Organized Retail Crime (ORC)

Tom Meehan, CFI recently completed his first book-length publication titled "Evolution of Retail Asset Protection: Protecting Your Profit in a Digital Age."

Theft, fraud, and losses from other retail “shrink” totaled $50.6 billion in 2018, up from $46.8 billion the year before.

The crime of shoplifting is as old as shopping itself. The first documented cases of shoplifting took place in 16th-century London and involved groups of men called “lifters” (early organized retail crime?).

Almost 100 flea markets were randomly selected from a guide of 1,000 locations and visited by our teams to assess the availability, pricing, and condition of a high-loss men’s shaving product as example of flea markets and stolen products activity.

Contemporary loss prevention professionals still maintain responsibility for retail security. But they also must handle employee theft issues, data protection, safety and risk management, inventory audits, legal compliance, and matters related to organized retail crime and fraud.

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.

The NRSS indicates that shoplifting accounted for 35.7 percent of the reported shrink in 2017, which is down from 39.3 percent in 2016.

Organized retail crime methods are a part of the retail marketplace, and they operate under the same basic principles as retailers. There is an opportunity to make a profit by supplying a demand, so various ORC players take it upon themselves to become the suppliers.

A lot on his mind

Cashier scams $2K

Ground zero for ORC

Trio of shoe bandits

Showing receipts at the door?

Location tracking for retailers

Employee scams $66K

Jewelry heist on video

Consider loss differently

Garbage can receipt scheme

LPA chased and pepper sprayed

ORC bill put on hold