Another Successful 'Fight Retail Crime Day'
Retail Industry Unites for Third Annual 'Fight Retail Crime Day'
The National Retail Federation marked yesterday as "Fight Retail Crime Day," its third annual day of action bringing retailers across the country together to advocate for passage of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act and to highlight industry initiatives to combat organized retail crime.

"Organized retail crime - and the violence associated with it- continues to plague retailers, consumers and communities throughout the United States," NRF Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French said. "These crimes occur with regularity, regardless of retailer, location or merchandise. NRF is mobilizing the retail industry for Fight Retail Crime Day as we pursue every avenue to pass the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act."

In advance of Fight Retail Crime Day, NRF has organized nearly a dozen store tours with retailers in California, Arizona, Louisiana, Virginia, Illinois and West Virginia providing policymakers with firsthand insight on the impact of ORC, theft and violence in local communities.

Additionally, NRF spearheaded a letter from 211 organizations to congressional leaders in support of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. The bipartisan federal legislation would establish a national coordination center combining expertise and resources from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and retail industry representatives to fight retail crime.

NRF has recognized more than 150 members of Congress as "Retail Crime Fighters" for their sponsorship of the legislation.

As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF has long advocated for policy solutions to stifle the threat of retail crime in stores large and small across the country. nrf.com

   RELATED: The National Retail Federation continues its push against retail crime


Retail Crime in CA Hit Highest Level in Two Decades - Will Prop 36 Help?
Prop 36 supporters say it will combat CA's retail theft. Here's what to know.
California voters will soon decide on a high-profile ballot measure that would increase penalties for certain drug and theft crimes. Last week, CBS News California took a closer look at the drug component of Proposition 36 - also known as The Homeless, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act.

Here, we examine whether retail theft is really on the rise in California and whether the tough-on-crime Proposition 36 would actually help. Are California retail crime rates up? Yes and no.

We analyzed data from the California Department of Justice (DOJ), which shows that statewide retail crime - which includes shoplifting, commercial robberies and burglaries, and organized retail theft - reached its highest levels in two decades in 2023, with about 213,000 reported incidents.

Shoplifting and commercial robbery in 2023 were both at their highest levels since 1997 - however, there were nearly seven times the number of shoplifting incidents than there were robberies. In 2023, the number of reported non-residential burglaries was slightly higher than in pre-pandemic years but lower than levels seen during the pandemic.

Statewide, reported shoplifting crimes increased by about 2% from the five years before another controversial ballot measure was passed by California voters to the five years after. Passed in 2014, Proposition 47 made hard drug possession and theft under $950 misdemeanors instead of felonies.

In 2015, immediately after Proposition 47 was passed, there was a 12% increase in statewide shoplifting, but those numbers ended up decreasing in the years after.

In 2023, reported shoplifting statewide rose 26% from 2019 levels. However, last year's numbers for both shoplifting and overall retail crime were far lower than those of the 1980s and 1990s, and the trends vary from county to county.

Compared to pre-pandemic (2015-2019) averages, about half of California counties saw an increase in shoplifting in 2023, while the other half saw a decrease, according to state crime data. There were significant jumps in many larger, more populated counties, but some large counties saw decreases. yahoo.com


How Tough-on-Crime States Are Fighting ORC
Lance Hamner: Stepping up to counter organized theft
Many coastal states have nearly decriminalized stealing. Retailers in those areas have been forced to basically lock down everything in the store just to stay open. Many have thrown up their hands and shut down for good.

Make no mistake, if Indiana were to take this reckless, "uber-tolerant" approach with criminals we would be seeing the same thing here that we see in those states. In other words, criminals being criminals, would be doing the same thing here if we were to tolerate it.

But we don't tolerate that stuff here. Our General Assembly understands that if thieves are not checked, if thieves are not arrested and incarcerated, if the criminals take over - our civilization recedes and we become less civilized.

Indiana chooses to protect property rights. Indiana protects our retailers. And this, in turn, protects Hoosier consumers. That way we consumers aren't forced to subsidize the parasites of our society who would rather steal than work.

Consequently, our citizens don't have to pay higher prices at the checkout stand to make up for our retailers' losses due to theft. And make no mistake, it is we the people, the honest, paying customers who pay for these thefts.

How has our legislature protected us? A new law on the books provides that if a thief participates in an act of organized retail theft he faces a Level 6 Felony, instead of a mere misdemeanor. That means a sentence of up to 2.5 years in prison.

Moreover, under certain circumstances, organized retail theft charges can be enhanced to a Level 5 Felony, which carries a penalty of up to 6 years in prison. dailyjournal.net


UK Shoplifting Up 25%
UK: Turning retail shrinkage from challenge to opportunity
The concept of 'retail shrinkage' - the loss of product from causes other than sales - is seemingly innocuous, but in reality, it describes an epidemic problem, caused by not only administrative errors, but also shoplifting and employee theft. These three factors are costing retailers in the United Kingdom losses of approximately £8 billion a year, more than in any other European country. And retail shrinkage shows no signs of slowing down: it has already increased 33 percent since 2018, and shoplifting was up by a startling 25 percent year-on-year in 2023.

