Holiday Theft And Fraud Prevention: A Q&A With NRF's Joe LaRocca
By Erin Harris, associate editor
Holiday retail sales for 2011 are expected to increase 2.8% to $465.6 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). Indeed, for some retailers, the holiday season can represent anywhere between 25–40% of annual sales. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, retailers have strategized their LP efforts for everything from return fraud to crowd management. Recently, I caught up with Joe LaRocca, senior asset protection advisor at NRF, about thwarting theft and fraud this season. LaRocca has some great tips for retailers as they make last-ditch efforts to prepare for the onslaught of holiday shoppers.
With the holidays right around the corner, please provide some advice and actionable last-minute things retailers can do to strengthen their LP efforts.
LaRocca: Ensure staffing levels are appropriate and use every opportunity to make new associates and security contractors comfortable with their role and your expectations. Understand the internal store operations, merchandise marketing, and shopping center event calendars. Constant communication between internal and external partners will allow you to plan and pivot as needed. Contingency plans should be created for the "what if" situations to mitigate additional safety and security concerns.
What should retailers be on guard for this shopping season, and how should associates handle problems and safety issues? (e.g. flash mobs).
With the increased number of shoppers, stores can expect to see more shoplifters. Associates should understand the policy for prevention, apprehension, and work with outside parties, such as mall security, law enforcement, and the media.
Sudden crowds in the store or shopping center are always a possibility. Retailers and restaurants have seen many events, such as Occupy Wall Street protests, flash mobs, and multiple offender crimes/criminal flash mob incidents in the past year. The safety of customers and employees should guide any actions taken during an incident, and response protocols should be baked into the holiday game plan.
What are some of the retail LP technologies that will be instrumental in preventing theft this holiday season, and why?
It's low tech, but still the best defense — store associates always serve as the first line of defense in providing great customer service and preventing incidents. When new video technology is properly deployed, LP professionals can use conversion rates combined with cycle counts, traffic patterns, and motion triggers to proactively identify where incidents occur. High-quality digital video will aid in the identification of losses and offenders, while communication networks, such as the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership (LERPnet) will aid LP and Law Enforcement professionals when sharing information.
For forecasts on the 2011 holiday shopping season, visit www.nrf.com and download NRF's 2011 Holiday Survival Kit. This free kit has more great tips for combating theft and fraud this holiday season.