Home Depot, Amazon, eBay and other major retailers and online marketplaces have signed a collaborative agreement with California’s Department of Justice to fight organized retail crime.
Attorney General Rob Bonta made the announcement Tuesday morning.
“The retailers are fed up with it. They’re seeing too many of their products stolen too often, and it takes an organized response to address organized crime,” he said. “That’s what this is — retailers, marketplaces, the public, law enforcement working together, teaming up to address the challenge.”
The agreement includes increased collaboration on information-sharing between law enforcement, online marketplaces and retailers at multiple points in the supply chain.
A 2020 survey from the National Retail Federation found that U.S. retailers lose about $700,000 to organized retail crime per $1 billion in sales.
It also noted that California is a hot spot for this type of theft, with three of the top 10 cities most affected by organized retail theft being in California: Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento.
Last year, California passed two pieces of legislation aimed at reducing the prevalence of this type of theft in the state. One senate bill introduced requirements for marketplaces to track and record information about third-party, high-volume sellers.
And an assembly bill established a new online portal — on the Department of Justice website — for the public to submit complaints and tips.
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