Chief visibility officer

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A chief visibility officer (CVO) or director of visibility is an individual appointed to oversee all aspects of performance across retail stores, corporations or organizations as part of the C-Suite of executives. The role of the CVO emerged to manage the integration of ideas, disciplines, technologies and people focused on elevating retail enterprise visibility. The title is commonly associated with Retail Loss Prevention (LP) leaders and professionals who maintain the highest position in security management and maintain the security operations in the store to achieve a high level of visibility.

Retail is the process of selling consumer goods or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retailers satisfy demand identified through a supply chain. The term "retailer" is typically applied where a service provider fills the small orders of a large number of individuals, who are end-users, rather than large orders of a small number of wholesale, corporate or government clientele. Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain final goods, including necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it takes place as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping and browsing: it does not always result in a purchase.

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Role

The CVO is focused on security systems as they contribute to higher profits and elevated store performance levels. The importance of the CVO position has risen as criminals and organized retail crime grows more sophisticated in thwarting security solutions. According to the Centre for Retail Research Global Retail Theft Barometer 2011 study, [1] Total global shrink in 2011 cost retailers $119.092 billion, an average of 1.45% of global retail sales. The shrinkage rate was an average of 6.6% higher than 2010. The losses are said to cost each family $199.89 per that year. Working with security integrators to achieve maximum visibility into what takes place in a retail store on a daily basis allows the CVO to impact not only shrinkage numbers, but also to improve store operations. This approach was cited by the University of Leicester study on Effective Retail Loss Prevention, 10 Ways to Keep Shrinkage Low [2] where it was noted that among the keys to reducing shrinkage in an organization included establishing a senior management commitment, ensuring organisational ownership, embedding loss prevention into the business and providing strong leadership.

Organized retail crime (ORC) refers to professional shoplifting, cargo theft, retail crime rings and other organized crime occurring in retail environments. One person acting alone is not considered an example of organized retail crime. These criminals move from store to store and even city to city. Working in teams, some create distractions while others steal everything from infant formula to DVDs. Often, they are stocking up on specified items at the request of the organized crime leader.

Challenges

Shrinkage can occur in a number of different areas for a retailer: employee theft, including sweethearting shoplifting/organized retail crime, administrative error and vendor fraud.[ citation needed ] The goal of a CVO is to maximize business profits by reducing losses.[ citation needed ] To accomplish this objective, CVOs analyze the full spectrum of store operations from employee and customer behavior to vendor and supplier patterns and supply chains.[ citation needed ] Integrated technologies can provide a comprehensive picture of customer behavior, staffing needs and merchandising trends, in addition to preventing losses for the store.[ citation needed ] The CVO must be in touch with core challenges across an organization to implement and integrate security solutions tailored to protect its unique vulnerabilities. According to securitysales.com [3] retailers are looking beyond standalone technology like electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems or cameras and access control and aiming to have visibility across the demand and supply chain.

Sweethearting in the retail loss prevention industry means theft by employees at the cash register, by giving away merchandise to a "sweetheart" customer. Cashiers can do it in numerous ways, including:

Shoplifting

Shoplifting is the unnoticed theft of goods from an open retail establishment. Shoplifting typically involves a person concealing a store item on their person, in pockets or under clothes and leaving the store without paying for it. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items from the store and leave the store wearing the clothes. The terms "shoplifting" and "shoplifter" are not usually defined in law. The crime of shoplifting generally falls under the legal classification of larceny. Shoplifting is distinct from burglary, robbery or armed robbery. In the retail industry, the word shrinkage or shrink, can be used to refer to merchandise lost by shoplifting, but the word also includes loss by other means, such as waste, uninsured damage to products, and theft by store employees.

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In commerce, supply-chain management (SCM), the management of the flow of goods and services, involves the movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption. Interconnected or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain. Supply-chain management has been defined as the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply-chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand and measuring performance globally." SCM practice draws heavily from the areas of industrial engineering, systems engineering, operations management, logistics, procurement, information technology, and marketing and strives for an integrated approach. Marketing channels play an important role in supply-chain management. Current research in supply-chain management is concerned with topics related to sustainability and risk management, among others. Some suggest that the “people dimension” of SCM, ethical issues, internal integration, transparency/visibility, and human capital/talent management are topics that have, so far, been underrepresented on the research agenda.

Supply chain system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from the point where it is manufactured to where it is consumed

In business and finance, supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities involve the transformation of natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. In sophisticated supply chain systems, used products may re-enter the supply chain at any point where residual value is recyclable. Supply chains link value chains.

Point of sale time and place where a retail transaction is completed

The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place where a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice for the customer, and indicates the options for the customer to make payment. It is also the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or after provision of a service. After receiving payment, the merchant may issue a receipt for the transaction, which is usually printed but is increasingly being dispensed with or sent electronically.

Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the same product's availability and pricing at different e-retailers. As of 2016, customers can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.

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A store detective is a member of loss prevention whose main role is to prevent and detect theft and reduce shrink in retail outlets. They do this by patrolling the store in plain clothes looking to identify members of the public who are stealing from the store. More common terms today with major retailers are loss prevention agent, detective or investigator and asset protection officer. Special officer, once common, is now rarely used, as few jurisdictions still allow it.

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Shrinkage (accounting)

In accounting, inventory shrinkage is when a retailer has fewer items in stock than in the inventory list due to clerical error or goods being damaged, lost, or stolen between the point of manufacture and the point of sale. This affects profit: if shrinkage is large, profits decrease. This leads retailers to increase prices to make up for losses, passing the cost of shrinkage onto customers.

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Checkpoint Systems is an American provider for loss prevention and merchandise visibility. Checkpoint allows retailers to achieve accurate real-time inventory, accelerate the replenishment cycle, prevent out-of-stocks and reduce theft to improve merchandise availability and the shopper’s experience. Checkpoint offers Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) radio frequency solutions for retail, high-theft and loss-prevention solutions, RFID hardware, software, and labeling capabilities.

Retalix

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Retail leakage occurs when local people spend a larger amount of money on goods than local businesses report in sales, usually due to people traveling to a neighboring town to buy goods. Retail sales leakage occurs when there is unsatisfied demand within the trading area and that the locality should provide extra stores spaces for such type of businesses. After all, retail leakage does not necessarily translate into opportunity. For instance, there could be a tough competition in a nearby locality that leads the market for same type of product. Many small - to medium-sized communities experience leakage of retail expenditures as local citizens drive to neighboring towns to shop at national retail chains or eat at national restaurant chains. Attracting such national retail chain stores and restaurants to a community can prevent this type of expenditure leakage and create local jobs.

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References

  1. ↑ "The First Worldwide Shrinkage Survey 2011". Centre for Retail Research. 2011. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  2. ↑ "Effective Retail Loss Prevention, 10 Ways to Keep Shrinkage Low". 2007. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  3. ↑ "It's Go Time In Retail". Security Sales and Integration. July 2, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-10-21.
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