The boogie man keeping retailers awake at night these days is organized retail crime (ORC). ORC is not just shoplifting – it’s a layered criminal operation where gangs of professional thieves steal large quantities of merchandise and pass it to a criminal reseller to sell it on the black market. ORC has been the subject of a Vice documentary, a rant from California governor Gavin Newsom, and a roundup of news articles which details millions in losses for retailers every month.
ORC can take the form of criminals brazenly walking out of targeted stores with bags, carts, or armloads of merchandise. It can happen at a larger scale with the seizing of cargo loads, which was once limited to high-value items like electronics but has expanded to include most forms of goods.
ORC is not a victimless crime. Employees may develop anxiety from being threatened or attacked. Economically, retailers often have to raise prices to cover these losses, and the Department of Homeland Security cites that the average American family will pay more than $500 annually in additional costs due to the impact of ORC. Worse, the US Chamber of Commerce estimates that shrink from ORC has caused a loss of more than 685,000 jobs.
ORC is a major policy initiative for the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Department of Homeland Security, which started Operation Boiling Point to combat the issue.
There has been some progress thwarting ORC: The INFORM Consumers Act of 2023 requires online platforms like Facebook Marketplace to collect more information about high-volume resellers that might indicate they are selling stolen merchandise or have a connection to ORC. States like Washington and California have dedicated resources specifically towards ORC.
ORC is not a problem that retail employees, stores, or even security teams can solve by themselves – especially given that cargo theft and criminal reselling often happen internationally (in the Vice documentary, shoplifted goods were resold in Colombia). Confronting these criminals, who may be armed, presents a danger for store associates, and many stores have a policy against doing so for liability purposes.
However, this is not to say stores just have to sit back and do nothing. Here are four communication strategies stores can implement to help reduce losses from ORC.
1. Discreet communication
If an associate observes or suspects retail theft, they likely do not want to call attention to themselves. Associate safety is paramount, and professional thieves could be armed or have devices like pepper spray that could endanger staff.
Safe, discreet alerts could come in two forms. First, with Zello, associates could send a text message to the appropriate outlet – to a security channel (many retailers set up a dedicated security channel as one of their unlimited Zello channels) or to a manager or security officer directly. Although we believe in the power of voice at Zello, a text would still make it appear that the associate was carrying on work as normal. The associate could also send the text with an alert notification that would play a sound to members of the channel, and if it was possible to discreetly take a picture, they could send that too (although that certainly carries more risk).
Secondly, headsets and/or earpieces would make communication more discreet overall – voice messages would play in-ear instead of out loud, so associates could have a conversation quietly. High-quality sound and the ability to replay messages would also ensure that associates don’t need to repeat themselves.
2. Emergency Alerts
In large stores, employees may be spread out. They might be fearful of working in a certain section of the store because they feel alone. In one department store in Seattle, employees went on strike after repeated thefts at the perfume counter, describing feelings of panic at loud noises and demanding more security guards in stores.
Employees can feel safer with Emergency Alerts, which help designated safety teams respond faster to employee distress. Employees can trigger an alert with one touch from any screen, the device will automatically record audio for 10 seconds, and the designated emergency team will be notified with an alert. Knowing there’s an emergency situation, the right people can then respond quickly to make sure the employee is safe and contact law enforcement for further assistance.
3. Documenting and reconstructing events
Particularly with ORC, there may not be much stores and associates can during a heist without risking danger or liability. However, recording and having access to a record of the incident and how the team responded can help management determine better prevention strategies.
With radios, messages unfortunately are gone once they are sent. But with Zello Message Vault, management will have a time-stamped record of the emergency response that they can analyze to make the process more efficient. For example, they can figure out the standard information the security team needs to know for the fastest response to an alert, and create a standard procedure for staff initiating alerts.
4. Facilitate communication with other stores
ORC perpetrators often target multiple locations of the same store. Because communication apps like Zello work over any distance, all the locations in an area can potentially communicate with each other by crosslinking the stores’ Zello networks. The store could create a channel with managers and security to monitor retail crime and inform other stores about events – perhaps even providing a profile of the thieves. That way, other stores would be able to stay on the lookout and call in extra security or police presence to deter or catch the perpetrators.
Channel members could also help to identify any patterns of when the criminals strike, or share best practices or strategies for dealing with ORC. For example, if the robbers seemed to be going after a particular kind of in-demand clothing, stores could relocate that display or keep security nearby.
ORC is a complex problem that will not be solved overnight – not even with the aid of a game-changing communication app. However, there are powerful strategies that stores can implement to speed up response times, deter thieves, and create a record of events that security and law enforcement can analyze. These strategies can help keep employees safe and make sure merchandise is flying off the shelves due to demand, not crime.
Learn more about how better communication with Zello improves retail operations, or start a free 14-day trial now.