Collaborative approach answer to retail crime

A collaborative approach is the only way to deal with growing organized retail crime (ORC), says John Furner, chief executive officer of Walmart U.S. Speaking at the National Retail Foundation (NRF) ‘PROTECT’ conference, he said, “The amount of retail crime we are seeing across the country has increased pretty precipitously over the last three to four years. The sophistication of the bad actors, the threat actors, has also increased. The solution is a combination of talent, tools, technology, and coalitions of industry, society, and government, all working together to solve this issue.” ORC in particular is a growing and persistent threat and really acute challenge in the US, threatening not only profits, but customers, staff, and communities as well. The US government has implemented the Inform Act and NRF is working on to get the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act through, which would equip law enforcement agencies with the necessary tools and resources to effectively address the issue. ORC “is a threat to all companies and all members that we serve,” says Furner. “I'd encourage everyone to, when possible, share the data so that we can work together to get ahead of some of these issues.”