3 ways that your security partner can assist with retail shrinkage

According to The Centre for Retail Research (CRR), UK retailers saw an average shrinkage of 1.42% in 2019, amounting to a staggering £5.5 billion in losses.

At a time when keeping a close eye on costs is more important than ever, the size of these losses makes it clear that finding innovative and effective security solutions should be a priority for any retailer.

As an industry leader in technology-led mobile security services and with hundreds of retail clients, we’ve tapped into our experience to explore how to tackle retail shrinkage.

Shoplifting, robbery and burglary

External theft is the largest slice of the shrinkage pie. Both organised crime groups and small-time thieves have a serious impact on shrinkage, amounting to 34.6% of total losses.

The key to addressing these threats is understanding the patterns behind the crimes. With improved visibility of when and where crimes or security threats are happening, it’s easier to identify problem areas and assign budget intelligently to be proactive with risk management. The challenge lies in consolidating this information so that problem sites can be compared quickly in real-time.

For example, a patrol officer may find that doors are repeatedly left open during the lock-up process, leading to an increased risk of theft. However, to understand whether this site requires the most attention and budget, it must be compared to patrol data from every other site in the estate.

Only by having security data in one place can businesses identify problem areas easily and make data-driven decisions.

Real-time data analytics within our Smart Security Platform

Employee-related shrinkage and internal theft

Employee-related shrinkage contributes to 22.1% of total retail shrinkage, with poor stockroom management playing a major part. Our solution? Smart door locks and mobile app-based keys.

Smart locks are easy to fit and provide multiple benefits. Firstly, as smart locks are internet-connected, managing who can and cannot gain access is all done online. Mobile app-based keys also remove the risk caused by lost keys and get rid of key and lock replacement costs entirely.

Secondly, smart locks can provide unique data points including who accessed a room, when they entered and when they left. This improved visibility both deters internal theft and assists with investigations relating to employee-related shrinkage.

Learn more about the benefits of smart locks here.

*Smart lock audit trail displaying who has entered and exited the property*

Out-of-hours risk

What keeps security professionals up at night? Fear of the unknown. Our retail clients say that one of their biggest challenges is the lack of visibility for managing out-of-hours risk. This is partly due to the lack of data provided by traditional man-on-door solutions.

Many retailers rely on expensive manned guards to protect stores out-of-hours (if they have an out-of-hours solution at all). Our alternative is to couple technology and data with regular mobile patrols, cutting costs and enabling proactive risk management.

The great thing about mobile patrols is that they can be both a security and FM solution. With officers completing checks throughout the property, they can highlight FM and building maintenance issues as well as check for security threats. Data on these issues can be collected and used to develop a risk profile for the estate on a site-by-site basis.

Coupled with detailed reporting and photographic proof-of-presence, patrol data helps security teams identify where repeated out-of-hours issues are occurring and act to address them, reducing risk and providing real-time visibility 24/7.

Transforming your retail security provision

As the UK’s leading tech-enabled mobile security service provider, we specialise in helping our clients transition to a more data-led and proactive approach to security. We work with hundreds of retailers from high-street brands like Next Plc and Kurt Geiger, to luxury boutiques such as Chanel and Michael Kors.

Our Smart Security Platform puts your real-time data in one place to get a complete picture of your mobile security services. Coupled with our network of over 200 service partners, our platform and tech-enabled approach to mobile security means we can deliver nationwide services through a single point of contact.

Additionally, our latest innovation, Smart Access, can save businesses 93% on access costs by removing the need for external keyholders. Highly secure cloud-enabled smart door locks allow you to track who has entered a room and when, improving accountability, enabling completely remote access management and deterring internal theft.

This year we became members of the National Business Crime Solution (NBCS) to get an even clearer picture of retail crime. This is supporting our existing data.police.uk API integration which provides localised crime data to clients from within the Smart Security Platform.

Learn more about how we can help you combine excellent services with technology and data by getting in touch or getting a quote.

We can help

Please get in touch to discuss how we can use our market-leading technology to keep your estate safe and secure.