Episode #24
Retail Shrink Is Bigger Than Theft
Retailers spend billions trying to prevent theft. But what if theft is only a fraction of the loss they’re actually experiencing? In this episode, Russ Hawkins, CEO of Agilence, explains why retailers need to rethink “shrink” as total retail loss, a much broader problem that can include employee behavior, bad processes, stockouts, over-ordering, discount abuse, returns, loyalty programs, and the disconnect between physical and digital commerce. Hawkins shares how Agilence uses data and AI to identify patterns that are nearly impossible for humans to see across thousands of transactions, while also addressing the growing tension between loss prevention, customer experience, privacy, and emerging technologies. With retailers increasingly trying to connect POS, e-commerce, HR, loyalty, and other data sources, this conversation offers a provocative look at where the next generation of retail losses sit, and how to to recover them.
