National Retail Security Survey - Help Us Quiet the Naysayers!

The retail industry continues to face increasingly alarming levels of crime, violence and loss, yet there are those who think differently because our industry doesn't have the numbers to "back it up."

For more than 30 years, the National Retail Security Survey has been our industry benchmark report - and this year may be our most critical year!

This year's survey has been sent out to more than 350 retail brands across various segments, via emails sent to LP/AP pyramid heads. The National Retail Federation and Loss Prevention Research Council have a goal of receiving at least 100 retailer submissions to help us provide support to the entire industry with the results. Help us achieve that goal!
 

The deadline for completing the survey has been extended to Friday, June 16, 2023.
 

Only through retailer participation can we provide the most representative results that show the true impact of theft, loss and concerns facing our industry. Now is the time for us to quiet the naysayers!

If for any reason your organization (check with your LP/AP leader) has not received a survey, or the link to the survey is not working, please contact David Johnston with the National Retail Federation or Cory Lowe with the Loss Prevention Research Council.
 

LPRC: Humans + AI nearly eight times more accurate

Latest research analysis reveals humans assisted by face matching technology far more likely to correctly identify a subject's face

Humans using artificial intelligence face matching technology were 7.91 times more likely to correctly identify a subject's face than without AI, according to updated research results.

The Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) researches how retailers can effectively prevent retail crime, reduce losses, and improve store safety. Dr. Cory Lowe, LPRC senior research scientist, presented his initial research results October 4, 2022, during the annual IMPACT conference hosted at the University of Florida.

In a presentation titled "Face Off: Examining the Role of AI in Reducing Bias and Improving Decision-Making," Lowe explained how he pitted unaided research participants against those using AI face matching technology. LPRC selected FaceFirst software for the tests. Researchers installed the software in the LPRC lab and conducted the tests independently.

Lowe showed a diverse array of fictional offender faces to 155 research participants; 78 who were unassisted, and 77 who were assisted. Among the unassisted group, 76.7 percent misidentified the fictional subjects in a photo lineup just minutes after seeing the fictional subject image. The assisted group got it right 62.9 percent of the time.

However, the preliminary analyses did not tell the full story. When Lowe controlled for other factors (e.g., differences in the order of presentation of the fictional offenders), the assisted group performed nearly eight times better. "The final results revealed there was a 7.91 times improvement in accuracy when participants were assisted by facial recognition," Lowe said. Lowe's preliminary analysis, which did not control for some of these factors, found a 2.7 times accuracy improvement among the AI-aided group.

For context: Humans performed poorly on their own, even with a small sample of faces they had been shown minutes earlier. No technology is 100 percent accurate in the wild, but humans alone are demonstrably prone to error. Furthermore, Lowe noted the participants were not told of the FaceFirst AI's accuracy alone (100 percent accurate with the images used in this study), so individuals may have discounted the solution's accuracy.

Watch for more details from the LPRC research, including how facial recognition can be used to reduce error and bias; how it can narrow the LP focus to those individuals who are most likely to offend in retail locations; and how the future of these technologies will be determined by their ethical use.

FaceFirst considers use of AI with human oversight vital for retailers. Consider the risks of being caught unaware when a known offender enters your store. If you knew there was a proven solution to keep your valued customers, associates, and executive team safer from violent offenders, would you implement it? The real risk is answering no. FaceFirst's solution is fast, accurate, and scalable-learn more today at facefirst.com.
 

Will the INFORM Consumers Act Take a Bite Out of Theft?
FTC: INFORM Consumers Act takes effect on June 27th. Is your business ready?
Certain businesses in the e-commerce space should mark June 27, 2023, on their calendars. That’s the date a new law – the INFORM Consumers Act – takes effect. The FTC and the states share law enforcement authority and violations could result in steep civil penalties and – in cases brought by the states – “damages, restitution, or other compensation.” Are you covered by the statute? And if you are, are you taking the necessary compliance steps? FTC staff just issued a to-the-point publication that merits your attention: Informing Businesses about the INFORM Consumers Act.

