Organized retail crime (ORC) is a massive issue for businesses across the country as criminal networks become more sophisticated. 

They’re using advanced logistics, implementing smarter processes (like repackaging items before reselling), leveraging technology, and sometimes colluding with employees. As a result, their actions impact retailers, law enforcement, and communities more drastically. 

The retail industry is likely to experience higher losses, and law enforcement may have a harder time tracking perpetrators and building iron-clad cases. Communities may even have to contend with higher prices as retailers struggle to recoup losses. 

Here, we take an in-depth look at organized retail crime, exploring what it is, how it works, and how retailers can deter it. 

What is organized retail crime?

Organized retail crime is a coordinated effort by groups of people to steal and resell merchandise from retail stores. Unlike casual shoplifting, which typically involves people stealing items for personal use, ORC’s main goal is financial gain. 

Organized retail crime also differs from shoplifting in scale, target, and organization. Shoplifting is commonly small-scale and often involves individual people stealing items, while ORC is large-scale and involves multiple offenders working together. ORC theft rings target high-value items like electronics, over-the-counter medications, and jewelry to maximize their gains.

Additionally, they divide members into specific groups based on their roles. For example, a ring may have distractors to take employees’ attention away from theft areas, boosters to steal items, a driver for a seamless getaway, and fences to buy the stolen items. 

Unfortunately for retail store owners, ORC is a growing concern. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 76% of retailers reported significant increases in ORC over the past year. Further, 84% of survey respondents cited violence during thefts as a top concern, as offenders also exhibited more aggression during crimes in 2024. 

So it’s essential for business owners to not only proactively address organized retail crime but also work with local law enforcement to support investigations. If you’re struggling to gather enough evidence against ORC groups, our guide to ORC case building can help. 

How does organized retail crime operate?

ORC theft rings use various tactics to steal and resell retail items. Some of the most common ones include:

Coordinated theft and smash-and-grab operations

Organized retail crimes are not one-person operations. They involve multiple individuals with distinct roles, such as causing distractions, stealing, and driving. 

These groups typically target high-value items like jewelry in smash-and-grabs to ensure they get away with expensive items in as little time as possible. Their goal is to get in and out in minutes, making it difficult for security personnel or law enforcement to intervene. 

Smash and grabs can sometimes result in violence if perpetrators don’t get what they want or if they feel boxed in, potentially jeopardizing employee and customer safety.  

Return fraud and resale markets

As mentioned earlier, ORC groups mainly steal for financial gain. So they often resell stolen goods in online marketplaces, e-commerce platforms, and social media groups, usually at lower prices than retail stores, to capture buyers’ attention. Some offenders also sell to illicit street vendors and gray market distributors, who knowingly or unknowingly sell them to their clients. 

However, not all ORC groups resell stolen items to other parties. Some take advantage of retail stores’ return policies and make fake returns in exchange for money or additional merchandise. 

Others forgo the smash-and-grab tactic, instead choosing to buy products at discounted prices and later on return them with fake receipts for full refunds. 

The role of stolen vehicles in ORC

Organized retail crime groups minimize their risk of apprehension by transporting stolen goods in stolen or untraceable vehicles. Unfortunately, this can make it difficult for law enforcement to identify and track suspects. 

Rather than trying to identify suspects based on their vehicles (which is impossible if they are stolen), law enforcement can track vehicle movements using tools like Flock Safety’s license plate readers (LPRs). This way, they can assign patrol teams to roads the cars frequently use. 

Why is organized retail crime increasing?

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ORC has resulted in $125.7 billion in lost economic activity. This figure may increase over the coming years due to factors like:

• Poor economic conditions: Financial hardships may push some individuals toward criminal activity like ORC. 
• Weak enforcement policies: According to the NRF’s 2024 report, current laws for prosecuting organized crime rings are outdated and weak. 
• Poor security measures: A lack of oversight and real-time intelligence can make it easier for offenders to steal without repercussions. 
• Advanced criminal tactics: Traditional loss prevention methods are becoming less effective against sophisticated theft operations. For example, CCTV footage may not provide much value if criminal enterprises use fake license plates, as there’s no way to track them. 

