MILFORD, Mass. and EXTON, Pa.--The National Shrink Database, a retail industry benchmarking and reporting tool, now boasts 24,191 retail stores using it to measure shrink, security tools and loss prevention processes in place at competing stores.

Launched in fall 2007, the National Shrink Database is a Web-based user interface that collects information on shrink rates across the industry and for specific geographic areas.

Retail solutions firm LP Innovations and Cap Index, a provider of crime forecasting and loss mitigation analytics, jointly developed the database, which the companies call "the first tool of its kind to offer location-specific shrinkage data."

Retailers are able to enter the address of a store or mall and a zip code to compare their shrink rate against that of their local competitors. Users can also research what security measures are used at local, state and national levels by retail type. For example, a women's fashion retailer in Miami can see what technologies -- surveillance cameras, exception reporting or EAS -- competing retailers in the area are using to mitigate theft and reduce shrink.

Marlene Kusomoto, vice president of loss prevention for Guess, said the database has been a useful tool as the company expands its number of locations across the country.

"We have a relatively small LP team in comparison to other retail stores," Kusomoto said. "This completely replaces our normal risk assessment as we don't have the manpower to send someone out. In the past, it had been difficult to benchmark the tools other retailers have been using to help with their shrink and prevent it from happening."

The LP team at Guess uses NSD to "basically gauge what we are going to place in our stores for physical security. We rely heavily on the data that is available in the database."

Kusomoto also said the information helps the company gauge appropriate staffing levels.

As Guess' LP staff is also entering information into the system, Kusomoto said the company's legal department had some concerns about what information was being shared. It is important, she said, for LP professionals to inform legal that "the information is retail-specific and confidential. We are actually saving in the long run by sharing this data and building off of it rather than going blind and making mistakes from being uninformed."