Congress passed the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act – or the INFORM Consumers Act – to add more transparency to online transactions and to deter criminals from acquiring stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe items and selling them through online marketplaces. Don’t let another day pass without considering what the new law means for your business or your clients’ companies.

The INFORM Consumers Act puts new requirements in place for “online marketplaces” – defined as a person or business that operates a consumer-directed platform that allows third party sellers to engage in the “sale, purchase, payment, storage, shipping, or delivery of a consumer product in the United States.” Online marketplaces covered by the law must collect and verify certain financial and identifying information from “high-volume third party sellers” – defined as a person or business that meets specific sales thresholds on that platform. What’s more, online marketplaces generally must disclose on those sellers’ product listing pages (or in order confirmation messages and account transaction histories) the seller’s name, address, and contact information. In addition, online marketplaces must suspend high-volume third party sellers that don’t provide the required information and must offer a clear way for consumers to report suspicious conduct.

You’ll want to read the new business guide and the text of the law for details, but it boils down to this. Under the INFORM Consumers Act, online marketplaces must have more information about who’s selling on their platform. Covered sellers must promptly comply with those requests for information or risk suspension. And consumers who buy from those sellers will have a place to report questionable activity.

Informing Businesses about the INFORM Consumers Act includes more about the law, with a particular focus on the responsibilities of online marketplaces. With the June 27th effective date approaching, it’s time for online marketplaces to rev up their compliance efforts. The FTC will be watching and expects online marketplaces to have INFORM Consumers Act measures in place by the effective date. ftc.gov


New ORC Bill Becomes Law in Oregon
The law would stiffen penalties for organized theft

Oregon Gov. Kotek signs bill into law increasing penalties for organized retail theft
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed a bill into law Wednesday intended to crack down on retail theft across the state. Senate Bill 340 was recommended by the Oregon Organized Retail Crime Task Force, which is made up of law enforcement agencies, retail associations and district attorneys from across the state.

The bill is intended to make it easier to prosecute organized retail crimes. “This bill provides common sense tools to curb organized retail theft and hold offenders accountable,” Governor Kotek said in a tweet.

Senate Bill 340 establishes a presumptive sentence of 24 months for the prison for “organized retail theft” if a person has certain previous convictions, and increases the range of what is considered organized theft.

Under ORS 164.098, a person can be charged with organized retail theft if they are working with at least one other person, they are suspected of stealing merchandise from a store and the value of the stolen merchandise is $5,000 or more. Under the current law, the dollar total amount applies to merchandise taken within a 90-day period. Under SB 340, the time is extended to 180 days.

Additionally, SB 340 allows for the degree of the theft charge to be determined by adding together the values of stolen merchandise taken over a year period. katu.com kptv.com


Backlash Grows After Retailer Fires Employees Who Confronted Thieves
Growing chorus calls for Lululemon to reinstate employees fired for trying
to stop thieves

A pair of Atlanta-area workers were sacked after they tried to defend the store amid a brazen act of theft.

A growing chorus of voices is calling for Lululemon to reinstate two Atlanta-area employees who were fired for confronting thieves at their store.

Jennifer Ferguson and Rachel Rogers last week told the Atlanta-area NBC affiliate, WXIA-TV, that they were terminated after they tried to intervene to stop a theft conducted by men in "masks and hoodies" who "swiped" what they could before leaving the athletic apparel store.

The backlash has been led in part by conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, who accused the Canadian multinational retailer of being “deeply afraid that the woke are going to come after them if they actually start prosecuting shoplifters” and that “they’re afraid they’re going to be accused of racial profiling.”

Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald has doubled down on the company's termination decision, telling CNBC last Friday that the employees "knowingly broke the policy, engaged with the thieves ... that was what resulted in the termination.”

