External retail theft stands as an estimated $18 billion drain on the economy

This attack on retailer’s revenue and margins is fueled by

Organized Retail Crime (ORC) and opportunistic shoplifters.

Pushout Theft is the technique of choice for Organized Retail Crime (ORC) rings and everyday thieves. Pushout theft allows thieves to clear out shelves, freezers and cabinets, walking out with a shopping cart filled with stolen merchandise. It is Gatekeeper System’s estimate that most pushout theft is never recorded, with multiple unnoticed smaller thefts for every major ORC pushout theft.

• Savvy ORC thieves commit pushout theft, using your shopping cart to clear out shelves and boost expensive merchandise.
• $561 - 2016 average pushout theft (Pushout Theft.com), $798 - 2017 average shoplifting (NRF)
• Retailers routinely experiencing thefts over $1000 (NRF-20% of retail theft $1K).

Safety for your customers and staff is paramount. Confrontation between shoplifters and loss prevention professionals is unpredictable and unproductive.

• One in ten pushout thefts involves violence, with most violence arising from confrontation between a shoplifter and loss prevention.
• It’s estimated that 52% of merchandise is never recovered.
• Tom Meehan, director of technology and investigations, asset protection for Bloomingdale’s, says violent crime and organized retail crime are both on the rise (Sec Mag)

Even if a stop is successful, stores can still face litigation risks. The average cost of liability litigation alone is 89x the cost of an average pushout theft.

• Liability and litigation costs arising from confrontation cost $50,000 (Sec Info Watch) in litigation with settlements costing hundreds of thousands.
• LP budgets must be used judiciously, as of 2017 56% of LP budgets are slated to stay the same or decrease. (NRF)
• Any LP systems must provide 24/7 security, ongoing ROI, and lower risk of confrontation, to address the spectrum of LP risks.