Recently published retail crime surveys from the Home Office, USDAW and ACS were not light reading. Retail crime is up across the board with abuse and violence towards workers at record highs. In 2020, the trigger was most often aggressive resistance to Covid protection measures, but even as such measures were relaxed, abuse remained high. “Faced with such appallingly high levels of violence and abuse, and with shopworkers’ almost complete lock of confidence in the ability of the system to […]
Retail workers are calling for greater protection in the workplace, with almost one in five (18%) specifically requesting that they want more security guards present on the premises. This is unsurprising given the extreme hostility directed towards retail workers over the past year, as revealed by two recently released retail crime surveys covering 2021: one from the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) and another from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). Combined with the Home Office’s Commercial […]
It was not just a loss of profits that hurt British retailers during the pandemic, almost half of them (46%) reported an increase in violence and assaults in their premises. These findings come from the Home Office’s recently released annual Commercial Victimisation Survey, which reports on the prevalence, frequency and impact of crime on retail and wholesale businesses in England and Wales. This year’s report covers the period from April 2020 to March 2021, providing insight into how the pandemic […]
Non-essential retailers will be able to begin a “phased reopening” from a provisional date of June 1st, according to the government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy document published on May 11th. Retailers will be expected to follow safety guidance to maintain the recommended 2m social distancing policy, along with other measures to reduce the potential spread of the virus amongst staff, customers and clients. How measures will be enforced has not been announced but the government has released detailed guidance to help […]
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have extended the busy winter shopping period further back into the year, placing more demand than ever on warehouses and distribution centres. Not only has online shopping massively increased the scale of logistics and need for secure warehousing, it has also made it far easier for criminals to sell stolen goods. How is a customer on eBay, for example, supposed to be able to identify items that were stolen? And in the run up to […]
Cyber Monday is one of the most important times of the year for online retailers, especially those who sell electronic goods. It’s also one of the most important times of the year for hackers, who take advantage of overwhelmed or vulnerable websites. Worryingly, many companies have expressed disinterest in investing in cyber security as it doesn’t provide a clear return on investment. But if your online store is shut down by a cyber attack during a busy period, such as […]
Black Friday only arrived on our shores at the start of this decade, but it has already become a highlight of the retail calendar. Love it or hate it, Black Friday (and its online cousin, Cyber Monday) is here to stay, and if your business is taking part, you need to prepare your security so that customers and staff are kept safe. Black Friday chaos is not just an American problem Retailers in the UK first started to take part […]
Retail crime has increased by 40% across all categories. Likewise, spending on retail crime prevention has reached an all time high, hitting £1 billion in 2019 – four times 2016’s total. Whether you run a small boutique shop or manage a retail site boasting dozens of stores, you need to make sure that you are spending wisely on security. Here is my advice for how to best protect your retail business from theft, abusive customers and vandalism. Retail CCTV CCTV is […]
The British Retail Consortium’s 2019 annual Retail Crime Survey found very concerning trends, with crime on the rise across all categories, from customer and employee theft to staff abuse and cyber attacks. Retail crime statistics for 2019 Counting direct costs alone, crime cost the retail industry an estimated £900 million per year, up 28% from 2018. This doesn’t include indirect costs such as reduced efficiency, wasted employee time and the emotional and physical consequences of abuse. As a result, spending […]
Department stores, shopping centres, and other large retail sites are the biggest targets for theft in the country and amongst the most challenging sites to secure effectively. Theft prevention in a retail site relies upon being able to quickly identity suspicious individuals, monitor them and take action should they engage in criminal behaviour. This is a relatively simple task in a shop with a few aisles and single entries and exits, but when there are thousands of customers, multiple stores […]