The company's policy to restrict employees from engaging with perpetrators during a crime is somewhat common in the retail industry, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData consultancy. What is different is Lululemon's willingness to stick to it in the face of both apparent common sense and the company's stated values, Saunders said.

The company's policy also raises questions about why Lululemon does not have more in-store security if it is going to have what Saunders described as a "draconian" policy with respect to ordering employees not to intervene. nbcnews.com


Home Depot Tries To Cage Up ORC In Its Stores
Bay Area Home Depot Stores Lock Up Lower-Value Items Amid Rampant Theft
Home Depot stores in the Bay Area have started to lock items behind cages due to rampant theft. Workers told The Standard that the stores locked high-value items such as power tools behind the cages starting around January, but since then, even laundry detergent has been locked up.

"It used to be big-ticket items, but now even the detergent is locked up," said one worker at the Emeryville Home Depot store, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The workers said the cages are an effective deterrent for most thieves, but more savvy criminals can work around the cages, especially to access more lucrative scores, like items in the power tools section.

The Home Depot stores in El Cerrito, San Leandro and Oakland stores have cages, but some Bay Area stores do not. Staff at the Oakland Home Depot on Alameda Avenue said the cages were installed in December due to spiking theft.

Scott Glenn, vice president for asset protection at Home Depot, told ABC News in a June 1 article that organized retail theft gangs were the reason the company chose to install cages on high-value items nationwide.

Glenn said Home Depot investigated more than one case of organized retail theft per day nationally in the past year as the company recorded around 400 cases of suspected organized retail theft. The thefts amount to losses of "billions of dollars a year," according to Glenn.

Home Depot tells its staff not to confront suspected shoplifters but does employ trained asset-protection guards to challenge thieves. In April, a Home Depot employee was fatally shot in a Pleasanton store after confronting shoplifters. sfstandard.com


Security Measures to Adopt as Theft Surges
How to keep your retail store safe and secure

If you want to stop your store from experiencing any unexpected losses then one thing you can do is implement various security measures.

Implement a policy for shoplifting

If you can implement a policy that will stop shoplifters in their tracks then this will help you out a lot. Your team should be trained on how to stop shoplifters and they should also be told what to do if they witness an individual taking a product. If your team make the decision to confront them then they should take a colleague with them for safety reasons.

Use customer service

Shoplifters may be put off stealing if they know that they have been spotted. One way you can stop shoplifters would be for you to approach them and ask if they need help with something, or to even direct them to a particular product.

Optimise the layout

If you can change the layout of your store then this will make it harder for people to steal and get away with it. Make sure that you put your cash register by the door so that people have to pass you when they leave. Take the time to minimise any blind spots.

Identify items at risk | Stock takes  retailtechinnovationhub.com


Homicides Are Falling in Major American Cities

Local officials say pandemic factors that drove up murder rates are receding

So far this year, killings are down 12% overall in nine of the 10 most populous cities compared with the same time frame last year, according to local government data.

Homicides are down in six of those cities, including 27% in Los Angeles, 22% in Houston, and 16% in Philadelphia. In Texas, the cities of Dallas, San Antonio and Austin reported slight upticks. San Diego didn’t provide data. The 2023 data available from the cities had different end dates, ranging from April to this week.

Local officials and criminologists say conditions that drove the violence up in 2020 and 2021, such as rise in domestic disputes and a pause in gang-violence prevention programs during the pandemic, as well as a pullback in police enforcement after racial-justice protests over the murder of George Floyd, are receding

Last year, the number of killings dropped 5% in 70 of the largest U.S. cities from 2021, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents police chiefs from large cities.

Some criminologists argue that the reduction in violence is tied most closely to the receding effects of the pandemic. Americans were disconnected from schools, churches, mentors and counseling, which resulted in more deadly conflicts. He said that any impacts on policing from the protests weren’t widespread. wsj.com


Fresno Council members propose real-time video surveillance to fight retail theft
Fresno City Councilmembers Luis Chavez & Mike Karbassi announced their intention to introduce a new budget proposal to bridge the gap between Fresno's local retail businesses and the Fresno Police Department and taking direct aim at organized retail theft and other property crimes.