How businesses can deter organized retail crime

Despite the rising number of ORC cases, there’s a lot retailers can do to protect their businesses, employees, and customers. Here are some practical tips for tackling organized retail crime.

Implement advanced security measures

As ORC groups’ theft tactics become more sophisticated, so should retail security measures. Instead of relying solely on traditional security solutions like cameras, retailers also need to invest in license plate recognition technology. This technology monitors parking lots in real time and tracks vehicles linked to past ORC activity, potentially deterring organized theft. 

Flock Safety’s Intelligence Solution helps you fight organized crime by capturing actionable data like vehicle license plates and sending real-time alerts to law enforcement whenever past offenders enter the business premises.

Explore Flock Safety’s license plate readers to elevate your store’s security.

Train staff to recognize ORC tactics

While ORC rings are often organized, they tend to give off signs, such as:

• Hanging around high-value items
• Entering stores in large groups and spreading out quickly
• Wearing unusually large clothing 
• Attempting to distract employees 
• Refusing assistance 

It’s worth noting, however, that these signs may not always point to potential ORC incidents. To avoid accusing innocent shoppers, train loss prevention teams to start by observing suspicious behavior. 

If they spot a threat, encourage them to discreetly notify security personnel and avoid confronting suspected offenders — some may get aggressive if they feel trapped, resulting in injuries. 

Offer regular simulation training to update employees on the latest ORC tactics and test their reactions in “real-life scenarios.” This helps you confirm their readiness for potential occurrences. 

Strengthen collaboration with law enforcement

Partnering with local law enforcement to combat organized retail crime can strengthen theft deterrence efforts by promoting case clearances. So help however you can after an incident — ask witnesses to give their statements, share security footage, and hand over LPR data to promote seamless suspect and vehicle tracking. 

Flock Safety helps businesses collaborate with law enforcement to track vehicles involved in ORC by capturing pertinent vehicle details (like license plates) and sending real-time alerts when our LPRs spot them. 

Leverage data-driven crime deterrence

Leverage monitoring tools to identify suspicious activity patterns and repeat offenders before theft incidents occur. Then, notify your security team or law enforcement to minimize losses to your business and deter future incidents on your property. 

Flock Safety’s LPR Cameras and FlockOS solution can facilitate real-time monitoring, essentially building a virtual safety perimeter around your premises. They not only capture vehicle license plates, makes, and colors but also deliver intelligence to law enforcement agencies in real time to facilitate quick responses. 

Improve situational awareness and collaboration with law enforcement with FlockOS today.

Improve store security policies

Effective crime deterrence is also contingent on working store policies. Well-structured policies can make it difficult for ORC groups to operate, limiting theft risks. Some policies to consider for better retail security include:

• Ensure controlled access to high-value items by using locked cases or requiring employee assistance for expensive, high-risk items. 
• Implement stricter return policies by requiring original receipts and minimizing your store’s return window. 
• Ask customers to leave large bags at designated stations. 
• Install reinforced glass and smart entry systems to deter smash-and-grab tactics. 
• Ask employees to document all ORC attempts, detailing information like suspects’ identifiable features and vehicle makes, models, colors, and license plates. 

Work to keep your business safe from organized retail theft and crime 

Organized retail theft and crime can be detrimental to retail operations. It can affect profit margins, cause operational disruptions, and jeopardize customer and employee safety, potentially impacting your business’ reputation. 

Stronger store policies and regular employee training on how to spot and react to potential ORC are important. But investing in modern security solutions and collaborating with law enforcement to apprehend repeat offenders can go a long way toward safeguarding your business.

Flock Safety gives businesses the proactive security intelligence they need to fight back against ORC. Our LPR technology captures key vehicle information and helps law enforcement track car movements, deterring theft from repeat offenders. 

Our software also unifies data from multiple sources, which can help business owners and law enforcement task forces spot ORC trends and develop well-informed, proactive strategies. 

Schedule a demo today to see our technology in action and protect your business from ORC.