Kum & Go is taking a new approach to c-store loss prevention in 2019, starting on the ‘TRL path.’
The Retail Industry Leaders Association introduced TRL (Total Retail Loss), designed to encourage businesses to consider loss differently, a couple years ago.
“Specifically, it provides a much better way to define and measure loss of all kinds by providing a typology consisting of 33 different categories that cross the entire spectrum of retail theft and fraud,” said Britt Davidson, manager of loss prevention for Kum & Go, which operates more than 400 stores in 11 states.
The chain aspires to obtain more accurate control data.
“This will start at a very high level by identifying major areas/sources of loss and then breaking each one down to very granular buckets,” Davidson said. “By using the TRL typology, we will be able to better create efficiencies in our roles as well as know where our control and business opportunities lie.”
“The introduction of workman’s comp, food safety and internal audit functions will allow our team to become better partners with the business while driving down losses and reducing risk,” Davidson added.
Last year Kum & Go began its foray into the basics of camera analytics.
“This year we want to jump into the analytics pond and begin to leverage this technology outside of traditional loss prevention functions. We are excited to see how this technology can provide us with better insight into our daily trends.”
Kum & Go spent 2018 helping to introduce new laws and advocating for increased penalties for skimming and credit card fraud. It managed to introduce new and/or revised language into legislation in four states in the Midwest.
Skimming remains a key concern industry wide. For example, thieves are now employing a technique using a cellular relay skimmer located in the contactless NFC (near field communication) reader on the exterior of the gas pump, per the U.S. Secret Service.
This skimming device reads the contactless card’s primary account number “over-the-air” before it reaches the payment terminal, defeating point-to-point encryption.
Embrace the Basics
“The prudent store operator invests in these tools and the tedious training it takes to maximize the analytical advantage of technology,” said Chris McGoey, founder of McGoey Security Consulting. That said, in 2019, best practices in loss prevention still come to down to the tried-and-true basics: “close supervision of employees following clearly defined and articulated procedures to control all types of losses 24/7.”