2024 ends with rising trend of retail crime

YARMOUTH, Maine — The close of the year has revealed some disturbing trends with the rise of retail crime, according to research by the National Retail Federation (NRF). 

Released on December 17, “The Impact of Retail Theft & Violence” details a trend of evolving retail crime with skyrocketing amounts of organized retail crime (ORC), shoplifting, and e-commerce fraud that’s been half a decade in the making. Between 2019 and 2023, the NRF said that retailers experienced a 93% increase in the average number of shoplifting incidents per year. Apparel, accessories, and footwear make up the majority of targeted goods at 41.7% according to the report, which surveys senior loss prevention and security executives in the retail industry. 

Simon Randall, the co-founder and CEO of Pimloc, an AI video surveillance software provider, shared some insights into these recent trends.  

“Recent factors like rising costs of living, the spread of opioid usage, and the decriminalization of lower-value thefts, combined with the pressure of the holiday shopping season, have contributed to rising theft in retail environments,” he said. “Retailers cannot fix society's wider issues. The options are to either close physical store locations and shift all sales online (which is not good for the local community and the retail businesses) or to improve security and safety measures for employees and customers. These improvements would allow stores to remain open and operate safely and efficiently.” 

Research done in 2024 by Verkada’s Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) also shared the rising amount of violence done to retail workers that were driving them out of the industry.  

“To make retail workers safer, security cameras and monitoring services must move beyond the basic means of surveillance – integrating smarter technology and more thoughtful strategies that prioritize real-time threat detection, privacy protection, and efficient incident management to create a secure and trustworthy environment,” Randall added.  

He offered up redaction tools, such as Pimloc’s Secure Redact platform, as being ideal for ensuring privacy while maintaining security, saying, “These tools have the capability to automatically anonymize personal data – allowing businesses to share footage with law enforcement or internal teams safely and in compliance with ever-evolving privacy laws. Secure Redact also enables monitoring in sensitive areas without compromising individual privacy, helping workers feel protected while respecting customer rights.” 

While AI is being used as a tool to solve crimes thanks to advanced monitoring techniques, Randall warns that the benefits of AI enhancing safety and security must be leveraged in a way that protects shoppers’ privacy and store assets equally. 

California had three cities - Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, and Sacramento - in the top 10 areas most affected by ORC crime in 2024 according to the NRF report. The state introduced legislation in August to combat retail theft that provides a broad array of tools and legal justifications for law enforcement officers and prosecutors to combat rising retail theft.  

You can find the full report online at nrf.com.