The reality? Threats to retail and jewelry security are growing increasingly sophisticated and increasingly more common. In 2016, the average industry shrink rate hit 1.44%, costing retailers close to $50 billion. And there are no signs these numbers are slowing down. For the jewelry industry alone this shrinkage represented $72.4 million, up nearly 5% year-over-year.

While the major culprits remain consistent — shoplifting and organized retail crime (37%), employee theft/internal (30%), administrative paperwork error (21%) and vendor fraud or error (5% percent) — the complexity and pervasiveness of these threats make them more challenging to identify and course-correct than ever. According to a recent Senseon Retail Jewelry Survey, 75% of jewelers report being more concerned with theft than in previous years, with many recognizing threats from all sides of the “Jewelry Trifecta:” operations, security, and integration.

Understanding the Jewelry Trifecta

These three areas of security concerns have long underscored the jewelry industry’s best practices and processes. Now, though, as the focus shifts to security and safety more and more, these pillars are becoming central the conversation — specifically, how can jewelers and retailers address store-level security concerns across these three key buckets?

Productivity

Understanding the jewelry trifecta and potential vulnerabilities in your organization can help inform and streamline security processes. With the productivity pillar, for example, threats can be deterred through better key management. This is an everyday concern for retailers but, at the same time, can lead to more serious threats. A “lost” key, for example, can wind up in the wrong hands.

Jewelry Security

From a security perspective, unsecured display cases are among the most common threats to retailers. Luckily, they’re among the simplest to combat.

Jewelry is one of the most shoplifted items. Even a few seconds unsecured could lead to significant theft and damage. And if you do have secured display cases? Low staff accountability may mean you never know where your security processes fell short or who, specifically, was responsible for the loss.  

Integration

Rounding out the trifecta are connectivity concerns. The Internet of Things and overarching consumer connectivity have pushed retailers to be more integrated. Getting here, though, isn’t an overnight task.

While jewelers and other storefronts scramble to optimize their security and tracking systems, retail threats are becoming more sophisticated. Challenges from ORC syndicates paired with increasing cybersecurity threats and data breaches heighten the immediate need for multi-platform security. Taking a cross-platform approach ensures jewelers can manage immediate physical threats as well as threats coming from POS systems, credit card processing, customer data stores and more.

The Solution? It’s Simple — to Some Extent

The biggest question, then: what to do about these mounting and all-consuming threats? Next week, we’ll unpack solutions to the Jewelry Trifecta to ensure that, once your store has identified weaknesses, they can be addressed and mitigated regardless of your experience, your timing, or your budget. This is an essential topic for anyone in the jewelry or retail industry, and essential reading for anyone who isn’t going to take these threats lying down.

To learn how Senseon cabinet-level access control systems are helping jewelers and retailers improve store-level security, visit our Jewelry Access Control page.