Drawing on a survey of nearly 6,000 consumers across four countries and an investigation into dark web fraud communities, they reveal how widespread problematic return behaviours really are, why most offenders experience no friction at all, and the three practical steps every retailer should take now. Topics include wardrobing, Did Not Arrive claims, social engineering of team members, crime scripts, and why environmental messaging may work better than punitive measures.

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In this episode, Professor Emmeline Taylor draws on her research into freight crime and findings from a recent ECR Retail Loss working group to explore why this area of loss has been overlooked and what can be done about it.

From the dramatic jump-up in thefts captured on video to the quieter threat of agency drivers infiltrating supply chains, the discussion covers a wide range of tactics used by offenders and the practical countermeasures available to retailers.

The conversation also touches on GPS tracking, pallet recognition technology, tamper-proof packaging, and the importance of cross-functional collaboration between loss prevention, logistics, and law enforcement.

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Colin Peacock speaks with Aris Syntetos, Yacine Rekik and Christoph Glock about a decade of ECR research into inventory record inaccuracy, why it matters for availability and loss, and what interventions can make a difference.

They share headline figures on how widespread record errors can be, how sales can be affected, and how prediction can help retailers prioritise audits and action.

They also discuss the Mastering Inventory Accuracy In Retail leadership training that three professors are running for ECR Retail Loss on 9-10 December.

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Professor Emmeline Taylor and Colin Peacock return to explore the real-world complexities of deploying this technology, from shared watchlists and legal grey areas to misidentifications that can make headlines.

As more retailers turn to facial recognition, getting the human touch right is crucial: who gets notified, how they respond, and how trust is maintained.

With a code of practice now on the table, this is a must-listen for anyone working through their own policies for facial recognition.

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Professor Emmeline Taylor joins Colin Peacock to discuss the rising complexity of staff dishonesty, from sweethearting and fake returns to collusion at self-checkouts and e-commerce touchpoints.

Drawing on new ECR research, she explores how smarter comms, not bigger budgets, could make the biggest difference.

Think nudges over finger-pointing—reminding colleagues of the risks, responsibilities and shared values.

If retailers can deliver even a small shift in behaviour the potential savings could be enormous.

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Professor Daniel Corsten joins Colin Peacock on the podcast to dissect the economics and challenges of quick commerce. And why they so often don’t add up.

From soaring labour costs to out-of-stocks and substitutions, it’s a model that struggles to work in higher-wage markets.

Daniel shares fresh insights on where picking costs stack up, the hidden toll of substitutions, and the smart interventions that might make fast fulfilment more viable.

A timely reality check for retailers chasing speed and customer satisfaction.

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Daniel Corsten joins Colin Peacock to discuss the latest ECR Retail Loss research and explains why shelf image technology is best seen as an enhancer, not a silver bullet.

Supported by case-studies, he explores how retailers are using robots, badges, and fixed cameras to complement—not replace—traditional ways to measure on shelf availability.

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Clothing dominates, but camping gear and electronics are also potential targets.

He discusses with Colin Peacock how profiling, policy changes, and strategic tagging can disrupt this pseudo-rental behaviour—without damaging the customer experience.

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Colin Peacock and ECR Retail Loss’s expert food waste advisor Richard Thalemann explain how one retailer overcame fraud fears, tax headaches and tech hurdles to build a safe, scalable solution that’s a potential blueprint for others to follow.

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In this episode, Colin and Emmeline explore how stores across the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand are deploying biometric recognition—mostly for watchlist alerts—but also for access control and retrospective investigations.

They also tackle the legal, regulatory and ethical issues that retailers the world over are discussing with policymakers.

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Professor Emmeline Taylor joins Colin Peacock to examine the evolving tactics retailers are using to fight forecourt losses.

From digital reporting platforms to the strategic use of ANPR, the episode sheds light on how tech, training, and smarter reporting are reshaping the future of forecourt security.

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Drawing on insights from six global retailers, they explore how different teams are measuring key metrics like acceptance rates, chargebacks, returns disputes, and fraud — often using different language to describe the same problems.

Their discussion also highlights the gap between malicious and non-malicious losses, and the importance of creating a unified framework for tracking both.

With the goal of building clear benchmarks for the industry, they highlight the need for deeper collaboration, better data, and more interventions to tackle e-commerce loss.

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And how training, integration, and investment can significantly enhance their impact - to reduce losses.

Drawing on insights from over 70 retailers and expert presentations, the discussion highlights the importance of moving beyond a more procurement-based view of hourly guarding towards one where security officers provide multiple benefits with clear KPI’s.

From customer service to crime deterrence, the pair conclude that the right training and support can transform the role of security officers into a central part of store safety and performance.

