Background and Context

A perennial concern for many retailers is the extent to which they are victims of thefts where stolen items are simply wheeled out of their stores using trolleys provided to consumers – trolley push-out thefts. This study offers a unique insight into not only the scale and extent of the problem but also an evaluation of an intervention focused upon addressing the issue of trolley push-out thefts – the Purchek technology developed by Gatekeeper Systems which utilises trolley wheel-locking technology.

The study is based upon the experiences of two major UK Grocers, with combined sales more than £50 billion a year and over 2,000 stores. Utilising data sets collected before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic, results are presented from 239 installations of the Intervention covering three 15-week periods of data collection. In addition, the study also carried out a detailed analysis of over 900 recorded incidents of trolley push-outs to understand more about the context in which these events take place.

Key Findings

Scale and Extent of Trolley Push-outs

  • It is estimated that a Grocery retail store that has some indicators of elevated levels of overall risk, with annual sales of approximately £40 million, is likely to experience at least 140 trolley-push-outs a year (almost three a week), costing in the region of £31,500 a year. Put another way, it is calculated that trolley push-outs may account for approximately 4% of all unknown stock loss (shrinkage).
  • It is estimated that the average cost of a trolley push-out incident is £224, although some incidents were valued at more than £2,000.

Profile of Trolley Push-outs

  • Incidents costing £200 or more account for one-quarter of all recorded incidents (26%) but represent nearly two-thirds of all the value (64%). The data seems clear – a relatively small proportion of high-value trolley push-outs generate a significant amount of loss.
  • Of those stopped, 21% went on to pay for the products they were trying to steal. Most acted alone, with just 10% being in concert with one or more other offenders. Those acting in a group (two or more) were far more likely to try and steal higher value quantities of stock – more than double the amount attempted by singleton offenders.

About Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper Systems’ expanded product suite of intelligent cart solutions offers solutions for EVERY retailer’s needs to minimize merchandise loss, reduce asset and labor expenditures.

Gatekeeper’s loss prevention and cart containment solutions utilize patented locking technology to put an end to cart-based shoplifting, shopping cart loss, and uninformed decision-making. Cart management solutions increase safety and reduce labor costs by maximizing productivity while simultaneously resulting in a positive store image.

Intelligent pushout theft prevention solutions stop thieves and their cart full of unpaid merchandise from leaving the store. Customizable technology allows retailers to defend their entire store or just a high loss department based on the store’s unique layout.

Business Intelligence solutions provide increased visibility for informed decision making. Increase efficiency, optimize fleet size, and perfect the entire customer shopping experience with store and enterprise-level analytics.

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