Organized Retail Crime Moves Upstream:
Theft Rising Before Products Reach the Shelves

Organized retail crime (ORC) is taking a new turn — and it’s happening long before products hit store shelves.

By the D&D Daily staff

Law enforcement and loss prevention experts say “pre-retail theft” — crimes targeting the supply chain — is emerging as one of the fastest-growing forms of organized theft in 2025. Unlike smash-and-grabs or in-store booster operations, these incidents often occur in warehouses, transfer hubs, and delivery routes, making them harder to detect and prosecute.

Cargo theft, diversion scams, and insider collusion are now central tactics for organized groups aiming to steal higher volumes with less visibility. Stolen goods may never enter a store at all — instead being rerouted, hidden in legitimate shipments, or resold online before retailers even notice losses.

Recent investigations highlight the trend. A California task force reported recovering nearly 150,000 stolen items worth $8 million this year, including products taken directly from supply channels. Another case uncovered a $10 million theft ring that struck Home Depot stores but also coordinated theft from transportation routes and temporary storage facilities.

Experts say several factors are driving the shift upstream: weaker physical security at logistics sites, limited surveillance coverage, and complex jurisdictional boundaries that make multi-state investigations difficult. The payoff for criminals can be immense — a single hijacked truckload may be worth more than weeks of store-level thefts.

To counter this, retailers are expanding loss prevention beyond storefronts. Some are adding GPS tracking and license-plate recognition to delivery fleets, tightening third-party logistics contracts, and centralizing video monitoring across warehouses and stores. Law enforcement agencies are also adapting, with new state task forces designed to bridge the gap between cargo and retail theft.

On the policy side, the proposed Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would strengthen federal coordination and allow aggregation of thefts across jurisdictions — a key step for prosecuting pre-retail cases.

As ORC evolves, experts say retailers must redefine what “store security” means. The next big theft might not happen in the aisle — but somewhere on the highway between the warehouse and the front door.


Do Younger Generations Believe Retail Theft is Justifiable?
Generational divide in views of 'deviant' retail theft
Younger Australians are more likely to rationalise stealing, changing price tags and deliberately misusing self-serve checkouts, research shows.

More than one-in-four shoppers believe retail theft is justifiable in some forms, a June survey of 1047 Australian adults toward deviant consumer behaviours shows.

Examples included taking an item without paying for it (27 per cent), changing price tags on products (30 per cent), not scanning some items at self-checkout (32 per cent) and scanning items as cheaper products (36 per cent).

The vast majority (85 per cent to 89 per cent) acknowledged the actions were illegal, but there was a clear generational divide on their justifiability.

Nine out of 10 shoppers 55 years and older said taking an item without paying for it was not at all justifiable, compared to 46 per cent among those aged 18 to 34.

There were similar chasms of opinion for changing price tags and deliberately misusing the self-serve checkout. The study's lead author said the number of Australians who considered some form of retail theft to be justifiable was growing. au.news.yahoo.com


More Cities Prep for Troops
Trump federalizes the National Guard in Chicago, while troops arrive in Oregon
Portland and Chicago are preparing for the possibility that National Guard members will be deployed to their streets, as President Trump moves ahead with his plan to send troops to Democratic-run U.S. cities that he says require help to control crime and protect federal law enforcement officers.

On Saturday, the White House said Trump "authorized" the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard members, after vowing for weeks to send federal forces into Chicago. Also over the weekend, a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the administration's plan to deploy the Oregon National Guard to Portland, though troops have arrived in Oregon from California.

They will be sent to places where there are "violent demonstrations" in the state or where they are likely to occur based on "current threat assessments," the memo said. npr.org

   RELATED: Dem governors vow court fight over Trump guard moves


Fight Over Anti-Terror Funds
Trump reverses Homeland Security funding cuts targeting New York
President Trump said Friday he had reversed cuts his administration attempted to make to Homeland Security and counterterrorism funding for New York City and the state.

“I am pleased to advise that I reversed the cuts made to Homeland Security and Counterterrorism for New York City and State. It was my Honor to do so,” Trump posted, providing no other details.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) welcomed the announcement, saying it would mean $187 million would be freed up for New York police and firefighters.

“From the moment @Sec_Noem tried to defund our police and counterterrorism programs, we stood up and fought back,” Hochul posted on social platform X. “I’m glad that @POTUS heard our call to reverse these cuts.”  mypanhandle.com


Australia: Police Minister snubs retail taskforce
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley has refused to back a specialised NSW police task force and tough measures that have been proven to cut retail crime in the ACT.

AI facial recognition helps track down suspect in 2023 Home Depot theft

San Jose to roll out new red light cameras
 

'Positive, Yet Softer' Holiday Season for Retail?
2025 Holiday Retail Predictions: What’s Hot, What’s Not!

By Tony D'Onofrio - President, Sensormatic

It is only September and in many retail stores, the holiday shopping season has already arrived. The 2025 edition is anticipated to be a complex period, characterized by shifting consumer behaviors, economic uncertainty, and continued technology harmonization across physical and digital channels.

For the United States, all the major forecasts point to another positive, yet softer, retail holiday shopping season. Consumers are expected to be more value-driven, seeking deals and discounts while also prioritizing trust and a sense of normalcy from brands.

Factors such as inflation, tariffs, and generational divides in spending habits are expected to play a significant role in how consumers approach their holiday shopping. Retailers are advised to focus on delivering value, personalization, and seamless customer experiences to succeed in this evolving landscape.

This article begins with an assessment on the US sales trends entering the holiday season and the major technologies that will drive retail transformation in the next two years. It will then present the major industry predictions for the 2025 retail holiday season, the sectors expected to be hot, generational challenges, physical versus digital store growth, spending patterns by global region, when shoppers begin their holiday shopping, and the 2025 busiest shopping days.

   Click here to read Tony's full article


Grocery Store Shakeup?
How digital price tags could change the future of grocery shopping

“Digital price tags may enable Kroger and other grocery chains to transition to ‘dynamic pricing,’ in which the price of basic household goods could surge based on the time of day, the weather, or other transitory events,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren and then-Sen. Bob Casey in a letter to Kroger.

Electronic shelf labels, digital screens that display the price of an item, are replacing traditional paper price tags in grocery stores across America.

The technology can already be found at Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and Kroger, along with stores in Canada, Europe, Asia and other regions. Electronic shelf labels are expected to become more common: The global market for the products was estimated at $1.85 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $7.54 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research.

“It’s definitely an industry that is looking at significant double-digit year-over-year growth for the foreseeable future,” said Cullen Hendrix, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer, has said it plans to roll out electronic shelf labels to 2,300 stores by 2026. The company said the technology allows employees to update shelf prices using a mobile app, reducing a price change that typically takes an associate two days to a matter of minutes. cnbc.com


60M Americans Suffer from Mental Health Issues
New Report Finds Mental Health in US Hasn't Improved

In 2023, the suicide rate was 14 per 100,000 people. Both rates of suicidal ideation and deaths were the same in 2023 as in 2022.

The report, which highlights the latest national data and state-level rankings on mental health and well-being in the U.S., found in a survey that 23.4% of adults experienced mental health issues in the past year. This is equivalent to 60 million people. And 5.6% of the population suffers from serious mental health issues. ehstoday.com
 

Rite Aid closes down all remaining stores after bankruptcy

Fiserv: Sales fall at small business retailers, restaurants in September