How Covid-19 Has Impacted Organized Retail Crimes?

Organized retail crime is a massive problem for malls and retail companies. However, these crimes have been on the rise due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. This brings enterprise security and retail security on the pedestal of significant losses.

The pandemic is acting as an encouraging environment for these crimes due to lack of security, stable income, and civil disturbance. One can only wonder about the massive impact of such organized crimes on the business while trying to make up for the losses. In this article, we’ll discuss how Covid-19 has impacted organized retail crimes.

Impact of Organized Retail Crime

The covid-19 pandemic has created a menace in the retail industry. We all remember the times when people were hoarding essential daily supplies due to lockdown. Besides, most of the non-essential items were not on sale to discourage people from going out. These instances have become the breeding place for more organized crimes, even for the most basic things.

As per the National Retail Federation, retailers suffer a significant loss of over $700,000 per $1 billion in sales in yearly comparison. These numbers signify the direness of the situation that retailers suffer from every year. Currently, the economy is unstable, and there are visible effects of the pandemic considering more than fifty percent rise in organized crime gangs.

Different Organized Retail Crime Targets

Some organized crime gangs target larger consignments such as designer items, expensive gadgets, and jewelry. Moreover, the pandemic has pushed some gangs to target essential daily items that are not readily available due to higher demand and low supply.

These may include toilet paper, laundry detergent, soaps, and other supplies. The changed target comes from the need to hoard things at home that may sell for more than the intended price in the retail. Besides, malls and non-essential stores saw a decline in actual sales and had to remain shut due to the consecutive lockdowns.

This has increased the organized retail crime by at least 5%, along with the violence and criminal activities against the retailers. Since these retailers are still recovering from the pandemic losses, they also suffer from organized crime threats.

Missing Consignments and Shoplifting

Apart from this, there have been cases of missing consignments during transportation. Some crime gangs target larger orders when they are being moved from one place to another. These items may never get recovered; hence, the retailers suffer a massive loss. Moreover, some losses don’t even get reported, so the true number of these crimes is still under investigation. This makes these crimes hard to monitor and resolve.

There have been instances of thefts at designer stores in broad daylight. These designer items may range up to $60,000. These thieves may sell these items for lower value and black market while reducing the retail value of the designer products. Such crime rings are a nightmare for high-end stores.

These gangs have been operating over the years and taking full advantage of less security and hindered normalcy. The numbers will continue to surge with the political unrest and the online pandemic. Furthermore, some ORCs also operate with shoplifting gangs and operate in different circles. They manage to disrupt the stores without getting caught on a number of occasions.

Fraudulent Coupons For Purchase

Some businesses report losses due to fraudulent activities such as fake coupons. These coupons are used for getting free items and discounts over purchases. Many malls and retail stores are under pressure to stay afloat in these times. Such fraudulent activities increase their losses and force them to close stores.

These discounted items may be sold at retail prices online or blacked for higher prices. Either way, they support malpractice and encourage people never to pay retail. Most crime gangs focus on items that are easy to resale and have a high sale value.

They also consider the present-day demands such as masks, sanitizers, and cleaning supplies to make profits. The stores, warehouses, and cargos are all at risk from organized crimes; hence, this leads to higher unrest in people.

Online Frauds

The organized retail crime gangs are not just limited to thefts. They also participate in well-planned cyber frauds and counterfeiting high-end items to earn from heavy margins during the sales. These crimes have increased, go unreported and unsolved due to the lack of resources in today’s situation.

The authorities and police forces have been assigned to support public health, check on lockdowns and social distancing norms. Besides, these resources are now ensuring basic life supplies; therefore, there is less attention towards the organized retail crime gangs.

In this unprecedented situation, a retailer needs to be proactive about the protection and hire professionals. They need to ensure the consignments are delivered safely from one place to another and their goods are under live surveillance to prevent shoplifting.

Contact Security Guard Group to Control Your Organized Retail Crime

Every business has a threat of organized retail crime. You may need an extra hand of help to secure your business from such prying eyes. Consider hiring professionals who know how to assess threats and find any discrepancies in your security system.

Our professional team has years of experience in studying criminal behaviour and activities for better monitoring. Besides, we have the right and affordable solution for you here at Security Guard Group. Our trained team of professionals will amplify the security at all times and stay on toes to prevent any organized crimes.

We use modern tools and skills to protect your goods. Instead of suffering losses on such crimes, it is ideal to invest in good security for your business and commercial property. Contact us for a consultation now.