The Supply Side: Theft continues to take bite out of retail profits

Op-Ed: VA’s post-graduation mass shooting reflects US gun violence epidemic

Canada's Wildfires Impacting the Retail Industry
Amazon, Target Modify Deliveries in Areas With Poor Air Quality
Amazon.com said on Thursday that it was cutting delivery routes short for drivers in places affected by poor air quality, while Target also said its contactless order pickup service may not operate in the most affected areas.

Hundreds of forest fires are burning across much of Canada as the country sees its worst-ever start to the wildfire season, which has pushed smoke into the eastern United States, covering several cities with a thick, yellow haze. On Wednesday, New York City's air quality was considered the worst in the world.

A spokesman for Amazon, the nation's most valuable retailer by market capitalization, said it was cutting routes short where air quality is hazardous, and providing N-95 masks to delivery workers. Drivers were also encouraged to return to delivery stations if they felt ill.

Target Corp said its contactless order pick-up service called "Drive Up" may be turned off at locations with poor air quality. Customers can check their Target mobile application to confirm if the services were available at their local store, the company said.

Separately, Home Depot Inc on Thursday said it was shipping supplies of air filters, respirator masks, box fans and air scrubbers to meet increased demand in areas dealing with poor air quality. money.usnews.com

RELATED: Mask and air purifier sales rise as smoke blankets the Northeast


New Regs Coming for Outside Auditors
PCAOB aims to sharpen auditor focus on fraud

• The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board issued for public comment a proposal that would require auditors to sharpen their vigilance for fraud and other noncompliance.

• Under the new requirements, auditors during client work would need to more actively identify, evaluate and communicate possible breaches of laws and regulations, the PCAOB said Tuesday. The deadline for public comment is Aug. 7.

New SEC Commissioner calls on it to strengthen oversight of the accounting firms that audit publicly listed companies.

Under the PCAOB’s newest proposal, auditors in their initial risk assessment at a business would need to identify regulations that would have a direct or indirect impact on the company’s financial statement.

Under the new rules, auditors would need to more carefully evaluate whether noncompliance had occurred, and the possible impact on financial statements. PCAOB would also require auditors to determine whether they need to call on people with specialized knowledge or skill to assist in the identification of noncompliance. cfodive.com

Editor's Note: For those officers with direct or indirect responsibility to the Board's Audit Committee these new regulations, once enacted, could impact your organization. After years of outside auditors errors, lack of communication and or knowledge, and in a few cases negligence, the SEC is taking action to increase the outside auditors ability to identify fraud and other noncompliance issues. Which you need to be aware of.


No Laws Specifically Against Bullying?
Internal Investigations Can Curb Bullying
With more employees required to return to the workplace instead of working remotely, there have been more complaints and investigations about bullying and harassment in the last year or two, said Julie Pate, an attorney and president of Employment Compliance Solutions in Broomfield, Colo.

Fierce political divisions in the country also have contributed to more complaints and investigations about bullying and harassment at work. With a presidential election next year, bullying could get worse "because people are talking about [political subjects] more at work," Pate said. Our workforce over the last five years has "gotten to the place where people are very divisive with each other. There is a lot of that divisiveness happening in our society with different views."

In 2021, at least 13 percent of U.S. adults said they have experienced bullying at work in the last year, and another 17 percent said they had been bullied during their career, but not in the last year, according to a survey from the Workplace Bullying Institute in Clarkston, Wash. shrm.org


Companies make new push for a return to office — and many aren’t playing nice anymore

To fill offices, Google issues ultimatum while Salesforce tries charity

The executives of corporate America are stepping up efforts to get workers back into the office, using a combination of threats and incentives to get employees to give up the work-from-home lifestyle they adopted in the first years of the covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the pandemic being declared over by President Biden, the tug-of-war over the office is still at a fever pitch. Workers are reluctant to give up the flexibility they gained during the pandemic, arguing it has benefited their mental health and work-life balance. But many executives are adamant the office is still a necessary nexus for innovation and collaboration, and local governments are eager to see workers return to help revitalize struggling downtowns.

