Theft – a ‘very’ commercial response

Theft on a large scale is a constant threat to brands despite more and more robust processes and agreements with carriers and suppliers.

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The issue……

Theft on a large scale is a constant threat to brands despite more and more robust processes and agreements with carriers and suppliers. Insurance is in place but can be expensive and a testing process to go through, but what about the impact on the market, the impact upon the brand, the impact upon margin and market share? In July 2019 C3i received a call from one of our established clients regarding a theft of a container that had occurred just a few hours earlier.

C3i were able to engage immediately and took any hassle of the theft away from the directors of the company (appreciated as they were all on holiday) The container, with stocks for the upcoming seasonal sell in, was broken into and unloaded overnight while in a secure and designated truck stop.

The response……

C3i managed the engagement with law enforcement, the loss adjustor assigned to the brand and attended the scene and captured statements from ‘involved’ parties all within the first 12 hours. The law enforcement background and experience of the C3i team give us the ability to prepare ‘cases’ and develop information, intelligence and handle evidence in a manner that can be handed to law enforcement for prosecutions or further investigations.

With the physical investigation initiated and developing, the true value, expertise and focus of C3i was engaged to focus upon the product itself. Product of this type, design and spec targeted to the seasonal period had the capability of being very disruptive to the market in the hands of assumed criminals trying to gain from the proceeds of selling it.

C3i established ‘monitoring’ across the territory to detect if and when these products were offered in the market. This included system-based monitoring using key words and image filters, social media tracking and engaging HUMINT assets in the market to listen to the market. 5 days after the theft had occurred, we detected seller activity and action was swift. Information was collated regarding the seller, the location and the images used and when appropriate evidential test purchases were made. In the first 2 days of detecting sellers C3i had engaged with 15 sellers and visited, collected TP’s and even carried out surveillance on 6 sellers of particular interest. Using charts and heatmapping an overview of the Theft – a ‘very’ commercial response

It is worthy of note that the brand has embraced the Vi3 solution which made the focus of this investigation sharper and more reactive. When images were placed online by seller’s we were able to check some of the stocks from the labels on show, while we could also very quickly determine if the items were the stolen stocks within seconds of taking possession of the test purchases. This enable us to make swift decisions and take action when appropriate.

Mobirise

C3i managed the engagement with law enforcement, the loss adjustor assigned to the brand and attended the scene and captured statements from ‘involved’ parties all within the first 12 hours

The results……

Approximately 30% of the stolen stocks were recovered within 3 weeks of the theft, and 92% of sellers had been ceased in their selling activity. C3i had also engaged with sellers whom were attempting to engage with businesses and retailers alike and helped coordinate communications to the authorised dealer network to work with the brand to tackle this direct threat. “the efforts of C3i have caused huge disruption to the persons trying to profit from selling these stolen products and have minimised the exposure on the market.

This means we will be able to sustain our price levels at this critical period and protect the integrity of or consumers experience” (Managing Director, Owner) The stock recovery and disruption efforts enabled the loss adjustor to make a fast submission to the insurer which has enabled the business to react accordingly in manufacturing more stocks for the season, while also ensuring the premiums hey pay for insurance are not impacted too greatly, if at all. C3i are proud to have assisted and supported the brand to sustain and reinforce consumer and dealer confidence at a time when these could have been eroded quickly.

Consumer experience and reviews on line are a major focus and strategy for this brand and as such C3i actions have served to minimise any negative impact while also using direct communication by covert means to disrupt the selling ability of any of those found handling (information determine knowingly) the stolen items. In the following weeks, and to date, C3i remain engaged with the Brand on this subject to review their processes, advise on crime prevention initiatives and continue market visibility and action against the stolen items. “With ever limited resources, law enforcement are less and less likely to engage when commercial theft occurs. C3i are perfectly positioned to support the brand in such problematic times and are able to react and deliver a level of protection to the brand and proactively minimise the impact upon them, their market, their dealers and the consumers. They spend so much resource on building their brands, events such as these have the ability to destroy that work very quickly – we want to stop that from happening!” (Commercial Director)

To contact C3i for further information:

+44 (0)1244 661222
admin@c3ieurope.com

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