Engaging the Buyer in Loss Prevention
In this research, commissioned by RILA, the aim was to understand how retail merchants/buyers thought about shrinkage, the role they believed they could play in reducing it and their perception of the Loss Prevention teams in charge of reducing shrinkage.
The findings were stark: most buyers did not consider how shrinkage affected their categories, were not measured on shrinkage nor did the majority see the relevance of their role in reducing loss. Their perception of the Loss Prevention team was that their main job was to prevent sales: they were regarded as the ‘Sales Prevention’ team! Most buyers had not received regular training and education on shrinkage, nor the role they could play to reduce it.