Retail shrinkage is not a straightforward issue, and it negatively impacts both the top and bottom lines of the industry. There is good news though: there are ways in which retailers can tackle offenders and reduce losses.

Getting to grips with the complexity of retail shrinkage

There are also other contributory factors at play, both internal and external to retailers. Within the industry, there are some ineffective loss prevention strategies, as retailers with outdated or inadequate approaches struggle to keep pace with changes such as shoplifters' evolving tactics. And the adoption of new checkout technologies can have unintended consequences. For example, the rise of self-service checkout and 'shop & go' capabilities, which can introduce new vulnerabilities and offer guilt-free and more convenient ways of shoplifting.

Meanwhile, we're also seeing the effects of factors from outside the industry. One is the UK Government's Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, under which shoplifting below a value of £200 was re-categorized as anti-social behavior, meaning offenders are more likely to be fined without a court appearance - thus reducing the perceived risks. Another is the rise of organized crimes through social media, with social platforms introducing a new layer into organized retail crime (ORC), and shoplifters exchanging methods via blogs and posts to glamourize and promote theft.

The consequences for British retailers - How to tackle retail shrinkage: retail-merchandiser.com


More PDs Deploy Tech to Fight Retail Crime
Chatham Police installs more surveillance cameras to help fight retail crime
Two more surveillance cameras have been installed on Illinois 4 in Chatham. The cameras will provide live video and recordings from two locations on Illinois 4 as part of an initiative meant to combat organized retail theft. The new tech will join Chatham's fleet of 16 other cameras that are all sold by Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company.

"It's another deterrent and...it makes it a little bit easier on the investigators doing investigations - tracking vehicles that are running out of your community," said Chatham Chief of Police Vernon Foli.

There isn't a huge theft problem in Chatham, but it does happen, he told The State Journal-Register. "What we're seeing more and more prevalent are theft rings," Foli said, adding that groups often target certain businesses to steal certain merchandise that they can pawn or sell themselves.

Foli said the cameras are especially useful for identifying a license plate or surveillance footage for when a crime has been known to have happened at a certain location. sj-r.com


Poll shows California's Prop 36 crime initiative poised to pass by large margin

Crime up 10% over past year in England and Wales, ONS data shows
 

Shoppers Have Positive Response to In-Store Robots
Should In-Store Robots Be Hired or Fired?
A new survey of over 400 U.S. shoppers who have visited retailers with in-store robots in the past three months found the majority - particularly those who shop more frequently - cited a "positive affinity and strong preference for robots" in stores.

The survey commissioned by robot-maker Simbe found:

• Only 4% of shoppers have a negative opinion of retail robots, with the majority (77%) viewing them positively and 96% expressing a positive or neutral attitude overall.

• Most shoppers see retailers using in-store robots as innovative (84%) and expanding businesses (80%) that prioritize customer experience (76%).

• Shopper approval of in-store retail robots remains high with repeated exposure - 100% of those who enjoyed seeing a robot once continued to feel the same after three or more sightings.

• Regular shoppers have an even stronger preference for in-store robots, with their approval 29% higher than that of less frequent shoppers.

• Over half of consumers (61%) say they are more likely to shop at stores featuring in-store robots.

Simbe's autonomous item-scanning robot, Tally, enables retailers to gain visibility into near real-time store and shelf conditions to help overcome issues such as inconsistent pricing, confusing promotions, and low or out-of-stock (OOS) inventory. In a press release from 2020, Simbe shared that Tally offers 14 times the out-of-stock detection rate compared to manual audits and achieves at least a 20% decrease in out-of-stock items for stores using the system.

At the Stop & Shop, Food Lion, and Giant Food banners owned by Ahold Delhaize, Marty the robot, known for its googly eyes, started rolling out in 2019 at stores to spot and alert workers to potential floor hazards and spills. Later on, it also began detecting when items were misplaced or needed restocking.  retailwire.com


Minimum Wage Hike Actually Boosting Fast Food Jobs?
Fast-Food Minimum Wage Reportedly Adds More Jobs to the Industry
The fast-food minimum wage has had rippling effects throughout the industry. According to an article from Fast Company, California's new $20 per hour minimum wage for fast-food workers was expected to cause significant job losses or price increases, but data shows otherwise.

Since the wage increase took effect, the fast-food industry has added nearly 12,000 jobs, with only a modest price rise of about 3.7%. Studies indicate that while worker pay increased by 18%, there were no significant changes in hours or benefits. Despite some individual challenges faced by franchises, the overall employment data contradicts claims of widespread negative impacts. retailwire.com


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