Emeritus Professor Adrian Beck spent his academic career in the criminology department at the University of Leicester in the UK, where he primarily focused on research on retail crime and shrinkage issues. He currently serves as an academic advisor and researcher for organizations like the ECR Community's Shrinkage and On-shelf Availability Group. Beck is a frequent speaker at loss prevention conferences worldwide and a contributor to LP Magazine's US and Europe publications. Beck can be reached at bna (at) le.ac.uk.
By Adrian Beck
There is no agreed-upon definition of what constitutes “shrinkage.” Most estimates are based only upon measures of merchandise losses where the cause is unknown. The total retail loss concept offers a new definition of loss.
By Adrian Beck
There is little consensus on what constitutes “loss” within the retail world nor how it should be measured. The terms “shrinkage” and “shortage” have been loosely applied to encapsulate some of the areas that generate loss, but they are not terms enjoying a clear and agreed-upon definition across the sector.
By Adrian Beck
Since the term radio frequency identification (RFID) came into common usage within the retail environment, around the end of the 1990s, it has in many respects been an idea driven more by hope and hype than practical realization. For retailers, it promised a world where supply chains would become fully
By Adrian Beck
Risk amplification is but one part of the jigsaw puzzle that must be put together to control losses in retail stores. Making would-be offenders feel that there is an elevated risk of being caught is an important piece of the jigsaw, and a 2016 report from the ECR Community’s Shrinkage
By Adrian Beck
A 2016 report from the ECR Community’s Shrinkage and On-shelf Availability Group titled Amplifying Risk in Retail Stores offers a comprehensive review of the evidence to date on what is known about the various ways in which retailers try to discourage thieves from stealing from their stores, focusing particularly on increasing
By Adrian Beck
For the majority of retailers, loss is an inevitable part of doing business. What form this loss takes and, critically, how much it costs the business varies enormously depending upon the type of retailer and the quality of their operations. In addition, the customer experience is often heavily dependent upon
By Adrian Beck
For those of who have been in the loss prevention business for a number of years, you are surely familiar with the retail shrinkage life cycle illustrated in Figure 1. No doubt some of the businesses you have worked in have been around it a number of times.
It is a
By Adrian Beck
A major new report published by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) puts forward a dramatically different way of thinking about the problem of retail loss and how it might be defined and measured in the future.
The Situation
There is little consensus on what constitutes “loss” within the retail world nor
By Adrian Beck
What does inventory shrinkage mean to you?
For most companies, the answer to this question would be obvious: a significant problem, and usually something that is getting worse, not better, despite unprecedented developments in technological solutions and growing loss prevention budgets.
Some retail companies across the globe are gleaming examples of how
Shoplifting & Organized Retail Crime
By Adrian Beck
A new report from the ECR Community’s Shrinkage and On-shelf Availability Group titled Amplifying Risk in Retail Stores offers a comprehensive review of the evidence to date on what is known about the various ways in which retailers try to discourage thieves from stealing from their stores, focusing particularly on
