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External theft has always been a difficult problem for retailers to manage, let alone measure.  This further contributes to the problem, as we live in a technologically and analytically driven society that pays more attention to percentages than actual dollars.

Because of this frame of mind, along with the growing concerns of liability, shoplifting issues are often avoided or addressed with inadequate resources or responsiveness. Over the past couple of years, the industry appears to have been pulling back their field investigators and placing more resources and focus on technology and analytics to combat external theft. 

By Jerry Biggs
President, Asset Protection & Investigation Services
 
Thirty-six years ago, I began my career in retail loss prevention by taking a part-time “plain clothes” security position with a local K-Mart while working in law enforcement, and four years later, found myself as a full-time retail security manager in Houston, Texas. As my retail career developed, I was chosen as a member of the first retail theft task force created to identify and apprehend professional retail thieves. Since that time, I have dedicated over two decades heading or taking part in countless organized retail crime (“ORC”) investigations across the country while working for some of the industry’s largest retailers such as Walmart, Lowes Home Improvement and Walgreens.

ORC Leader Jerry Biggs
"Sometimes the best but most controversial approach is the obvious one" 

Though this tactic may be successful in deterring the opportunistic thief or employee from stealing, I am confident it will have little to no impact on the prolific or professional retail thief.  Additionally, thieves are aware that most retailers have reduced their salesfloor coverage and taken a much softer approach and, if they are caught, the penalty typically results in little to no jail time.

Over the years, I have collected and studied shoplifting data and interviewed a variety of retail thieves, and categorized external thieves (shoplifters) into three basic groups: (1) the opportunist shoplifter, (2) the prolific thief, and (3) the professional thief.  I believe external theft – particularly from prolific and professional thieves – is the greatest threat facing brick and mortar retailers today.

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, essentially states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.  Grouping the prolific and professional thieves mentioned above into one category, I have found that 80% of reported losses were caused by 20% of the thieves.  These 20% are seldom, if ever, discouraged by customer service, closed circuit television (“CCTV”), alpha keepers, spider wraps, alarms, or branding labels. I acknowledge that these tools serve as an important part in combating the overall issue of external theft.

We should recognize that most thefts carried out by prolific or professional thieves go undetected and are executed within minutes with financial gains that far outweigh the risk. Thieves can move their stolen goods through online marketplaces with little to no detection and illicit wholesalers continue to purchase and often recruit individuals to steal. 

In closing, it is my opinion that shoplifting has grown to such a level that it no longer just affects retailers, but service as a major financial resource for illegal drug users, and other even more serious criminal enterprises. We need to work collectively to establish a more credible assessment as to the degree of our losses and remain fully engaged and supportive at the field level with law enforcement and our retail partners.

“Sometimes the best but most controversial approach is the obvious one”. 

​Back when I first started in the business, the term “security” was still used to define your role and though shoplifting was common, the phrase Organized Retail Crime didn’t exist.

In the past twenty years, there have been countless articles written, books published, TV documentaries created, and annual surveys conducted on the topic of ORC. To date, approximately three dozen states have passed some type of ORC legislation, and ORC investigative coalitions exist in many major cities around the country.  Despite these efforts, recent surveys indicate ORC is worsening, and in my experience combatting ORC, I would have to agree.

Retailers are being targeted today more than ever – not just by shoplifters but also by cybercrime, fraud, robbery, and burglaries, which can equally harm a corporation’s brand and bottom line. Even though each of these crime categories represent their own level of impact to the retail community it is my opinion they are nowhere near that of shoplifting.  
 
For many years, the retail industry failed to acknowledge or seek the true impact external theft has had on the industry. It wasn’t until the early 90’s that retailers began to realize how popular and widespread shoplifting had become among common criminal types and organized crime groups.