The Challenge

One of our clients, a specialty retailer, has the largest geographic footprint in the United States. After two sizeable acquisitions effectively tripling their store and distribution center footprint, the company’s losses spiked to an all-time high for the organization, while revenue decreased year over year.

The organization needed a robust profit protection program with a proactive approach, focused on strategies that would impact the underlying root causes of shrink, while at the same time fostering opportunities to boost revenue by maximizing unrealized sales potential. The company’s previous solution had a more traditional approach that was narrowly focused on physical security and reaction to losses associated with theft, which often inhibited sales growth.

The Strategy

We use a holistic approach to organizational loss and data-driven analytics to accomplish our clients’ goals. EPIC ImpactTM Operational Compliance can identify and execute proven strategies to drive shrink results down, providing more profit to the bottom line. EPIC Impact Risk Partners (formerly EPIC Integrated Solutions) proactively and specifically address the root causes of loss through:

  • Risk analysis
  • Operational and safety audits
  • Investigations
  • Training and development
  • Risk assurance
  • Business continuity
  • On-site visits and regional partnerships

The Investigation

The EPIC team gained a better understanding of the underlying root causes of shrink through a comprehensive data analysis of shrink results, coupled with an expert understanding of the company’s business model through partnerships with local and regional leadership. An intimate understanding of business needs and functions, along with the analysis results, provided insight into how resources could be allocated to produce the most impactful effect on shrink results.

The Solution

Audit and visit recap information provided feedback to the client and pinpointed areas of loss that were not associated with an increase in theft. We identified processes and procedures in operations, logistics, software knowledge, organization, and inventory management which were contributing significantly to overall shrink results. Other opportunities unrelated to shrink were also identified in areas of the business prone to cause potential loss including workers’ compensation claims, general liability and safety.


Over the course of our partnership, we have helped the business reduce shrinkage by more than $9 million.


Through a data-driven approach, EPIC Impact Profit Protection helped the client reduce shrink results by 18 basis points or $4m in 2019. Over the course of our partnership, we have helped the business reduce shrinkage by more than $9m. These savings were driven by solutions created to specifically address the root causes, most of which had little to do with theft. In addition, sales revenue grew year over year through a non-invasive approach that encouraged integrity in the sales process to support a “customer-first” mentality. Further, reduced losses increased the ability to satisfy demand on the sales floor by reducing out-of-stock merchandise that was significantly impacting unrealized sales potential.