BENCHMARKING by Adrian Beck, Walter Palmer, and Colin Peacock
Setting the Research Agenda I
n the last edition of LP Magazine, we presented the findings from our first benchmark study, which focused on comparing practices and policies on managing shoplifting in retailing. This topic was chosen primarily because it had been discussed extensively at a recent practitioner meeting and was deemed a good starter topic for initiating this series of benchmarks. It also enabled us to gauge the degree of support we were likely to receive from industry leaders. After all, there is no point in starting a benchmarking series if there is no support or interest from those it is aimed to benefit. As was outlined in the previous article and in the free benchmark report, the response rate was very good, soliciting feedback from companies representing 40 percent of the total US market, with a combined retail estate of more than 92,000 stores and annual retail sales of more than $1.3 trillion. Given this high level of support for this first benchmark study, it was agreed that we needed to develop a method to decide on what topics should be the focus of future benchmark surveys. It seemed sensible that the only way to do this was to reach out to the LP community and ask them what they would like to see covered next. After an extensive brainstorming exercise and consultation with a number of LP representatives, we developed a list of ten possible topics that could be the focus of future benchmark studies, which are detailed below. We then developed a very short online questionnaire to find out from LP practitioners what their priorities would be based upon these ten topics, asking them to rank each of them based on their level of interest in the topic, using a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was sent out to the fifty-eight LP executives who had been approached for the first benchmark study on shoplifting policies and practices. In addition to scoring each of the possible
Beck is a professor in the criminality department of the University of Leicester in the UK where he is primarily focused on research on retail crime and shrinkage issues. He can be reached at bna@le.ac.uk. Palmer is CEO/president of PCG Solutions, a loss prevention consulting, training, and education firm. He can be reached at wpalmer@pcgsolutions.com. Peacock is a visiting fellow at the University of Leicester and strategic coordinator for both the ECR Europe Shrinkage and On-shelf Availability Group and the Retail Industry Leaders Association Asset Protection Leaders Council in the US. He can be reached at colinpeacock@hotmail.co.uk. All are frequent contributors to both LP Magazine US and European editions.
topics, respondents were also given the option to add suggestions for subjects not covered by the ten topic areas offered. Those receiving the survey request were given a relatively short period of time to offer their opinions (one week), and in total twenty-two responded (a response rate of 38%). No information was collected about the respondents, and so it is not possible to undertake any analysis by size or type of retailer. The survey was kept purposefully very short to encourage a quick response to enable the next benchmark study to be identified as quickly as possible.
What the Industry Wants to Know
As can be seen in the chart below, the ten topics have been ranked in terms of the average score they received, where 5 equates to “very interesting” and 1 equates to “not interesting at all.” The overall score across all topics was 2.8, which suggests that there was a good degree of interest across all the ideas put forward for consideration. The topic receiving the highest level of interest was The Use of Emerging Loss Prevention Technologies, which scored 3.3 out of 5. The aim of this proposed benchmark study is to understand what new types of technology are currently being used and/or whether plans are in place to undertake a trial in the near future. It also plans to look at how existing technologies, such as EAS and CCTV systems, are being used in different ways.
Future Benchmarking Priorities Benchmark Options
Level of Interest
The Use of Emerging Loss Prevention Technologies
3.3 3.2
The Use of Analytics in Loss Prevention 3.0
Managing Total Retail Loss Returns Policies and Practices
3.0
The Organization and Structure of LP in the Business
2.9 2.6
Policies and Practices on Safety
2.5
Inventory Counting Practices Understanding the Management and Control of Non-sellable Items
2.4
Pre-employment Screening Practices
2.4 2.2
How Collaboration Is Sustained and Embedded in the Business 1 1.5 Not interesting at all
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MARCH–APRIL 2017
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2
2.5
LOSSPREVENTIONMEDIA.COM
3
3.5
4
4.5 5 Very interesting
