Retail loss prevention and fraud teams have spent far too long stuck in a reactive cycle—constantly responding to the latest fraud scheme or theft tactic. Whether organized retail crime, digital fraud, or identity theft, the industry is locked in a relentless game of cat and mouse. This phenomenon is what I call the Retail Defense Paradigm: a seemingly never-ending and frustrating loop where internal protection teams are always one step behind the evolving threats of fraud, theft, and organized retail crime.
For many retail industry professionals, this is not easy to admit—but it’s the reality we all face.
How do we break this cycle?
The answer lies in evolving our strategies from omnichannel commerce to unified commerce with unified data within each retailer and loss orchestration, all powered by unified, cohesive, and well-informed LP teams. This unified and integrated approach shifts the industry from reactive tactics to proactive defenses that cover every digital, physical, and operational retail touchpoint.
Unified Commerce: Connecting Channels to Drive Growth and Protection
For years, omnichannel commerce aimed to create seamless shopping experiences across stores, websites, and apps by connecting various sales channels. The goal was to offer convenience and flexibility. Still, these systems often operated in data silos, limiting how effectively data could be shared and utilized by the retailer. The real game-changer—and the critical difference between traditional omnichannel and unified commerce—is using unified data.
Unified commerce doesn’t just link channels; it fully integrates all customer, sales, and operational data into a cohesive system. This gives retailers a complete 360-degree view of the customer journey—from online browsing to in-store purchases and returns. This global view allows retailers to better understand their customers’ behavior, personalize marketing, optimize physical inventory, and create more targeted promotions that directly drive sales and, in turn, increase customer loyalty.
Once unified data drives sales and operational efficiency, the next step is applying that data to the loss prevention operation. The insights that fuel sales growth can also identify hidden risks and fraudulent activity. In other words, retailers collect data on their best customers—and their worst. Retailers can quickly detect patterns like online purchases linked to in-store return scams and intervene before losses occur. Unified commerce doesn’t just support growth—it lays the foundation for proactive fraud detection and more effective loss prevention strategies. It assists in connecting the dots with investigative teams.
By moving beyond omnichannel to unified commerce powered by unified data, retailers can drive growth while simultaneously protecting their businesses from never-ending and evolving loss threats.
Unified Data: Unlocking Pattern Recognition and Proactive Protection
Unified commerce sets the stage, but unified data truly drives the retail transformation. A retailer’s proprietary data is one of the most powerful tools they have to drive business growth, but it only works when it’s fully connected, accessible, and intelligently analyzed.
Today, critical data is scattered across disconnected systems: point-of-sale transactions, CRM records, inventory management, supply chain logistics, security, and LP systems. This fragmentation creates prominent blind spots, making it difficult for LP teams to capitalize on sales-driving opportunities and the ability to detect emerging risks.
Unified data solves this by ingesting and integrating all internal and external data sources into a comprehensive system. This includes transactional data, loss prevention records, fraud detection alerts, inventory data, and external organized retail crime (ORC) intelligence. This holistic data provides retailers with a complete and real-time view of their operations, eventually making it possible to identify and connect threats across all channels.
Machine learning models can process massive amounts of data from these diverse data sources and uncover patterns of loss that would otherwise go unnoticed. For example, machine learning models can identify correlations between high return rates, irregular purchasing behaviors, possible internal dishonesty, and external ORC activity—connecting the dots across seemingly unrelated data points.
Advanced pattern recognition significantly accelerates the investigative process. Instead of manually sifting through isolated data, LP and fraud teams can be empowered with real-time insights and automated alerting that points directly to suspicious behavior. Machine learning can predict potential fraud schemes, flag coordinated theft activities, and suggest proactive measures before incidents escalate.
By ingesting transactional data, fraud intelligence, and external threat data into a unified system, retailers gain a powerful tool that detects threats earlier and helps uncover previously unseen connections to support investigations. This shift from reactive analysis to proactive, data-driven strategies enables teams to keep one step ahead of sophisticated criminal tactics and safeguard revenue and operations.
