Register Now: 2023 ISCPO Global Supply Chain Security Conference

April 11-13 at the 7-Eleven Store Support Center in Irving, Texas

There will be a wide range of topics related to global supply chain security, Ecommerce, industry trends, and investigations. As in year’s past, the conference provides a great venue to network with global industry peers, transportation/logistics professionals, law enforcement, and select vendor partners.

We encourage Solution Providers to participate in this event. Those interested should submit requests to Rhett Asher at Rhett.Asher@iscpo.org or Byron Smith at Byron.Smith@iscpo.org.

Agenda Topics

• Social Media Investigations
• Workplace Violence and Police Interaction
• Human Recourses in a Challenging Labor Market
• Unions in Supply Chain
• Human Trafficking in the Supply Chain
• Global eCommerce Security

By attending the conference you'll stay ahead of the latest technologies, manage risk across all supply chain channels, and bring best practices back to your company.

Register now
 

Convenience Store Violence, Safety & Security
C-Stores make up 3% of violent crimes in the U.S.

When Prevention Isn't Enough

The stresses of the ongoing pandemic, coupled with mounting economic uncertainty, social unrest and more have fueled a pressure cooker for grocery and convenience store customers and employees.

Eight in 10 retailers surveyed by the National Retail Federation for its 2022 Retail Security Survey reported that violence and aggression associated with organized retail crime incidents increased in the last year. In this special report, WGB and CSP editors discuss this critical topic with retailers and experts who offer insight into how to keep workers and shoppers safe in the face of this mounting threat.

Violent crime by the numbers

Convenience stores account for about 3% of U.S. violent crimes, according to statistics from the FBI. When gas stations (a separate category in FBI data) are factored in, that percentage rises to about 5%. Violent crime at grocery stores, meanwhile, is less frequent but, like the other two categories, has been increasing over the last five years for which data is available. Note: The FBI classifies gas stations as non-convenience store locations including gas stations only, truck stops or marine fueling locations.

Retailers confront violent crime

“The cost of reacting after a serious incident has occurred is 100 times more costly than taking preventative action.” -Bill Flynn, founder and chief strategy officer for active shooter response firm The Power of Preparedness winsightgrocerybusiness.com

RELATED: C-store safety and security: 3 robbery deterrence security practices


Anti-Theft Measures Continue to Make National Headlines
They can crack down on theft, but do they also hinder sales?

Shoplifting deterrents drive down sales

Driving the news

Locked cases may stop thieves, but they are also deterring honest shoppers from making in-store purchases and can cause sales to drop 15% to 25%, Joe Budano, CEO of anti-theft technology company Indyme, told Axios.

The inconvenience of locked cases — and having to find an employee to open them — end up driving customers to shop online, GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders said.

Stolen merchandise is also often sold on online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Facebook, Saunders said.

Between the lines

he dilemma for retailers is balancing the need to protect merchandise so it’s available for honest customers versus interfering with a seamless experience, Lisa LaBruno, senior executive vice president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, tells Axios.

The multibillion-dollar loss in products is on top of money spent on technology and staffing, LaBruno said. Budano estimates that 98% of people in stores are “legit customers” and 2% are some kind of offender.

“To protect yourself against 2% is bad math,” said Budano, whose company created the “Freedom Case,” a locked display consumers can open with their cell phones.

New laws target retail theft

U.S. Representatives Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), and David Joyce (R-Ohio) recently introduced the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023 legislation to establish a coordinated federal response to the retail theft.

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) have sponsored a companion bill that they said, “targets the rise in flash mob robberies and intricate retail theft schemes sweeping the nation.” axios.com


How the 'Defund the Police' Movement Helped Drive Store Closures
Nike asks to hire or fund police in order to reopen Portland Community Store

Emails among city staff suggest Nike's plan wouldn't help because the city already has funding for more officers; the problem is the wait time to get them certified.

The Nike Community Store in Northeast Portland has been shuttered for months due to problems with retail theft, and the company now appears to be pressing the city for dedicated police support — and even offering to pay for officers — to get the store back open.

In a Feb. 9 letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler, first reported by The Oregonian, Nike chief security officer Joe Marsico and North America general manager Sarah Mensah said the company closed the Community Store "in response to deteriorating public safety conditions and rapid escalation in retail theft."

Nike's plan to pay for police

The letter proposes a partnership with the city that would take one of two forms: either Nike would contract and pay for off-duty uniformed PPB officers to be at the store, or the company would form an intergovernmental agreement with the city to fund a designated number of additional full-time officers.

The Nike officials note that the officers would have the power to arrest offenders or detain them until on-duty police arrive. Security guards contracted by Nike have previously told KGW that they're forbidden from physically stopping shoplifters — a common policy among major retailers — and increasingly brazen criminals were seen simply walking out the front door with armloads of merchandise last year.

