Post covid, risk has changed. Now, so must our response

As retailers struggle to adapt, perhaps a new approach to partnering with vendors holds the key to success…

I think that when we all emerged from Covid, we were surprised at how society had changed. Retailers reopening stores were initially taken aback by the new, higher levels of abuse, violence and criminality. I think many thought this was just a temporary thing. That life would get back to normal. Only relatively recently has retail collectively started to accept that this is not a blip. Not some passing phase. It is the new normal in which we operate. And everyone, including retail, has had to embrace that.

Looking at the violence on our streets right now, it is not a pretty sight. Usually, the election of a new government is greeted with a wave of positivity – an upswing in the mood of the nation as good change seems possibly again – at least for a few months. However, the fundamental change in people’s attitudes post covid, together with the cost of living crisis mean that more and more good people are making bad decisions. I am sorry to say I do not think we have bottomed out yet. I don’t think we are now on the up. I think that things are going to get much worse, before they get better.

Look at the global fiscal headwinds. The economic slumps of USA and China exacerbated by the continuing humanitarian and economic disasters that are the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. More and more countries are getting drawn in. You would have to say that prospects do not look good. And the continued uncertainty creating further economic difficulties is likely to manifest itself in higher rates or crime, organised and casual.

For some years it seems to me that the focus has been on external crime. But hard pressed families experiencing redundancies and fewer working hours are going to feel the pressure too. And as a result, I think internal shrink, something we have not really talked about as an industry for years now, will become a main topic of conversation along with how to keep staff safe from criminal assault and how best to support them when they become unfortunate victims.

I have also observed another trend. That is a change in the nature of relationship between retailers and their suppliers. Instead of vendors selling products and services to retailers to do as they see fit, increasingly we are embedded trusted partners working as part of our clients’ businesses to deliver security solutions. We don’t just supply products and services. We are an integral part of the team, helping customers to adapt to best face the challenges they meet by coming together as one single entity committed to defeating the bad guys.

And I wonder. Is it a case of ‘Cometh the hour… cometh the man…’

At a time when retailers are facing greater challenges over risk than ever before, the trend for true vendor partnerships is proliferating. By allowing your supplier to really get under the skin of your business and truly understand the challenges faced by an operation, together with the downsides of getting it wrong and the opportunities if you get it right, is how retailers and vendors will work together in future.

And this is very much at the core of ASEL today. Our approach to client risk is that first you have to model the risk on a granular basis. So, we understand on a store by store basis what risks are faced. Then we asses our response looking at how to give retailers the biggest return on investment as fast as possible. Then finally we assure the risk but circling back and checking that the risk we modelled has indeed been successfully met by the solution we proposed and implemented.

However, the leaning towards embedded long-term partnerships has meant that we are now able to offer a different operating model. One new to the industry. It is where we partner with a retailer to deal with their entire risk portfolio as a joint venture, with them sharing in the profits of that venture.

By working in partnership, we are able to change security provision form a cost centre to a profit centre! And I believe that it is that sort of innovative approach to meeting the threats posed by the new normal that retailers will increasingly embrace over the coming months and years.