InterRisk Research Institute & Consulting Inc. and trading house Takachiho Koheki Co. have started offering retailers consulting services to deter shoplifting, officials said Tuesday.
The service is designed to help such retailers as drugstores and large-scale home electrical appliance shops reduce shoplifting, officials of the two firms said.
InterRisk Research, a unit of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., has specialized in providing risk management-related consulting services, while Takachiho Koheki has sold a range of crime-prevention devices, including electronic monitoring equipment.
A Mitsui Sumitomo official said that when the two companies earlier tested the new consulting service at a large retailer of household commodities, it helped slash shoplifting by 70 percent.
The two companies also expect bookstores to place orders for the new service, the official said.