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Based on insights from a benchmark study of 29 retailers and a live case study, they discuss how SOCs are being used for everything from live incident response and evidence gathering to virtual store audits and lone-worker protection. They reflect on how SOCs can help reduce losses, support staff morale, and even improve relationships with local police forces.

As the technology capabilities explode and use cases multiply, they discuss how SOCs are becoming essential tools in creating safer, more efficient, and more resilient retail operations.

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They reflect on how internal theft, counterfeit currency, and operational inefficiencies all contribute to losses, and how a mix of simple process changes and smarter, tech-driven solutions are helping retailers halve their cash losses in a matter of months.

From training and cultural change to intelligent detection and exception reporting, the session offers practical steps to better manage cash loss in today’s retail landscape.

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They reflect on how the smart framing of fraud as a “lost sale” helped engage multiple internal stakeholders, and how serious investment in data collection and analysis has driven impressive improvements — including a jump in order acceptance rates and millions in recovered revenue.

They also look at emerging risks like account takeovers, crypto payments, and AI-enabled scams, and how retailers must stay agile as bad actors evolve.

If improving digital loss prevention is in your remit, check out this week’s podcast.

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The tool helps a multi-functional team undertake a self assessment exercise for retailers to explore for their most at-risk stores their compliance to a series of 28 key questions across the seven dimensions of her strategy.

Emmeline explains how cross-departmental collaboration, shaped by conversations which emerge from this exercise can work towards a more consistent approach to risk mitigation in the most at risk stores.

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From app-based access to locked cabinets, through to creative new tagging solutions and packaging redesigns, this episode looks at how retailers are trying to reduce theft while keeping products available and sales high.

Together they explore how retailers are balancing the addition of friction, in the form of product protection measures such as nets on meat, or smart cabinets, with the requirement to deliver a low friction shopper journey experience — summarising ideas shared by over 80 retailers worldwide.

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They discuss how the industry has now moved from paper based systems to digital reporting enabling more accurate, consistent, and actionable reporting of in-store incidents — from non-emergency incidents such as shoplifting or verbal abuse, through to the more serious incidents of physical violence. 

They talk to how this data is being used to engage C-suite leaders, connect with police, and support store associates.

From integrating CCTV and Car Licence plates (ANPR/LPR systems, to nudging users to classify incidents correctly, the introduction of integrated digital incident reporting is transforming retailers' capability to record more incidents, more accurately, more completely, faster and at less cost.

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This week Colin Peacock is joined by Richard Thaleman to summarise best practice from over 80 retailers in how they ensure that staff are 100% 'on side' when it comes to trying new ways to reduce food waste.

And then sticking with them.

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They explore best practice in how retailers handle out-of-stock items, the costs involved, and the benefits of personalised substitution strategies.

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This week Colin Peacock is joined by Richard Thaleman to discuss insights on new bakery planning systems and how to deal with false scans at self-checkout.

They explore how innovative tools are reducing bakery waste and how retailers are balancing loss prevention with customer convenience.

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They look at how selling by weight adds friction and risk, and how switching to per-item pricing helped one retailer to significantly reduce losses.

When bananas can account for up to 60% of the losses of loose products, there is a big incentive to to change the way they're sold.

Find out more in this week's podcast.

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And look at how the ECR Retail Loss food waste calculator can help retailers benchmark costs like marking down, sorting, and donating surplus food.

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He joins Colin Peacock to explore how these devices can improve staff safety, evidence gathering, and lead to a reduction of in-store incidents.

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In the context of e-commerce loss prevention they explore issues like reduced visibility, limited control, and how collaboration can help combat marketplace fraud.

And learn how retailers are facing a combination of new and old challenges when it comes to managing the problem of online fraud and losses. Alongside new techniques to address the issue.

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This week Colin Peacock is joined by Professor Adrian Beck to explore how retailers are leveraging RFID technology to improve supply chain operations. Including how using handheld RFID devices can lead to better inventory accuracy, reduced costs, and better inventory controls.

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Over 70 retailers participated in the meeting, hosted by Carrefour - with an agenda that included store visits, speed dating with innovators, deep dive retailer case studies on technology, design and people and an informal network evening.

Here are the highlights.

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This week Colin Peacock is joined by Richard Thaleman to tackle the challenges of markdown strategies.

They discuss when to apply markdowns, where to display discounted items, and how different pricing approaches and technologies like ESLs impact sales, profitability, and food waste reduction.

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They discuss how retailers are rethinking the role of security guards, weighing the benefits of extra store associate hours versus security personnel, and examining ideas like community guards.

