Wireless Wednesday Exclusive: Retail theft during the holidays
Learn about retailer challenges and how law enforcement technology could be used to help mitigate workplace violence and keep employees safe
Rick is joined by:
Mike Shore, Vice President, and General Manager of Enterprise at Axon
Khris Hamlin, Vice President, Asset Protection, Retail Industry Leaders Association
Have a watch:
The busy holiday season is the most important time of year for retail stores. Unfortunately, a recent uptick in retail crime, especially theft, has put retailers on edge. According to the Retail Industry Leaders Association, organized retail crime costs retailers over $69 billion per year annually causing the loss of thousands of jobs through store closures and reduced hours.
Increasing crime is not only affecting retail profits but the mental health of employees as well. Axon, the technology leader in global public safety, recently surveyed 1,200 retail employees working in security, loss prevention, sales, service, support and more. The majority (51%) of respondents work at a retail business with a street-level storefront. Key findings from the survey include:
In-store workers are exposed to high crime rates:
64% of in-store sales, service, and support retail workers have experienced theft.
47% of in-store retail workers have seen or been the victim of physical or verbal violence on the job.
62% report harm to their mental health caused by violence at work.
Theft is exceptionally high at hardware stores (88%), and violence is most prevalent at discount stores (68%).
Security staff are concerned about organized crime:
58% believe fighting organized retail crime should be a top priority in 2023.
Organized crime is most common at discount stores (80%).
These study results show that new solutions to help keep workers safe and decrease retail crime are needed. Loss prevention and asset protection professionals rank both video surveillance technology (CCTV) and body-worn cameras in the top five most effective theft prevention measures.
For more information, please visit: axon.com/retail
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