How a US Funding Bill Targets Online Sites to Help Stop Retail Theft

This week America passed a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill — and it includes a big win for retailrs reporters the Associated Press. It forces online marketplaces like Amazon and Facebook 'to verify high-volume sellers on their platforms amid heightened concerns about retail crime....'

The bill, called the INFORM ACT, also seeks to combat sales of counterfeit goods and dangerous products by compelling online marketplaces to verify different types of information — including bank account, tax ID and contact details — for sellers who make at least 200 unique sales and earn a minimum of $5,000 in a given year.

It's difficult to parse out how much money retailers are losing due to organized retail crime — or if the problem has substantially increased. But the issue has received more notice in the past few years as high-profile smash-and-grab retail thefts and mass shoplifting events grabbed national attention. Some retailers have also said in recent weeks they're seeing more items being taken from stores. Target executives said in November the number of thefts has gone up more than 50%, resulting in more than $400 million in losses. Its expected to be more than $600 million for the full fiscal year.... Walgreens, Best Buy and Home Depot have also pointed out similar problems.

The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, said its latest security survey of roughly 60 retailers found that inventory loss — called shrink — clocked in at an average rate of 1.4% last year, representing $94.5 billion in losses [included damaged products and theft by employees]... It also noted retailers, on average, saw a 26.5% uptick in organized theft incidents last year.

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