Retail Loss Prevention

Internal theft is a major risk to every organization. It can cause loss in many ways: product, cash, company property, information and time (reduced productivity). These losses can happen anywhere: In your stores, offices and distribution centers, and within your logistics process and IT systems from the central database to mobile devices. All of these losses contribute to reduced profitability.

Mr. Mike Keenan, TAL Global’s Managing Director – Retail Loss Prevention, sheds light on one of the more complex aspects of RLP – Auditing. In his concise white paper, Mike describes the two keys to a successful auditing program, the process of establishing a solid auditing program, and using online facilities to streamline and accelerate audits.

Audits can serve as an important vehicle for ensuring operational compliance, enhancing awareness and accountability, measuring key performance functions, and providing valuable teaching and training opportunities in a retail environment. Still, the impact of an audit on the business depends on the methods we employ, our approach, our attitude and the attitudes the audit fosters, during the audit, as we share the results with stakeholders, and in the post-audit support that we offer store teams.

LP has evolved over the years to become a critical component of the entire organization. In a recent Q&A session with Retail Executive, Mr. Mike Keenan, TAL Global’s Managing Director or Retail Loss Prevention, provides reasons why senior leadership teams must work closely with LP to lower shrink, increase profitability, and keep people safe.

One of the most critical components of a successful Retail Loss Prevention (RLP) program is the ability to gain the full support of your employees in carrying out the company’s loss prevention strategy. So how do you forge a knowledgeable and engaged workforce that will understand, comply with and execute the agreed-on RLP strategy? One way is through an effective awareness program.

Retail loss prevention has long ceased to be a single-expert effort. The complexity of any retail environment requires the experience, insight and innovativeness of experts from multiple disciplines. That’s exactly what TAL Global’s “Team Of Experts” concept offers.

Retail is diversifying and moving away from the traditional brick-and-mortar domain; it is reasonable to assume that retail loss and with it retail loss prevention will also evolve in interesting and challenging ways. Mike Keenan, a veteran RLP innovator, is looking at some of the directions RLP may take in the near and medium future.

The retail industry is also undergoing what may be termed the most radical transition since the establishment of the store, and along with it, we will see major changes in retail loss prevention.

Technology is an enabler that impacts all areas of Loss Prevention (LP). Mike Keenan, TAL Global’s new Managing director of Retail Loss Prevention, and an industry veteran, recommends a disciplined method for identifying and utilizing the right technology for your retail business.

We took the opportunity to sit down with Mike Keenan, TAL Global’s Managing Director for Retail Loss Prevention, for an in-depth interview about his area of expertise and his vision of the future of Retail LP.