There is no doubt that incidents of organized retail crime (ORC) can be emotional for retail associates. Whether it’s confronting a physical act of theft in stores or being duped online by a fraudster, retail crime can take its toll on team members.
For retailers and loss prevention specialists, it’s imperative to have empathy for retail associates and customer service representatives and to provide services where needed. There are also benefits to documenting an associate’s experience and using that data to empower the fight against ORC and build success within the retail organization.
Gauging the Emotional Weight of Retail Crime
At an annual security conference, hosted by the National Retail Federation (NRF), San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said the county looks closely not only at the financial impact of theft and ORC, but the emotional toll on employees that can swell to the greater community.
The county considers not just the financial losses from crime, but also the fear and safety of associates, recognizing that the emotional toll of ORC is significant and shouldn’t be overlooked. In fact, one study finds 40% of grocery associates are afraid to go to work because of an increase in hostile environments at stores.
In the latest Retail Security Survey by NRF and the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC), 88% of the retailer executives said shoplifters are becoming more aggressive and violent than a year ago. The respondents that track actual incidents in stores said shoplifting incidents involving violence increased by 35% on average, according to the survey.
Retailers want to protect profits, but a safe workplace is necessary to retain employees. How well retailers care for, train, and listen to retail associates plays a role in maintaining labor.
Using the Qualitative To Support the Quantitative
In the battle against retail theft, fraud, and abuse, retailers focus a lot on numbers. Store managers look at total dollars lost from theft. Loss prevention agents monitor inventory, receipts, and tracking numbers to investigate incidents. Specialists pore through transaction data and pull insights and charts on retail abuse.
Data is the anchor of how retailers work with law enforcement and build investigative cases around ORC. Yet, alongside the numbers, there’s power in the qualitative, storytelling aspect of each incident.
Case in point, technologies like generative AI are being used to help loss prevention teams by centralizing data and automating case linking, making it easier to detect and combat ORC. These tools also speed up case building by quickly identifying matching details in associate incident narratives.
Detailed associate experiences help investigators piece together cases to target broader ORC syndicates. For example, AI can help determine if similar weapons or methods of retail fraud were used during different crimes. Automation assists in identifying similarities faster than loss prevention specialists reading through investigations manually. The tools also empower associates to share more information, helping to prevent future incidents and catch fraudsters more effectively.
Aiding Associates Against Retail Abuse
Just as there are tools to improve investigations, technology can also support associates when faced with potential cases of returns fraud and abuse.
For example, AI can provide behavior-based recommendations that streamline returns by offering real-time guidance on whether to approve, flag, or deny a return. This support allows associates to feel confident in the AI’s findings, easing any potential confrontation with a customer.
By providing an unbiased analysis of the transaction, the AI examines a customer’s transaction history to detect any unusual returns behavior. Empowered by technology, AI gives associates a strong voice without having to individually bear the responsibility of making the final decision.
Investing in Tech, Retail Staff To Fight ORC
Associates play a vital role in mitigating future cases of fraud and retail crime. Their stories become data, and retailers get smarter in how they fight back against fraud.
AI and next-gen technologies help power investigations and give retail associates a voice to fight back against the crimes they’ve seen and the retail abuse they can prevent. ORC groups are getting more sophisticated in how they steal and abuse retailers. Retailers must leverage technology to achieve more success in how they train associates and support them in the ongoing battle against ORC.