NRF Supports Bill Aimed at Reducing Organized Retail Crime

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is voicing support for the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces (INFORM) for Consumers Act that is included in year-end congressional omnibus legislation.

According to David French, senior vice president of Government Relations with the NRF, the INFORM Act will bring transparency to online marketplaces by requiring them to verify the identities of high-volume third-party sellers.

“Doing so will help curb the fencing of stolen merchandise and address the sale of counterfeit goods, which are common tactics of organized retail crime (ORC) groups,” he said. “On behalf of the retail industry, we are extremely pleased negotiators included the INFORM Act in the omnibus package, and we look forward to passage in Congress this week.”

NRF’s 2022 National Retail Security Survey found that retail shrink, when taken as a percentage of total retail sales in 2021, accounted for $94.5 billion in losses last year.

“While ORC can vary in scope and scale, the common denominator is that the activity is a coordinated, organized effort,” French said. “These criminal rings operate sophisticated enterprises that aim to ransack retailers and sell illegally obtained merchandise for profit, endangering both employees and consumers.”