Retailers spend millions, and some hundreds of millions on security guards. In our mini benchmark study, 81% of the thirty six retailers who responded shared that their budget for guards will increase and at least, stay the same over the next 12-18 months.

Yet retailers remain agitated about the role security guards play, and troubled by the difficulty in being able to accurately determine their return on investment.

Each year, we get a chance as a working group to hear from the retailers in the group and over 120 registered for this year's meeting to swap notes and hear new ideas from their peers.

This week's podcast summarises those discussions: New thinking when it comes to security guards.

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In this episode, Colin Peacock is joined by Paul Chapman from Oxford University to discuss best practice in reducing out of stocks.

And in particular, they explore what retailers could learn from experts in process-improvement, Toyota.

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Our 2018 report highlighted the need for retailers to calculate the TRUE and full cost of returns, proposing a true cost of returns model that retailers could adopt to their business.

In this episode Colin Peacock and Professor Adrian Beck consider how retailers are trying to find the right balance between making it as easy as possible for customers to return items in-store, at the least cost while balancing the increased risk of fraud from some customers who might abuse a self returns system.

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In this episode, Colin Peacock and Professor Adrian Beck explore the learnings from retailers on the learnings and results from their RFID trials in fresh meat.  

Fresh meat is considered one of the most advantaged categories for RFID, in part because the technology can then be used to automatically alert staff to upcoming expiry dates.

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On this podcast prof Emmeline Taylor joins Colin Peacock and highlights a number of different ways that retailers are seeking to reduce theft by their own employees through the use of communications and advertising.

The discussion includes debates around how to blend ‘carrot’ and ‘stick’ messaging, and how to make communications campaigns part of the regular toolkit to increase staff honesty and reduce internal theft.

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Pity too all the other loose products in fresh, especially those with the shortest shelf life, most easily damaged and with other similar alternatives.

In this podcast, Colin Peacock is joined by Richard Thalemann to discuss how retailers are trying to reduce food waste by adopting new and different approaches to reduce the volume of "throws" from the loose category, including technologies to extend the shelf life, to reduce damages and to improve pick and scan accuracy.

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On this episode, Colin Peacock is joined by Professor Adrian Beck to discuss how retailers and supermarkets are trying to address this issue - from more frequent re-stocks, through to tagging or store design.

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They discuss some of the feedback and insights from 70 retailers from across the globe and consider how the new technology and analytics are increasingly being used for loss-prevention, security-management and even measuring queue length.

With the growth of AI and other new technologies, they discuss how well-planned video analytics systems can really support retailers, as long as their objectives are well-defined at the start.

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In this podcast Colin Peacock and Professor Adrian Beck look at the scale and nature of this problem, and the key drivers of non-scanning (hello multiple QR codes on packaging!)

They consider the interventions that retailers are adopting to address these problems, to reduce the number of interventions and the losses associated with it. As well as how to improve the customer experience.

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The benefit of the pre-payment model is the risk of loss, through drive offs, or the customers not having a means of payment, is near zero. However, this model adds friction to the shopper journey and does not optimise the up-selling opportunity inside the shop.

In this podcast, Professor Adrian Beck and Colin Peacock consider how some retailers are lowering the risk of drive offs through computer vision using ANPR / LPR technology, digital incident reporting. While also recognising the importance of collaboration, especially with law enforcement to further reduce and prevent the risk of drive offs.

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The ECR working group has been tracking the use of facial recognition in retail for the last five years.

We have seen some strong results reported back to the group from retailers such as Rite Aid in USA, and then more recently updates from USA, UK and Australian retailers.

With the pressure on governments around the world to support requests from retailers for help with the growing levels of violence, abuse and theft from retail locations, there is some evidence that governments are listening more to requests from retailers to help progress facial recognition technology (click here).

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At the peak of its inflated expectations, RFID was going to solve for all retailers ills while delighting the shopper.

However, as our ECR report highlighted (click here), the business case "sweet spot" for RFID turned out to be the counting of soft fashion lines more accurately at less cost.

This episode of the podcast focuses on how retailers are now looking to "sweat" their RFID investment harder.

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Some shoppers love the ability to use their own device to scan and then pay for their groceries, as it can be a huge time saver. However, this customer friendly proposition can be hugely risky for retailers.

In fact, one retailer, Wegmans, withdrew the proposition much to the annoyance of their shoppers because of loss.

Other retailers have shared that when they audit the baskets of those using their own device, over 15% of those baskets contained an error. With the discrepancy representing a 6% loss.

For more information on ECR Retail Loss' work on Scan and Go, check out our 2018 report - Self Checkout in Retail: Measuring the Impact on Loss. Or read the summary of our previous Scan and Go meeting

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