The Price of Prestige: Luxury Brands Struggle with Crime and Retail Security

The retail industry is grappling with retail theft and organized crime, but luxury retailers may be facing even greater challenges. High-end brands are known worldwide for their craftsmanship, exclusivity, and, above all, high price tags. With such high resale value for luxury goods, they become prime targets for theft.

Luxury retail stores offer high-end fashion, accessories, jewelry, watches, perfumes, cosmetics, and home decor. They emphasize creating an upscale and opulent shopping experience for their customers, with elegant and visually appealing interiors, well-designed displays, and luxurious decor to enhance the ambiance. Despite recent news events such as ram raids on luxury jewelry stores and smash-and-grab robberies in high-end department stores, clients still expect a shopping experience that is personal, exclusive, and devoid of wires and security devices.

How do luxury stores prevent theft while maintaining their brand image and reputation? Keep reading to explore the unique challenges luxury retailers face, why they might not be employing optimal retail security measures, and what they can do to protect luxury products.

Are Luxury Retailers Doing Enough?

Even amidst inflation, the luxury goods market saw nearly a 9% rise in demand in 2023, outpacing inflation. As luxury brands remain popular status symbols, they are often understaffed and insufficiently protected against theft and organized crime rings.

When you pass by luxury stores like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, or Gucci, what do you observe? Often, there are only one or two staff members present at any given moment, and limited security personnel, with the stores frequently appearing empty.

Current security strategies in luxury retail include limiting the number of customers allowed in the store at any time and using advanced security cameras. While advanced surveillance systems excel at identifying theft after it occurs and potentially identifying the perpetrators, they do not prevent theft proactively. Additionally, RFID chips are often utilized, and substantial insurance coverage is maintained in case of significant losses.

1. Maintaining a customer-friendly environment: When consumers are spending large amounts of money on high-end goods and services, you’re expecting not only the best customer service, but a certain store aesthetic. Heavy security measures such as visible security guards, bag checks, or extensive CCTV cameras can detract from the ambiance and make any customer feel uncomfortable or unwelcome.

2. Protecting the brand image: Luxury brands cultivate an image of exclusivity, sophistication, and trust. Lots of wires and safety devices give the impression the store may be unsafe to shop in and diminish the overall luxuriousness associated with designer watches, handbags, and apparel.

3. Legal and privacy considerations: In some regions, there are legal restrictions on the use of certain security measures, such as intrusive surveillance or customer searches, which can limit the options available to luxury retailers.

4. Lack of awareness: Last year, a survey of senior executives of major designer brands, revealed that almost 90% of them were happy with their current level of protection. Even with a massive rise in brazen retail theft, 24% went as far as to say their security measures were excellent.

Even though only 11% of organized retail crime rings target luxury brands, they have become more violent in their attempts leaving employees and customers at greater risk of injury. Like their counterparts in the retail industry, it’s crucial for designer brands to develop a more comprehensive loss prevention strategy.

Enhancing Luxury Retail Security Strategies

Ongoing news coverage featuring groups of thieves grabbing merchandise and exiting through the front door is not lost on these high-end brands. They plan to invest more in asset protection measures, but can they keep pace with the level of innovation required to stay ahead of thieves? Here are more proactive solutions businesses can take to mitigate theft.

• Closer collaboration with law enforcement: Anyone can perpetrate theft at any time, but in the event of smash and grab theft and ram raids, organized crime groups often stalk a location for weeks before attacking. They tend to build a name for themselves that puts them on law enforcement’s radar. Collaborating closely with local enforcement can help in predicting a potential strike or catching suspects more quickly.
• Extensive employee training: Employees play an important role in the continuing success of any company. Training them not only in managing inventory and servicing customers, but what to do when a theft occurs is vital. Ensuring they’re aware of safety protocols can keep themselves and any shoppers safe. Most importantly, do not intervene in a robbery! Any material good is not worth risking injury or life!
• Invest in innovative access control measures: Luxury brands are known for having open glass displays that are easily accessible and enticing for thieves. With access control measures like Smart Locks, luxury brands are able to keep the same store aesthetic while limiting who can access products. Smart Locks are discreet and sleek so they blend seamlessly with glass displays maintaining a professional look.

Because Smart Locks work with a single key or a store’s smart devices, they can protect brands from internal theft as well by tracking who accessed which product displays and when for a complete audit trail. This extra layer of security can protect not only merchandise, but the sales team and shoppers, too.

• Collaborate with a retail security brand to create custom solutions: Security isn’t one size fits all. From high end watches and accessories to luxury cosmetics and beauty products and handbags, different products require a range of security devices. As more high-end retailers vow to increase their loss prevention spend, a more unique approach would be to work closely with retail security companies like InVue to create custom solutions.

InVue has a global presence, and a history of excellence and collaboration with the world’s largest retailers to develop bespoke security solutions. Where many competitors only focus on product protection, InVue’s team of engineers also focus on the customer experience and how consumers like to shop.

Being strategically placed across the globe, InVue’s solutions can be deployed quickly and are proven to reduce theft. InVue also has experience working with luxury European brands to employ innovative and customer solutions for the global market.

Premium Protection with InVue

For decades, luxury brands have maintained their prestige through traditional methods, preserving their craftsmanship and design excellence. However, as theft attempts become more sophisticated, it is imperative for luxury retail security to innovate and evolve. Whether you are an exclusive designer brand, a reseller, or a boutique, InVue’s security solutions are indispensable in combating internal and external retail theft.