The letter hints that the Community Store closure could become permanent without the new police support, stating "we are now at a critical juncture" and later adding "as Nike evaluates business decisions impacting retail operations, it is critical that one of these two models be made effective prior to May 1, 2023." kgw.com


Shoplifting Gangs Targeted by New Bills
Virginia bills to punish shoplifting gangs pass House and Senate
A growing headache for retailers — shoplifting gangs — would be a clearer target for prosecutors after the House of Delegates and state Senate approved bills defining their deeds as organized crime.

The bills say it would be a felony, punishable by a prison term of five to 20 years, for two or more people to act together to steal goods from one or more stores, or to conspire to do so. The trigger for the charge is thefts totaling $5,000, stolen over 90 days.

It also clears the way to prosecute thefts that occur in more than one county or city.

“We’ve had stores shut down because of this,” said Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford, sponsor of House Bill 1885. “Now we can go after the people doing this.”

Both the House and Senate bills, as introduced, set a trigger for the organized crime charge at $1,000, but the Senate Judiciary Committee amended its version to set the $5,000 trigger. The House on Wednesday accepted the Senate changes by a vote of 52-45. The Senate approved the compromise by a 27-13 vote.

“I had wanted the $1,000 to help with proof,” said state Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, who sponsored the Senate version. Raising the trigger to $5,000 “makes it a little harder to prove a case, but I understand where Scott was coming from and I can live with that,” he said.

But Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, said she still opposed the measure because it did not go after the heart of the problem — the fences. “This makes shoplifting racketeering,” she said.

The bill also creates a fund that prosecutors and police can tap to pursue these cases. richmond.com


Theft Surge Across the Pond
Co-op stores in England put baby formula behind tills to deter theft

Move by retailer described as ‘heartbreaking’ as cost of staple products continues to rise

Co-op stores in England have resorted to putting baby formula behind the tills in some stores to stop them from being stolen. A Brighton shop took action as the cost of living crisis continues to hit people up and down the country.

The Co-operative said it had taken the measure in a number of stores to trial a new deterrent to stop theft, although it would not say in how many outlets this was happening.

In 2022, Sainsbury’s put security tags on formulas to stop them being stolen. At the time, it said the decision to place security tags on lower value items could vary from store to store. It added that baby formula, essential for most infants, had suffered supply chain issues resulting in shortages in the UK and the US in the past two years, with the US particularly hard-hit. theguardian.com


As a store employee, I frequently witness shoplifting but choose not to intervene

New Orleans mass shootings account for 5% of 2023 national total

How the Pandemic Led to Fewer Shoppers in Big Cities
Remote Work During the Pandemic Shifted Daytime Population of Cities

Working From Home Caused a Spatial Shift in Daytime Population Away From Traditional Job Centers

The daytime population of traditional U.S. job centers plummeted in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and lockdowns and social distancing pushed more people to work from home.

This shift to remote work in large segments of the workforce significantly impacted commuting and consumer spending at restaurants, retail outlets and the demand for commercial real estate, according to research presented during a recent webinar hosted by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Local Employment Dynamics (LED).

The research used the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) commuting data, coupled with statistics from other federal government agencies and outside organizations.

Commuting shifts also affected where people spent their money. Fewer workers meant fewer shoppers and diners for small businesses in job hubs.

The traditional 9-to-5 workday may have become a thing of the past. Surveys show workers expect workplace adaptations to stick, because flexible schedules and reduced commute times outweigh challenges of isolation and longer hours. According to research, employees value flexibility and believe a hybrid model is ideal. census.gov


Companies Pulling Back on Remote Work
What can you do when your company reverses on remote work?

If your employer announces a return to the office while you'd like to continue remotely, you may have leverage to negotiate.

A growing list of companies—including Disney, Apple, Starbucks, Google, and Goldman Sachs—are rolling back their remote work policies or tightening hybrid work options to compel workers to spend more time in the office. In the US, even Congress is trying to end covid-era teleworking options for federal workers. Online, some speculate that even remote-first companies are looking to get people into the office organically.

But despite increasing interest in getting workers through the office doors, their desire for remote work isn’t disappearing. According to Pew Research, among people working from home full-time or most of the time in early 2022, 78% say they’d like to continue doing so.

Plenty are resisting return-to-office orders. As of last summer, just half of workers who had been called back to the office full-time were actually reporting in as much as required. Some are wondering if they can simply refuse the mandate. And others are leaving their no-longer-remote jobs for new ones that offer more flexibility. qz.com


Why the Covid-19 Death Toll in the U.S. Is Still Rising

Idaho bill would criminalize giving mRNA vaccines – the tech used in COVID shots