When people think of retail crime, many of us are guilty of thinking that big businesses can handle the losses they take from theft. The truth is, retail crime costs an estimated £660 million which is a huge sum. Businesses can sometimes struggle to offset the cost of crime and often prices have to go up in order to help negate the losses, which results in us – the customers – having to pay more to compensate. Beyond the financial cost of retail crime, you may be surprised to know there’s another risk: for every 1000 staff in a business there are an estimated 51 incidents of violence and abuse against staff. While that may be scary in itself, there’s also the startlingly fact that abuse of staff has increased by 40%.
What is Being Done to Combat Retail Crime?
With retail crime having such a large financial impact on businesses which is resulting in clients being charged more for the same products and services, you would think that businesses would be investing a lot of time and effort into minimising this cash drain. You may be surprised to know that only £6.7 million is spent on crime and loss prevention – this is a tiny sum compared to the mammoth amount that retail crime costs the sales industry.
The majority of retailers – 56% – believe that police performance is not adequate in terms of safety and security.
What Can Be Done to Improve Retail Security?
Retail security is more than just about the added cost of retail crime, it’s also the health and psychological impact of retail abuse and violence. But just as technology has filtrated into almost every area of our lives, it has made its way into the retail security industry offering unique, modern opportunities to help minimise financial losses and safety concerns. Firms like Secom are forewarning businesses that surveillance security is one of the most important methods of deterring criminal activity. The presence of cameras and smart monitoring systems can help deter people from committing retail crime and can also help find offenders after the fact. Long gone are the days of relying on fuzzy cameras that show people in giant pixels so large it’s unlikely you can pick the offender. While setting up retail security solutions can be a large investment, it will pay off in the long run by reducing retail crimes against your business while providing your staff with priceless peace of mind.
If you want to learn more about retail security and why you may need it, check out the infographic below:
