The ORC Solution Is in the Details.

If you are in the retail business, then you do not need me to tell you shoplifting is on the rise. You are most likely feeling the financial pain it causes. As discussed in my previous column, shoplifting is now outpacing internal theft as the primary driver of shrink. Retailers reported $112 billion in losses in 2023, and 37% of that was due to shoplifting.

Compounding the issue is the fact that the number of shoplifters who are engaged in organized retail crime (ORC) has risen sharply in the past three years. According to the National Retail Federation, ORC is the large-scale theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell the items for financial gain. For years, this type of shoplifter has focused their attention on big-box retailers, but we now see this type of activity in the convenience hardware space. Unlike the big-box retailers that have loss prevention teams that deal only with ORC, individual hardware store owners most of the time are not equipped to deal with this type of shoplifter.

This type of thief is not deterred by good or aggressive customer service. They have a goal in mind and will accomplish that goal regardless of your deterrent techniques. Some are so brazen that they will load up carts of merchandise and will walk out the front door. Their intention is to build up as much inventory as possible to sell on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and eBay.

If this type of shoplifter is not deterred by prevention techniques, then what are your options? When deterrence fails, your efforts should shift to documenting the incident in as much detail as possible, including filing police reports for every theft. This step is particularly important in ORC cases. What many business owners are unaware of is that law enforcement has access to a national database of police reports and can search keywords looking for matches. I was involved in two recent cases where local police departments were able to identify and arrest members of ORC rings because of details provided in the police reports. For example, in one case, the detective searched for DeWalt, white Honda and green coat. The search returned links to 10 police reports each with different degrees of information about the thief. The details provided were enough to clearly identify those involved, and led to an arrest of the perpetrator who was responsible for stealing $8,000 worth of merchandise from several hardware retailers.

With shoplifting on the rise, don't turn away from the time-tested, effective deterrent of customer service to thwart shoplifters. When those efforts fail, use the power of documenting the loss and involving law enforcement every single time.

Jim Close

Managing Partner

Risk Management Services Loss Prevention

Meet Jim

Jim Close is a loss prevention professional with 24 years of experience working with independent home improvement retailers. Prior to working in loss prevention, Jim was an investigator with a major metropolitan law enforcement agency. He also teaches loss prevention in NHPA's Retail Management Certification Program, and he helped develop NHPA's Loss Prevention online training program.

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