Addressing retail violence & ORC around the world

Violence and abuse against retail workers tripled in 2020 and 2021, according to the latest BRC Crime Survey Report.

Along with that rise in retail violence, there were concerns about police response and investigations of these incidents. The survey reports 60% of respondents consider police response to incidents as “poor” or “very poor,” with only 4% of these events resulting in prosecution. 

The rise in Organized Retail Crime (ORC), recidivist offending, and violence in stores is a global problem, and Auror is focused on helping retail leaders and law enforcement agencies address it. Let’s take a closer look at these latest BRC insights, what they mean for the industry, and how we can work together to make retail communities safer.

The data story: What’s happening with retail violence and ORC?

As we’ve previously covered, the surge in aggression and violence in stores has been caused by multiple factors – including pandemic-related and macro-economic pressures. From changes in legislation to an evolving retail environment and rise in ORC, these challenges are culminating into serious threats to frontline team members and customers.

These latest insights from the BRC Crime Survey Report have concerning effects on communities, retail professionals at every level, and police. And these statistics are aligned with what we are hearing in the UK through discussions with retailers and police. Whilst concerning, we are seeing examples of global retail leaders successfully addressing this rising threat with crime intelligence and intuitive collaboration. Our goal is to learn from these examples and help the retail community as a whole reduce harm and loss in their stores.

- Mark Gleeson, Regional Director UK at Auror

‍As we touched on in 2020, retail is one of the only large industries that is yet to see a drop in serious workplace injuries. Although legislation to help protect retail workers is being considered and passed – notably in the UK – retailers deserve more deliberate and proactive measures too.

That’s why leaders around the world agree that AP/LP and Retail Crime Intelligence have never been more important. And through dot-connecting solutions and intuitive collaboration, they’re taking action to combat this rise in retail violence and ORC. Let’s get into how that’s happening.

The solution: Addressing the rise in retail violence and ORC

With more than 30,000 retail stores using Auror and almost two million incidents reported each year, Auror has the most comprehensive insights into who is causing these issues. ORC and repeat offenders are 4x more likely to be aggressive when committing retail crime. In fact, they account for almost half of all aggressive behaviors seen across retail! Aggressive tactics are being used as a weapon to avoid apprehension by these professional offenders.

Despite these market shifts, global data from Auror’s Retail Crime Intelligence platform now shows a decline in threatening behavior, serious events, and events involving repeat people.

To be able to stop these individuals and gangs, first we need to connect the dots on their offending. This allows retailers and police to understand the totality of the problem and who are the 10% causing 60% of the loss and half of the aggression. This is where it takes a network to beat a network – retailers and police collaborating to connect the dots and disrupt the most harmful criminal activity. And this collaboration includes cross-retailer as ORC intel needs to come from every source available in a safe and secure way.

Connecting the dots with Retail Crime Intelligence

Networks and the ability to build a retail crime web are vital. The only platform that effectively connects the dots and is fully GDPR compliant (and helps retailers be GDPR compliant) is Auror. Retailers who use Auror are connecting the dots on more than 1,500 offenders each week – giving them better insight into the people to focus on, prevent, and work with police to take action on those causing the most harm.

As well as giving each individual retailer the insights they need, Auror safely and securely connects the dots on offenders across retailers (without the retailers having to share data) so that police get a total view of each offender, their accomplices and the value of their offending across the whole country.

Collaboration at scale is our best chance against ORC. Read why.