Welcome to the first edition of The Takeback. 🎉
Each issue, we’re sharing the strategies, data, and insights from retail leaders who can help you understand the core components of retail loss—and start to take back what’s been slipping away.
Kicking us off is our very own CRO, Pedro Ramos, who managed $2.5B in supermarket operations during his 23-year tenure at Pathmark Stores.
During that time, he felt firsthand what it was like to walk into a six figure budget meeting…and watch investment requests shrink down to double digits in available tech funding, as other needs took priority.
Most loss prevention professionals try competing in that small pool with shrink reduction proposals and departmental metrics. But what Pedro discovered is that the most effective budget conversations came when you started with total business impact, not just loss prevention stats.
“CFOs are interested in anything that’s gonna drive top-line sales and expand margins,” he explains. “They’re also interested in anything that doesn’t require additional headcount or processes.”
Here’s how to talk to your CFO about loss prevention in a language they’ll understand. (And better yet, fund.)
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But first, your industry brain teaser of the week:
What's the average return rate for home improvement stores?
Scroll to the bottom for the answer.
Here's what we have in store for you this week:
The Rundown: How retail loss can be poised as revenue protection
Worth Your Time: Retail workers report safety concerns, On holds pricing despite tariffs, and delivery issues affect 75% of shoppers
What We’re Up To: $685M in returns is not a rounding error
Loss prevention doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
One apparel retailer proved this when they disconnected their return’s management system during an upgrade and saw return rates climb back to previous levels within 90 days. They reconnected the system, and rates dropped immediately.
Revenue protection works like a firewall. If you turn it off, the attacks get through.
The complete picture is that loss and returns affect top-line sales, margins, and cash flow simultaneously. The same fraudulent behavior creates losses across multiple P&L lines. The problem is, departments managing those lines separately can't identify the patterns.
Pedro knows what CFOs care about because he spent years presenting to them—and he knows the importance of connecting loss prevention to a greater picture of the bottom-line. Here are his three principles to improve CFO conversations:
Speak revenue impact, not shrink percentages.
CFOs allocate budgets based on which investments protect the most revenue. Pedro stopped walking in with shrink reduction numbers. Instead, he'd show how a single fraud pattern was hitting three different departments—each tracking their own losses without seeing the connection. His job became drawing the line between those dots.
Build direct relationships beyond budget season.
By the time budget season rolled around, Pedro had already spent months having lunch with the CFO’s business analyst. No proposals, no asks, just regular and organic updates on what he was seeing across the business. When annual budget planning came around, the CFO naturally already knew his story and wanted to work on a collaborative solution. The formal request was a formality.
Structure for quick wins without IT overload.
Pedro hunted through his own operating budget first. He found underperforming spend, cut it, then walked into the CFO's office with a proposal that required minimal new capital and wouldn't overwhelm IT.
Fast results, low risk, clear ROI. That's the trifecta that moves through approval committees.
Technology consolidation creates your window. Post-2020, omnichannel retailers accumulated solutions in ecomm survival mode. Now they're eliminating redundancy.
Your move: Find the underperforming line items, build the net-zero proposal, request that lunch.
Verkada’s 2025 State of Retail Safety Survey (in conjunction with the Loss Prevention Research Council) surveyed 1,000 retail workers and found workplace safety concerns are on the rise, threatening retention. (PR Newswire)
Athletics brand On are skipping blockbuster holiday discounting—and reports that tariff-driven price increases have not slowed sales. (Retail Dive)
Three in four consumers have experienced a late delivery in the past year, while 40% say a lack of delivery estimates stops them from completing a transaction. (Chain Store Age)
NRF always sets the tone for the year. This time, the conversation started before anyone hit the show floor. Our Times Square billboard made one point: returns aren't an operational headache, they're a loss issue. Judging by how often it came up at NRF, people heard it.
The show delivered sharp conversations, full calendars, and several "glad we're finally talking about this" moments. That momentum continues with The Takeback Talks—a new executive community for peer-to-peer conversations about returns, fraud, and what's working. No pitches. Just real talk from people solving the same problems you are.
Don’t manage loss in isolation.
The retailers who recognize interconnected loss patterns—and share these patterns with their CFOs—are positioned for better margins, improved customer experience, and more efficient operations.
You just have to know how to talk about it.
Thanks for being part of The Takeback. See you next time.
Sarah Cascone CMO, Appriss Retail
And the answer is… Among the businesses we’ve worked with, home improvement retailers tend to see return rates of 15.2%. (Fun fact: After they implemented Appriss, those rates dropped to 12.9%, saving them $294M annually. That’s a lot of 2x4s.)
Ready to take back against retail loss?
Appriss Retail connects returns, fraud, and shrink data across your omnichannel operations. Request a conversation to explore how we help retailers move from reactive investigation to real-time prevention.
Appriss Retail, 220 Progress, Suite 175, Irvine, California 92618, United States, 1-949-262-5100
