring you have backups of critical systems, network devices and data, as well as configurations. Basically, for any kind of system that is key to running your business, you want to have the ability to roll back. By backing up configurations, retailers can save a tremendous amount of time if they ever have to restore a system.

Complete Any Cybersecurity Projects That Are Underway

Threat actors are getting more sophisticated in making attacks that are more targeted. Retailers need to have the best possible line of defense going into peak season. And that means any cybersecurity projects that you have underway should be completed prior to November, if possible.

Test Disaster Readiness with Tabletop Exercises

While awareness is certainly a big piece of the cybersecurity puzzle, to be fully ready for a more secure peak season, retailers should prioritize disaster readiness testing. The phrase often used is tabletop exercises, which refers to simulating a real-world scenario to test your team's disaster recovery and incident response capabilities. Think of it as training firefighters prior to an actual fire. The more prepared teams can be in knowing what to do during a disaster creates confidence that they can recover when an actual disaster occurs. risnews.com


Retailers Go All In On AI
How C-suite leaders plan to use generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay, and leaders across retail and tech are planning to leverage the tool to grow their success.

Data firm Qlik's newest Generative AI Benchmark Report detailed how companies plan to utilize and invest in the new technology, which generates text, images, or other media using generative models. Nearly eight-in-10 (79%) of the 200 C-level leaders who were surveyed said their firms have either purchased generative AI tools or invested in generative AI projects, and 31% say they plan to spend over $10 million on generative AI initiatives in the coming year.

However, 44% of the organizations noted they lack a clear generative AI strategy. When asked how they intend to approach generative AI, 68% said they plan to leverage public or open-source models refined with proprietary data. Nearly half (45%) said they are considering building models from scratch with proprietary data.

Six-in-10 respondents (60%) said that they plan to partially or fully rely on third-party expertise when it comes to questions of strategy, data security, governance and more. Only 20% believe their data fabric is "very or extremely" well-equipped to meet their needs for generative AI.

Nearly three-fourths of respondents (73%) said they expect to increase spending on technologies that support data fabrics for generative AI, with part of that spend focusing on managing data volumes.

"Generative AI's potential has ignited a wave of investment and interest both in discreet generative AI tools, and in technologies that help organizations manage risk, embrace complexity and scale generative AI and traditional AI for impact," said James Fisher, chief strategy officer at Qlik. "Our Generative AI Benchmark report clearly shows leading organizations understand that these tools must be supported by a trusted data foundation. That data foundation fuels the insights and advanced use cases where the power of generative AI and traditional AI together come to life." chainstoreage.com


Global IT Spending to Surge 8%
Tech spend to hit milestone as businesses react to AI security scare

Gartner is projecting worldwide IT spend will top $5 trillion next year, and CIOs are investing more in security to curb concerns associated with AI and risk.

Worldwide IT spending is expected to surge to $5.1 trillion in 2024, growing 8% year over year, analyst firm Gartner projected in a Wednesday report. This marks the first time IT spending is expected to surpass $5 trillion.

AI is already having an influence and is set to impact one area of IT spend in particular: cybersecurity, according to Gartner. Most CIOs - 4 in 5 - plan to increase security investments next year amid concerns associated with AI and risk, making it the top category for increased spending.

"AI has created a new security scare for organizations," said John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst, in the report. "Gartner is projecting double-digit growth across all segments of enterprise security spending for 2024."

A wave of change fatigue, manifested in reluctance to invest in new projects and initiatives, pushed some of this year's IT spending into 2024, Gartner said. That trend is likely to continue into 2025.   cybersecuritydive.com


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