Walgreens announced that it is broadening its effort to address theft and organized retail crime across more than 2,200 stores nationwide in partnership with ALTO US, a provider of innovative loss prevention and tech-enabled security services.
Since 2019, Walgreens has used ALTO US’ Alliance solution across approximately 500 stores.
ALTO Alliance puts its customer success specialists in Walgreens stores to foster collaboration between team members, law enforcement, prosecutors, and community members. This effort is not only aimed at preventing crime but also helping to identify and assist in the prosecution of crime suspects.
“Retail crime is one of the top challenges facing retailers today,” said Todd Lyle, vice president of asset protection solutions at Walgreens. “ALTO shares our commitment to provide a safe environment for our patients, customers, and team members. Our expanded partnership with ALTO complements our asset protection and operations teams while directly supporting 2,250 stores and communities we are honored to serve. In our stores where we already partner with ALTO, theft has been reduced by nearly 30 percent.”
“Our partnership with the Walgreens team has dramatically impacted loss prevention and reduced theft but more importantly, our solutions have empowered their team members to collaborate with their communities to report theft and reduce crime,” said Cristián López, CEO of ALTO USA. “At ALTO, we put people first. And it takes our team members, retailers, law enforcement, attorneys, and community members all working together and supporting the mission to make what we do a success.”
The issue has evolved beyond shoplifting and petty theft to the sale of stolen and counterfeit goods online as unregulated, online marketplaces and third-party sellers have given criminals additional means to sell stolen and legitimate goods.
Walgreens is also advocating for the passing of the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces (INFORM) for Consumers Act, which would require online marketplaces to collect and verify third-party sellers’ government ID, tax ID, bank account information, and contact information, and require high-volume sellers to disclose that contact information to consumers.
