The last two years have been a rollercoaster of ups and downs for eCommerce businesses. The swings from sales highs to lows would have elicited an extreme spectrum of emotions from anxiety to serenity. Managing inventory, marketing products while trying to keep up with accelerated trends in the market, and establishing 3PL relationships are just the tip of the iceberg. Even when business is seemingly running smoothly, the eCommerce space poses a myriad of challenges. For example, 3PL theft can significantly upend your customers’ business, costing them time and money, and negatively impacting their bottom line.

Did you know?

According to a report by LexisNexis, did you know eCommerce businesses have been hit with the highest fraud and theft costs losing an average of $3.90 for every dollar in losses? Of these, nearly half are related to replacing and redistributing lost or stolen goods. During the pandemic period, eCommerce businesses experienced higher fraud costs in the mobile channel driven by opportunity and desperation. Not only that, the price of their business’ reputation can’t be measured or calculated. 

In order to ensure your prospective customers’ businesses remain profitable and in turn profitable for you, you need to provide the protection they need against theft that occurs during the logistics stage. Fraud in the eCommerce space has risen nearly twice as fast as sales, making it more important now than ever for them to be vigilant with their 3PL security.

What is 3PL theft?

Third-party logistics (3PL) partners are one of the most important relationships for eCommerce businesses but they also need to be carefully vetted, selected, and more importantly, closely monitored. A good 3PL partner will have safeguards in place to ensure inventory is properly managed and protected from thieves that are looking to take advantage of any security vulnerabilities. 

As the logistics industry continues to scale to meet the growing global demand of eCommerce customers, inventory loss is unfortunately also keeping pace. One reason for this loss is ineffective security safeguards such as alarm systems, closed-circuit television, and uniformed guards — all commonly used to protect from breaking and entering, but not internal theft. Internal 3PL theft can take many forms, from the use of your inventory to fulfill orders for other clients, to small or large-scale theft of goods for resale. The result is costly for eCommerce businesses and, unless perpetrators are caught, there’s often little or no recourse.

Our Remote Guard Solutions can help

To avoid 3PL theft, it’s imperative your partners perform regular audits of your customers’ inventory and security protocols. Sophisticated thieves will outsmart even the best security systems and procedures, so it’s especially important to find a 3PL partner with failsafe security measures in place. In addition to asking pointed questions, referencing reviews or obtaining feedback from existing customers, having tools in place such as Remote Guarding Solutions can ensure your customers’ logistics partners are monitored and surveilled 24/7. 

There are several advantages that a Remote Guard has over uniformed security guards. Fatigue during late shifts, frequent restroom breaks, distractions from mobile devices, and worse, injuries due to physical encounters with perpetrators, are some of the vulnerabilities that your business can be exposed to when physical guards are involved. Remote guard and proactive video monitoring does not require sleep, rest, or bathroom breaks. This means zero liabilities. If your prospective eCommerce customers are only employing physical guards to secure their facility and assets, we need to talk. 

At Eyeforce, we’ll give you comprehensive guidance on communicating the importance of remote guard and proactive video monitoring services to potential end-users. Remote guarding combines the latest video surveillance technologies, sophisticated analytics, and crime intervention specialists providing real-time audio response while following a customizable escalation protocol that can include contacting law enforcement. Its real and active presence is immediately evident to anyone acting suspiciously or performing unwanted actions. 

Remote guarding turns every video surveillance camera into a virtual security system and can cover the entire facility simultaneously, even in remote or dark locations. Since it covers every area at once, criminals can never take advantage of a physical guard’s schedule that can leave parts of the property unprotected. 

Having uniformed guards with sharp uniforms and badges may provide the appearance of security, but your end-users should never let their guard down and nothing reveals the truth better than video evidence. 

To learn more, contact us today.