Sell more and lose less - with ECR Retail Loss

Professor Emmeline Taylor joins Colin Peacock to explore how retailers around the world are deploying live facial recognition and what it takes to get it right when it comes to reducing losses while maintaining privacy.They break the conversation into three areas.Firstly, organisational readiness: why deploying facial recognition in retail is not about flicking a switch, and why it can take years to align policies, training, data protection and governance across as many as twelve different principles.Secondly, the business case: one retailer reported a 20% reduction in shrink, but regulators are pushing back on some use cases and insisting the technology is proportionate to legitimate purposes such as violence reduction and in-store safety, not just financial ROI.Thirdly, sustainable deployment: how retailers can maintain public trust through transparency, clear signage, and holding the line on minimum standards.They also discuss watch list management, the risk of surveillance creep, the distinction between live and retrospective facial recognition, and why the parallels with early CCTV adoption suggest this technology will become the norm within a generation.

Professor Emmeline Taylor joins Colin Peacock to discuss how Exception Based Reporting (EBR) is being used across retail to tackle staff dishonesty and drive cultural change.Drawing on a new ECR Retail Loss survey of businesses across 19 countries, they explore the four key data points retailers are using to reduce losses by flagging internal theft: voided items, refunds to the same card, manual discounts and staff loyalty card misuse.83% of respondents are already using EBR for some form of data analysis around employee theft.But the conversation goes beyond detection. One retailer showed how transparency and communication around EBR drove deterrence, reducing individual case values from four figures to two.They also discuss why video integration remains underused, why store managers need ownership of the data alongside central teams, and why EBR needs to extend beyond bricks-and-mortar cashiers to cover order pickers, delivery drivers and third-party fulfilment as fulfilment methods diversify.

Professor Emmeline Taylor joins Colin Peacock to discuss the latest findings on forecourt crime rom ECR Retail Loss working group meetings.They explore why pay at pump is not the silver bullet for drive-offs and no means of payment, despite its appeal as a target-hardening measure.The conversation covers how one retailer combined ANPR technology with better signage and streamlined reporting to achieve a significant reduction in forecourt theft. But a growing problem is undermining ANPR: ghost plates. A recent report suggested one in 15 vehicles across England and Wales is now driving on false number plates. Emmeline and Colin discuss the governance risks for lone-working forecourt staff, the disparity in loss rates across retailers, and the value of law enforcement partnerships. They also consider how video analytics could help detect cloned plates in future, and why government action on ghost plates is needed before the problem becomes normalised.

Dr Susanne Guth-Orlowski of the RAIN Alliance joins Colin Peacock to reflect on the 2025 ECR RFID Innovation Summit in Düsseldorf, hosted by C&A.Around 70 retailers attended, from those with 20 years of RFID experience to those just getting started.The conversation covers what stood out: the diversity of RFID use cases across fashion, sports and home retail, the Qualcomm presentation on bringing RFID reading to mobile phones, and how the EU's digital product passport regulation is creating new opportunities for RAIN RFID as a data carrier. They also discuss the innovation showcase featuring startups working on overhead readers, sustainable tags and AI-driven data analysis, and look ahead to the 2026 summit in Madrid.

Sophie Wong joins Colin Peacock to talk about leaving corporate life at Coles to launch her own retail loss prevention consultancy, Positively Powered.She shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of going it alone: from the freedom to think creatively and work across different retail organisations, to the reality of building a business from scratch without a steady paycheck.Sophie and Colin discuss why loss is everyone's responsibility, why it belongs on the C-suite agenda, and why loss prevention teams cannot solve complex shrink problems without cross-functional support. Sophie also offers practical advice for anyone considering a similar move, covering financial planning, defining a unique selling proposition, and the importance of constantly learning.

Professor Michael Townsley and Dr Andrew Childs join Colin Peacock to discuss new ECR Retail Loss research into returns fraud and abuse.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.

The scale of retail supply chain theft is hard to ignore. With some retailers reporting $200 million worth of freight on the road on any given day, even a small percentage of loss translates into significant financial damage. Yet many businesses still allocate minimal resources to tackling the problem.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.

Predicting inventory inaccuracies is a practical way for retailers to target the items most likely to be wrong, rather than counting everything equally.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.

Facial recognition is delivering serious results—one retailer reported a 25% drop in shrink—but it’s still on shaky ground.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.