Loss Prevention Magazine - November - December 2019

Since its introduction in 2016, the Total Retail Loss concept has received critical acclaim across the globe, stimulated debate about what constitutes retail “loss,” and discussion about what the future role of the LP function might be. New research addressed how it has been implemented, its effectiveness, and what changes to the theory are required.

In September, we learned that Protos Security and Security Resources Inc. (SRI) had joined forces and are now one company. With that news came much excitement, as well as many questions from clients and guarding subcontractors alike.

The first thing we should consider when examining lying is the differing cognitive aspects of the liar and truth teller. The truthful person knows they didn’t do the crime, while the liar knows they did and must hide that information from others. There are multiple ways for interviewers to identify liars.

This is the holiday season. For retailers and asset protection professionals, it is an important, busy, and often difficult time. But Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s are not the only days some of us celebrate. There are others. Here are just a few you may not have remembered.

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.

A well-managed supply chain—one that mitigates threats—is fundamental to a productive business. In the present worldwide assembling conditions, where stock moves abroad or through different cities and countries before appearing at a store, the risks of incident or damage from cargo theft, atmosphere, work stoppage, and even work-area blunders requires innovative and intensive supply chain risk management solutions for supervising successfully.

Though retail loss prevention has changed a lot in recent years, it is important to remember the basics of physical security, and that starts with maintaining good physical security hygiene. If you work with your LP professionals to create a smart physical security strategy, you can stretch your LP budget even further than you might originally think.

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.

“When building business partnerships, it’s most important to demonstrate true interest in the retailer’s situations, needs, and goals. Solution providers must find meaningful ways to give back to the retail and loss prevention industry.”

Experienced loss prevention professionals are used to a certain process of developing solutions to mitigate loss—we look at the tools we already have and try to come up with new ways to use them. However, this is not the future of innovation anywhere, let alone for the rapidly evolving landscape of retail.