Magazine Features

Fear of crime is complicated, but realistic options are available to retailers to make their customers feel safer shopping in-store. Using the Precision LP framework, we recommend that local teams talk with shoppers and conduct visual audits to better understand those store characteristics impacting the fear of crime.

It’s 1930. You’ve just been arrested for a crime, and two extremely intimidating detectives are walking you into a cold, dark, soundproof interrogation room. What comes next more closely resembles something you might find on a medieval museum tour rather than what we deem acceptable practices in 2020.

The AP team’s community outreach effort began in 2010 when a manager suggested helping a local family in need instead of staff exchanging gifts. It now includes fundraising efforts during the year—the Christmas in July car wash is the big one—so they can make a substantial difference in a family’s life come the holidays.

John was a well-liked, long tenured, and highly respected member of the loss prevention community, having dedicated his career to the profession and people that he loved.

In the startup-infused culture of workplaces today, it is likely for managers to find themselves responsible for new teams that have never worked together. The members will likely have a variety of backgrounds. No matter, the goal is the same: to get everyone working together as effectively as possible, as soon as possible. Here’s how.

LPM recently sat down with the NASP leadership team and members of their advisory committee to understand the current climate in the US around shoplifting, the impact of criminal justice reform, and the resulting need for a paradigm shift in our collective response as an industry.

How much of our shrinkage number is due to theft? How do you answer this question? Educated guess? Based on indicative feedback? Through deep data analysis? The “go to” tool to understand the answer to these questions, and move shrinkage from unknown into known shrink, is often the incident reporting tool.

A well-managed supply chain—one that mitigates security risks—is essential to a successful retail operation. But control is put to the test as the supply chain expands, morphs, and becomes increasingly intricate. LP executives are getting involved.

We asked a cross-section of LP leaders how work has changed for them during the last year, what they’re spending time on now that didn’t consume the same bandwidth when 2019 was just getting underway. We got a variety of responses.

When getting the future right is a matter of real consequence, when it has the power to steer loss prevention down the right or wrong path, clickbait forecasting feels insufficient. A deeper perspective on the dynamics that are driving retail change, and on the foundation upon which changes will emerge, seems a better guide.