Loss Prevention for Retailers

Retail shrinkage will reach $115 billion dollars in 2009. Of that number, over $40 billion is point-of-sale shrink.  The current economic situation is driving shrink to become even more prevalent and point-of-sale (or cashier) shrink continues to grow at an accelerated rate.

 

Cashier Fraud

Retail Loss Prevention (LP) teams have implemented sophisticated camera systems at the point-of-sale and utilize exception-based reporting software to identify potential theft.  These tools, however, are not fully integrated and do not capture all of the point-of sale data, rendering the identification process slow and ineffective. In addition, traditional exception reports are so coarse that they only recognize patterns after the activity has caused a loss so significant that it has become noticeable.  Exception-based reporting is NOT shrink control or loss prevention, but after-the-fact detection.  The ultimate goal should be to identify loss events early in the behavior cycle and correct them before the large loss occurs. Changing the process not only reduces shrink by stopping it early on, it also reduces turnover by providing the retailer more options with regards to dealing with the associate.

Cashier fraud is a continual problem.  Agilence enables retailers to reduce fraud by identifying and investigating fraud faster than any tool on the market.  The patented technology enables retailers to not just look for exceptions, but to quickly analyze thousands of transactions and see the corresponding video right on their desktop.

Examples of activities typically associated with cashier fraud include:

  • Price Checks
  • Voids
  • Refunds
  • Open Rings
  • Passing

 

Operational InefficienciesIdentifying retail losses at the point-of-sale with Agilence

In today's environment, retail loss prevention experts are responsible for more that just fraud detection.  Cashier shrink is not just about fraud.  In fact, most shrink at the point-of-sale is not caused by fraud or theft, but by inefficient operations.  Agilence enables retailers to identify inefficient processes and optimize them to further reduce their impact on profitability.

Examples of process issues include:

  • Marketing & Advertising Effectiveness
  • POS Processing Errors (key rings)
  • POS Investigation Analysis

 

Retail Policy Violations

Federal, state, and local regulations, combined with internal corporate policies are a constant source of concern for retailers.  Agilence isolates these incidents to ensure that retailers remain in compliance. 

Examples of policy concerns include:

  • WIC (Women, Infants, Children)
  • Prescription (Rx) Processing
  • Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms Sales
  • Check and Credit Card Authorizations