Retail security guide: reducing shrinkage and preventing crime

One of the most significant operational challenges faced by the retail sector in the UK is found in security. Shoplifting, organised crime, anti-social behaviour, and violence against staff are pressures felt by retailers of every size, whether they are independent convenience stores or national supermarket chains.

While retailers’ concerns often centre on preventing shrinkage, store owners must now consider the impact of crime on their reputation, operational continuity, and employee and public safety. The role of the police and collaboration with private sector security companies is also fast becoming a talking point within the retail sector.

Within this landscape, a requirement for enhanced security strategies that go beyond the capabilities of traditional methods has emerged. This guide will explore the current retail security landscape, and outline strategies that can be employed by retailers today to combat the real risks that affect them daily.

One of the driving factors in escalating retail crime is the sophistication in which volume crimes are being carried out. Organised crime groups have become increasingly involved in the theft of high-value goods, exposing vulnerabilities brought about by weaker security procedures to engage in crime on a grander scale.

Volume crimes, like shoplifting, are also driven by opportunistic acts committed by those who may be driven to crime by economic pressures or a perception that they will not be punished.

In recent times, a hidden side to retail crime has been put under the spotlight. This includes threats like anti-social behaviour and violence against store staff. Frontline employees frequently endure the most aggressive behaviour in stores, with the security personnel who may challenge offenders most at risk.

As the nature of the retail experience has changed, and out-of-town shops or retail parks have gained prominence, anti-social behaviour has disproportionately affected these locations. With risks escalating, acts can affect the experience of everyday customers while also threatening staff confidence or wellbeing.

Threats are not just limited to the shop floor either. Loading areas, warehouses, or service yards can all be subject to intrusion attempts with criminals carrying the intent to commit theft, vandalism, or anti-social behaviour.

Shoplifting

Often referred to as a volume crime due to the isolated nature of offences carried out at vast scales, repeated low-value thefts can cause significant losses through shrinkage incurred by retailers.

Items targeted by shoplifters include designer clothing, health and beauty products, electrical goods, alcohol, and high-value food items like fresh meat. Cheese has been found to be the most-stolen food item globally.

Operating without fear of reprisal, so-called professional shoplifters work to identify blind spots or vulnerable security routines to commit offences. These individuals are often repeat offenders, targeting the same premises once an initial success is achieved.

Organised crime

Organised crime removes the opportunistic nature of shoplifting, instead focusing on a coordinated tactical effort to commit theft. Offenders will work together to identify and remove high-value goods in an efficient manner, with audiences for resale already identified to allow for an easier distribution of the stolen goods. Frequently targeting clusters of retailers across locations in a burst, intelligence sharing becomes ever vital to a retailer to identify threats of this nature ahead of time.

Violence

An escalating concern, violence and abuse towards retail staff can range from a verbal confrontation to a physical assault. Such encounters typically occur when an individual is challenged during an attempted theft.

In any such case, the immediate concern is for the safety of those involved; however, the effects of these incidents can also have wider organisational ramifications. Employee confidence may be damaged, with staff turnover increasing as a result. Recruitment challenges for known risk-laden stores or employers may follow.

Anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour, particularly when persistent at one retail store or location, can cause significant disruption to activities. The primary concern here is that customers are discouraged from visiting the store, which has the effect of negatively influencing sales. Anti-social behaviour can manifest in several ways, including vandalism, disorder, intimidation through groups, or drug or alcohol related offences.

External threats

Often an afterthought within the retail security strategy, service yards, storage units, or surrounding land can be vulnerable to trespassing, fly tipping, and criminal damage. These crimes result in an expensive clean-up procedure, essential repairs, or potentially operational downtime due to disruption. Security should not stop at the shop floor.

There is no one-size-fits-all strategy to protect retail, with every store environment presenting unique risks and circumstances. Instead, store owners, managers, dedicated loss prevention personnel, and front-line staff should all be aware of key risk factors. For instance, the location, store size, and existing security measures should all be considered.

A retailer can conduct a security risk assessment to take account of these risk factors, with such action often the first step to identifying vulnerabilities. This risk assessment takes account of both internal and external risk factors.

As an example, a retailer or security provider may wish to build an understanding of postcode crime trends within this assessment to create an understanding of the volume and nature of crimes that affect a particular area.

Although retailers may feel compelled to rely on a single security solution, it is unlikely that such an approach will protect a store facing escalating incidents.

Instead, it is recommended that retailers consider a best practice approach by following a layered strategy that adopts a deter, detect, and monitoring process.

Traditional retail security solutions

While traditional retail security techniques are increasingly phased out, many remain highly effective when implemented efficiently and alongside other more advanced solutions.