Big corporations like Disney, Starbucks and AT&T have mandated in recent months that workers return to offices. Despite these efforts, office occupancy remains stubbornly stuck below 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels in major metropolitan areas around the country, according to data tracked by Kastle Systems.

Now, as a huge wave of layoffs continues in Silicon Valley and general economic unease persists across the country, companies are making a renewed push — and many of them aren’t playing nice anymore. washingtonpost.com


The Retail Union Push Continues
Workers at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan’s Union Square vote to unionize, continuing trend
Workers at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan’s Union Square, one of the retail chain’s signature stores and home to its corporate offices, have voted to unionize.

They join employees at a handful of other Barnes & Noble stores in the Northeast who have affiliated with unions in recent weeks, following a wave of union activity over the past few years at independent booksellers.

The Union Square employees are now part of the the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which also represents workers at McNally Jackson, Greenlight Bookstore and other independents. In an announcement Wednesday, the RWDSU cited issues at the Union Square store ranging from workplace harassment to “unstable scheduling practices” and “favoritism by management.”

“Together, with their colleagues in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and just across the water in Brooklyn, Barnes & Noble workers in Union Square have sent a message all across the nation — the bookstore industry can and must treat workers with dignity and respect,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement.  wreg.com


New York City Has Lost Tens of Thousands of Retail Jobs, Report Finds
The retail industry in New York City has shed thousands of jobs since the pandemic, even as the rest of the job market has almost fully recovered, according to a new report released on Thursday from the Center for an Urban Future, a public policy think tank.

The study found that in the three years since February 2020, New York City lost 37,800 retail jobs, an 11.1 percent decline, while the overall private employment sector has regained all but 0.8 percent of jobs.

The city’s job losses in retail were also far worse than in the rest of the country; nationally, retail jobs were up an average 0.7 percent. Retail jobs are a critical part of the city’s job market, particularly for young people of color.

“New York is on the verge of a crisis, when it comes to jobs that are accessible to New Yorkers without a college degree,” Mr. Bowles said, and the decline is contributing to widening racial disparities. nytimes.com


Global 2000: Walmart Reclaims Top Spot From Amazon Among Retailers

Here are the 10 largest retailers, according to Forbes’ rankings:

1. Walmart
2. Amazon
3. Alibaba
4. CVS
5. Home Depot
6. Costco
7. Lowe’s
8. Target
9. JD.com
10. CK Hutchison Holdings (parent company of A.S. Watson)  forbes.com


LPF Announces LPC & LPQ Professionals for May
The Loss Prevention Foundation would like to recognize and congratulate the following individuals who successfully completed all of the requirements set forth by the board of directors to be LPQualified (LPQ) and/or LPCertified (LPC). View Full List Here


United Natural Foods reports higher shrink is Q3 results

UK to remove Chinese-made surveillance equipment from sensitive govt sites


Quarterly Results

Inditex (Zara) Q1 sales up 13%

United Natural Foods Q3 net sales up 3.7%

J.Jill Q1 comp's down 2.7%, total sales down 4.9%

Torrid Q1 comp's down 14%, net sales down 11.8%
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Sr. Director of Loss Prevention job posted for Vuori, Inc in Carlsbad, CA
The Sr. Director, Loss Prevention will lead the strategic development of loss prevention programs, tools and techniques for fraud and illegal act prevention, deterrence, detection, and investigation. Responsible for the implementation, training, and coordination of all Loss Prevention best practices. Build and lead a team of Loss Prevention professionals throughout the company. Assist the Store Managers, District Managers and Retail Loss Prevention Manager to facilitate the annual inventory process. indeed.com