Unified Loss: A Holistic Strategy to Protect the Entire Ecosystem
The next evolution in retail protection is loss orchestration. This comprehensive approach integrates all forms of loss, from theft and fraud to operational inefficiencies, into a single, unified strategy that supports the Total Retail Loss methodology. Historically, loss prevention efforts have been fragmented. Physical theft, digital fraud, and supply chain risks were handled separately, creating critical gaps that bad actors could exploit.
Loss orchestration changes this by centralizing all loss-related data, enabling teams to analyze threats holistically and act with precision. It’s not just about addressing isolated incidents but tackling total retail loss as one interconnected problem.
Powered by unified data, loss orchestration allows retailers to:
- Automate pattern recognition workflows that trigger immediate and targeted actions.
- Integrate data from customer profiles, fraud detection tools, exception reporting, threat intelligence, and physical security systems into one centralized platform.
- Identify and mitigate loss patterns in real-time across all channels.
- Using machine learning and advanced analytics, retailers could use predictive modeling to anticipate future threats.
- Monitor cross-channel losses to close gaps between digital and physical operations.
- Reveal the hidden connections in complex ORC investigations.
This level of coordination moves teams beyond reactive loss and fraud prevention tactics to proactive strategies—empowering retailers to connect the dots faster and prevent losses before they happen.
Unified LP Teams: Breaking Down Silos
Even the most advanced tools and strategies will fail if internal retail teams aren’t aligned. Historically, internal LP teams have been divided into separate entities—LP, digital fraud, supply chain protection, and operational teams—often working independently with inconsistent collaboration. This fragmented approach weakens the retailer’s ability to combat cross-channel threats effectively.
By unifying LP teams and integrating traditional LP and digital fraud teams under one leadership structure, we can eliminate communication barriers and foster seamless collaboration. When these teams work together, insights and strategies are shared in real time, creating a more vigorous, responsive defense.
A critical step is having digital fraud teams report directly within the LP hierarchy. This alignment ensures that physical and digital threats are tackled with a cohesive strategy. Retailers integrating fraud detection with loss prevention and investigative teams can respond faster, close security gaps, and mount a more coordinated defense against evolving risks.
Unified LP teams are the final and most crucial piece of the loss orchestration strategy. Once teams operate under a single framework, they can fully leverage unified data and commerce platforms—no more silos—just a streamlined, agile operation capable of identifying and neutralizing threats in real-time.
Looking Ahead: Leading the Charge in Loss Orchestration
Unified commerce and unified data are powerful yet challenging investments for retailers. While implementing them can be costly and complex, the rewards are undeniable: seamless customer experiences, a unified view of the customer, real-time inventory insights, better decision-making, stronger brand loyalty, and innovative loss orchestration.
Retailers stand at a pivotal moment. Loss orchestration offers a proactive path forward, but it requires bold leadership and a shift in mindset. Reacting to the latest fraud schemes or theft tactics is no longer enough. To stay ahead, retailers must integrate commerce, data, and teams into a unified strategy built for the future.
This transformation won’t be easy. Success depends on collaboration between retailers and solution providers to create systems that detect and mitigate loss in real-time. Technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation is already here, but it’s up to industry leaders to harness their potential. The opportunity to redefine retail loss prevention is now, and those who leap will shape the industry’s future.
John Matas is globally recognized in asset protection, digital fraud, thought leadership, and as a trusted advisor. As the president and principal consultant at Blacklight, John not only excels at uncovering hidden vulnerabilities and creating innovative risk mitigation strategies but also fosters strong and collaborative business relationships. His ability to bridge the gap between technical solutions and C-suite strategies has made him a valued partner for organizations seeking to enhance their internal frameworks while driving business growth. With a focus on aligning protection initiatives with overarching business objectives, John empowers companies to build trust, strengthen partnerships, and achieve long-term success in an ever-evolving threat landscape.