First, consider the store layout. Allowing for clear lines of sight within the premises can assist staff to observe customer activity and remove hiding places that potential offenders may hide behind. Mirrors on shelving or aisle ends can also improve visibility and increase opportunities for detection. In addition, locking high value items in clear, visible locations can ensure safety.

One low-tech method of deterring crime is to engage with customers by greeting them at the door, while regular interactions by staff throughout the shop can discourage potential offenders and make them aware that they are being observed.

Physical retail security solutions

Physical measures remain a key component of retail security and are the most familiar to customers. Retailers may implement controlled access gates to areas of the store requiring protection like stockrooms. Display locks, tethering, tagging or RFID labelling of high-value, risk laden items can be introduced as both a deterrent measure and a protective barrier that can render an item useless or highly inconvenient to profit from once stolen.

Electronic article surveillance (EAS) doorways have been deployed to identify stolen goods by triggering alarms when tagged items are taken out of a store without payment taking place. Another popular physical solution is the anti-theft display fixture, which slows any attempt to sweep items from shelves in a ‘grab and go’ shoplifting attempt.

The most visible physical security measure utilised in the retail space is the security guard. Security guards carry both pros and cons. Historically, guards have been the most immediate physical deterrent, discouraging criminal activity while managing emerging crises with independent judgements. The best guards are further capable of providing customer service in real time.

However, security guards are liable to human error. Lapses in judgement and tiredness can be costly, with it being widespread practice for third party agencies to provide workers on a shift-by-shift basis.

Moreover, legal liabilities and varying retailer attitudes to the powers afforded to security guards have all influenced the industry in recent times, becoming topical news in some cases as groups lobby for guards to be given more power in the wake of increased crime.

Modern retail security technologies

Technology is beginning to lead the fight against retail crime, with solutions offering enhanced detection, prevention, and response capabilities.

One of the foundational retail security technologies is the CCTV system. Fixed CCTV can offer high-definition image quality, remote monitoring, and valuable evidential footage of crimes as they happen.

Modern systems are increasingly focused less on evidential capture, favouring an approach to proactive crime prevention. Where CCTV systems record incidents as they occur, other solutions like perimeter intrusion detection have become favoured as they can identify and halt incidents before they take place.

Highly versatile, these perimeter intrusion detection devices can be positioned across the shop floor, entrances, car parks, delivery zones, loading bays, or open area out-of-town shopping centres. This early detection method allows interventions to take place when suspicious activity is first identified. This can occur as early as the moment that a suspected offender enters the vicinity of a protected location.

Visible, rapidly deployed, perimeter intrusion detection systems like the Safer POD® S1/X1 have been utilised by retailers, constabularies, and business improvement district (BID) groups to successfully deter and discourage offenders from targeting known crime hotspots.

Safer POD® solutions provide an effective visual deterrent, proactively signalling that an area is subject to active monitoring and protection. By making a space visibly protected, retailers immediately alert potential offenders to the fact that they are being watched, which encourages them to reconsider their actions before they occur.

A recent campaign saw Safer POD® solutions contribute a collective 93% reduction in violence and public order incidents, a 75% reduction in theft, and over £322,500 in estimated police savings across 6 notable deployments with constabularies, retailers, and BID groups.

Retail crime often strikes in clusters, with offenders drawn to repeatedly target certain locations or neighbouring retailers due to a sense of familiarity and convenience. Specific stores may be repeatedly targeted due to established escape routes, an understanding of the store layout, or a perception that the store has weakened security.

To combat this, modern solutions like perimeter intrusion detection systems can assist a retailer to engage in easier information sharing and establishing community partnerships, which can help high-risk stores to identify problem offenders and coordinate to tackle emerging trends.

These partnerships can extend to the involvement of local police, with collaborations between constabularies, retailers and security providers becoming increasingly common as the public sector begins to pursue opportunities within the private sector.

This has been accelerated by the resource strain faced by UK police forces, and the demand amongst retailers to address the growth in volume crimes within the retail sector. Moving away from a siloed approach, collaboration is increasingly providing police forces with the intelligence they need to support retailers.

No one single solution can tackle retail crime. Instead, retailers are encouraged to adopt a layered approach that improves the proactive deterrence of criminal activity, makes it difficult for criminals to evade capture should the worst occur, and enables a rapid response when unavoidable incidents do occur.

Retail threats have evolved significantly in recent times. They will continue to evolve as criminals become more organised, finding new ways to evade the latest detection methods. For retailers, a focus on visible deterrents and greater collaboration with neighbouring businesses and the police can keep them one step ahead, reducing shrinkage, improving staff safety, and minimising disruption.

A resilient security solution can do more than just defend the assets on a retail shop floor. It can build confidence amongst employees, customers, and the public alike, creating a safer environment in which retailers can prioritise the difference makers, ensure uninterrupted operations and provide the best possible customer experience.