Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/122387
Indeed, the cross-border nature of organized retail crime together with the fact that it involves groups can make it difficult to investigate and prosecute. Professional shoplifters steal popular merchandise and sell it to pawn shops, flea markets and street vendors. Worse, an online marketplace makes the fencing of these ill-gotten goods easier. These thieves typically steal high-demand items such as over-thecounter medicines, designer clothing and accessories, and even grocery products, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). They usually reap about 30 cents on the dollar for these stolen goods, and the most successful can earn as much as $200,000 a year, according to the FBI. Their techniques are varied. They may stuff merchandise into expandable bags equipped with linings that deactivate store alarms. Or they may engage in container-stuffing: removing a large, bulky item from its box and refilling the emptied carton with smaller goods, using a glue gun to reseal the container, and then proceeding to the checkout line. Photo: Rick tRe isteR/Re x Fea tuRes International, a retail consulting firm. "It gets worse when countries are in recession. As the United Kingdom has gone through its recession, the nature of what people steal has changed. In better times, people have a tendency to steal things they can sell in flea markets. In India and in recession countries, in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe, people are more inclined to steal things they can use at home or eat." Organized retail crime has become more pressing for some retailers than Les Misérables–style theft. It typically involves large-scale theft and/or fraud — from gift-card and receipt fraud to ticket switching — on the part of groups. It tends to be more prevalent in urban areas in developed retail markets, which offer a high concentration of potential targets and access to highways. Crime rings typically hit multiple stores with a short time period, moving quickly from one city or market to another. To an extent, organized retail crime is also transnational, some say. In Europe it is likely to grow with the expansion of the European Union and the freedom of movement that it brings, says Hume. A motorcycle gAng flees After robbing A jewelry store DUring bUsiness HoUrs At tHe brent cross sHopping centre, lonDon. 182 SCT / M a y 2 0 1 3 Organized retail crime (known as ORC in the industry) costs U.S. retailers tens of billions annually in merchandise, in addition to the prevention-related costs, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Retail theft also contributes to higher prices and lost sales tax revenue. In markets where it is rampant, it can drive small and medium-size merchants out of business, says Richard Mellor, the NRF's vice president of loss prevention. Furthermore, resale of products with expiration dates, such as baby formula or diabetic test strips, both of which are popular targets for crime rings, poses a health threat. "With the current state of the U.S. economy, some individuals are looking to pay less for the items targeted by these groups, which creates a larger demand and increases ORC thefts from retailers," said John Hawthorne, senior manager of loss prevention and safety at Publix Supermarkets. NRF surveys found that shrinkage overall has declined, but organized retail crime is growing. Some 96 percent of the retail companies in the 2012 survey on organized retail crime reported they had fallen victim during the previous year. Nearly 88 percent said this activity, which includes cargo theft, had increased over the previous three years. "Organized retail crime groups try to take as much merchandise as they can without being noticed," said Mellor. "Some participants might just move merchandise from one area of a store to another. Someone else might come into the store and pick it up, and someone else drives it away. It takes a lot of collaboration to prosecute all of the offenders." An NRF survey on retail security