The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual Retail Crime Survey shows that retail crime costs retailers over £700m a year. Customer theft is the larges cost at over half a billion pounds per year. This is a 15% rise from the previous year.
In-store crime is clearly an issue. But how can it be prevented?
Our detectives are personnel experienced in retail environments who work covertly with customers’ own staff to deliver a return on investment. 1st Corporate Security’s highly trained store detectives protect stock resulting in less stock theft.
Investigate – Store detectives will properly investigate any suspicious activity through CCTV or in person.
Observe – Our personnel have elevated levels of “situational awareness” and can see the bigger security picture within the retail environment giving them higher reaction times compared to non-trained staff.
Report – Reports are made up by store detectives and store detectives may take evidence from witnesses, give evidence to court and testify.
Prevention – High situational awareness often allows our store detectives to spot a crime before it happens. On top of this, the presence of a store detective can have a nock on effect. If one would-be thief is arrested, then others know that the store is no longer an easy target.
Training – All staff members should have some basic theft awareness. Our store detectives work directly with staff to ensure the correct policies are in place and that staff are on the ball when it comes to retail theft.
With recent spikes in store theft it is vital that your store is covered and thieves are deterred. It is essential to combat an evolving criminal with evolving technologies. Skilled detectives are the linchpin to an intelligence-driven strategy that will result in margin protection.
CCTV can often be tricked by an advanced shoplifter, but our detectives are highly trained in spotting adept criminal activity in store.
