How retail loss prevention teams are evolving in 2026 | New Research
How are retail loss prevention teams really organised today?
If there was ever any doubt that retail loss prevention teams have become a core part of modern retail operations, our latest research puts that doubt to rest.
The benchmarking study on loss prevention organisation design across 58 retailers, spanning 14 countries, €1.5 trillion in sales, and more than 73,000 stores, shows how 95% now have a dedicated team focused on managing loss.
That, in itself, is not particularly surprising… What is interesting is what happens next.
Because while almost every retailer now has a loss prevention function, there is far less agreement on what that function should actually look like.
Are retail loss prevention teams still focused on stores?
Traditionally, retail loss prevention teams have focused heavily on physical stores.
But the data shows a clear shift away from that model.
Nearly half of retailers (47%) now manage loss end-to-end across stores, distribution centres, and online fulfilment.
Only:
- 22% focus on stores alone
- 4% focus only on distribution centres
- 0% manage loss exclusively in online fulfilment
This tells us that loss is no longer a store problem; it is a system-wide issue.
Fraud, process failure, and operational errors move across channels. Increasingly, retail loss prevention teams are being structured to follow that reality.
How broad is the remit of retail loss prevention teams?
If the scope across locations is expanding, the scope across responsibilities is expanding even faster. Our research shows a wide spectrum in how retail loss prevention teams are structured, from narrow to broad:
- 15% focus only on core loss prevention (theft, shrink, investigations) VERY NARROW
- 31% operate with a moderate scope (core loss prevention + 1-3 related areas) NARROW
- 37% now cover operational and safety responsibilities (both the above + ops, people & safety) BROAD
- 17% operate at the very broadest enterprise-wide level, VERY BROAD
In total, more than half (54%) now sit within a broad or very broad remit. And this is where the role starts to change fundamentally.
In many organisations, retail loss prevention teams now overlap with:
- Health and safety
- Operational risk
- Compliance and ethics
- Business continuity
- ESG and sustainability
- Strategic risk projects
At this point, the function begins to look less like traditional loss prevention and more like a retail risk-and-resilience function.
Are retailers converging on a single loss prevention model?
Not even close. If anything, the research highlights how fragmented the landscape still is.
Some retail loss prevention teams remain highly specialised, focusing deeply on shrink and theft.
Others have expanded significantly, absorbing adjacent responsibilities and increasing their influence across the business.
This reflects key strategic trade-offs:
- Depth vs breadth
- Specialisation vs influence
A narrower team can drive focused interventions, while a broader team can shape systems, processes, and behaviours across the organisation.
Retailers are making different choices depending on structure, culture, and maturity.
What about retailers without a loss prevention team?
Only three retailers in the sample reported not having a dedicated function, and none of those was from the UK or the US. Instead, they rely on:
- Shared responsibility across the supply chain
- Central coordination at the project level
- Security teams handling criminal loss
This decentralised model treats loss as a business-wide responsibility, rather than something owned by a single team. It is rare, but it still exists.
What do retailers call their loss prevention teams?
Even the name of the function varies widely. The most commonly used terms are:
- Loss Prevention (36%)
- Asset Protection (27%)
- Profit Protection (9%)
- Security (7%)
- Retail Risk (4%)
Beyond the top five, naming becomes highly fragmented.
But naming matters, especially as it often reflects how the organisation sees the role:
- Loss Prevention → traditional shrink focus
- Asset Protection → broader protection of people and assets
- Retail Risk / Enterprise Risk → strategic, organisation-wide role
In many ways, the naming debate mirrors the structural one.
What does this mean for the future of retail loss prevention teams?
Three clear trends emerge.
- Loss is now end-to-end
Retailers are managing loss across stores, the supply chain, and online channels. - The function is expanding
More than half of retail loss prevention teams now operate beyond shrink. - There is no single model
Retailers are still experimenting with structure, scope, and ownership.
The key takeaway is that retailers agree on one thing: Loss needs ownership. It’s just that they are still working out what that ownership should look like.
As loss becomes more complex, spanning systems, behaviours, and channels, the most effective retail loss prevention teams will be those that can connect the dots across the business.
Whether that sits in a single highly-trained team or multiple functions matters less than the clarity of purpose and scope.
