|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Retail Loss - an opportunity for LP leaders to widen their role
 Today's LP manager has a much bigger job to do than studying CCTV footage for
shoplifters. Forward-thinking companies are beginning to see how LP executives
may have a broader role in retail operations through the concept of 'Total
Retail Loss'.
Technology is transforming retailing and the roles within it. The
responsibilities of the LP manager are rapidly changing as businesses find that
traditional strategies and solutions are no longer fit-for-purpose.
Back in the old days, the LP manager acted like an arm of law enforcement and
some could argue that the measures of success were how many light-fingered
criminals were put under lock and key by the end of each working day.
But new thinking on what constitutes loss will dictate how the LP role evolves.
There is now a proposal for a 'Total Retail Loss' framework that recognizes a
much wider range of contributory factors to loss. One of these factors is the
rise of digital technology, which, while it offers marvelous new opportunities
also presents LP challenges, ranging from online fraud to the logistical
pressures of flash sales conceived in short time frames and promoted at scale.
Professor Adrian Beck, academic advisor to the
ECR Europe Shrink and on-Shelf
Availability Group, and fellow experts came up with a definition of 'Total
Retail Loss' that at its simplest embraces all the losses within a retail
organization that are not regarded as 'the cost of doing business' (such as the
cost of stock or heat and lighting).
The definition for Total Retail Loss is a 'work in progress' and will be
finessed with retailer input but for now is broken down into the following
areas:
●
|
Corporate Policy
Losses - attributable to overall goals important to the
business, such as a 'flash sale' to shift out-of-season stock or a
price matching guarantee against rivals. |
●
|
Corporate Liabilities
- costs associated with issues such as criminal damage, burglary,
currency exchange losses, fire and more. |
●
|
Supply Chain Losses
- losses taking place within the retail supply chain, including the
distribution centre and while in transit, made up of malicious and
non-malicious losses. |
●
|
Known Operational
Losses - occurring in retail stores as part of everyday
activities made up of both malicious and non-malicious losses. |
●
|
Unknown Operational
Losses - losses where the cause is unknown and occurring during
day-to-day retail activities. |
Read more here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
