The most recent iteration of the Total Retail Loss typology, published in 2018, maps out 42 categories of loss spread across four ‘centres’: the Retail Store, the Retail Supply Chain, E-commerce and Corporate. While there are undoubtedly more categories of loss that retailers can and do experience, these are considered types that are ‘Manageably Measurable […]
As William Deming rather pithily put it: ‘without data, you’re just another person with an opinion’. Certainly, within the realm of retail loss prevention, there has been a history of having relatively little data to understand the way in which organisations are affected by loss. For the most part, stretching back over 150 years, one […]
Retailers have long met challenges with inventory accuracy. While technology has provided approaches to improve reliability, the importance of inventory accuracy and its alignment to reduced costs and higher profits is greater now than ever before. In this post, we’ll be unpacking the role of inventory accuracy, pre- and post-COVID, and how it contributes to […]
As I mentioned in my last blog entry, one of the (many) consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic has been the acceleration in the growth in E-commerce retailing – the purchase of goods online that are either delivered directly to the consumer, or picked up by shoppers at an agreed location. In some countries this is […]
Retail had a turbulent 2020. It was a year that saw trends already making their presence felt, such as buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS), eCommerce, contactless payment, and more, gain greater influence as retailers scrambled to find ways to cater to consumers with heightened and evolving expectations. Now, it’s time for retailers, particularly […]
As the retail sector continues to grapple with the consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic, one of the striking trends thus far has been the considerable growth in the percentage of retail sales now taking place via E-commerce. While in many ways this is an inevitable and logical outcome of large swathes of consumers around the […]
In May 2020 I published a short article reflecting upon retail loss prevention in a time of COVID-19. In that article I hypothesised that that we were likely to see four phases affecting the retail sector: the Pandemic Panic-buying Period (Grocery in particular being adversely impacted by panic buying); Pandemic Paralysis Period (most non-grocery closed); […]
Retailers rely on accurate inventory records to execute efficiently, reduce expenses, and more importantly increase sales. Retailers know that shrink is a major contributor to inaccurate inventory records - it is impossible to maintain accuracy for items which leave the store via bad actors. However, there are many more ways for inventory records to become […]
As we celebrate our first 50 years, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our previous five decades, and thank our retail customers worldwide who have partnered with us over the years. Contract Dataflo, Inc. was founded on July 20, 1970 by H. E. Billings, Jr. The company became Contract Datascan, Inc. […]
