How Hobbycraft Stopped Traveling Offenders Across Their Entire Retail Chain

A traveling offender is a criminal who targets multiple retail locations in succession, often hitting several stores in the same day or week. Without intelligence sharing, each store sees them as a first-time offender. Alert solves this by instantly sharing incident reports across regional store networks. When Store A reports an offender with photos and description, Store B receives an alert and can recognize that person if they appear. Hobbycraft found Alert "very, very useful in picking up traveling offenders" because the platform automatically cross-references incidents, revealing patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed.

According to Hobbycraft's Territory Manager, Alert is "much easier to use than any previous platform." Staff can report from anywhere—mobile phone while on the store floor or desktop PC in the back office. The system asks thorough questions including what the person looks like, what was stolen, and whether they've offended before, but the process remains quick and intuitive. The structured questions ensure comprehensive incident capture while guiding users through the reporting flow, taking just minutes to complete a detailed report that would previously require lengthy forms or manual data entry.

Yes. Regional visibility is a core feature. As Hobbycraft's Head of Loss Prevention explains, "shops can see everything that's going on within their local region, not just what's going on within their store." When you log into Alert, you see incident reports from neighboring stores in your configured region. This means if a nearby location reports an offender, your team immediately sees their photo, description, and modus operandi. Hobbycraft staff have successfully recognized repeat offenders because other local stores reported them first, enabling proactive intervention.

Hobbycraft previously used an internal reporting platform but found critical limitations. The main issue was data sharing—there was no way to aggregate information across stores without manually collecting and compiling it. This manual process was time-consuming and often resulted in incomplete data. ShopSafe Alert eliminates manual aggregation by automatically collecting and cross-referencing data across all stores. Scott Upsall, Hobbycraft's Head of Loss Prevention, states: "From a time-saving perspective and cost, ShopSafe is very, very effective." The platform transforms siloed incident data into actionable regional intelligence without additional admin burden.

Alert uses a structured questionnaire to capture comprehensive incident details. According to Hobbycraft store staff, the system asks: what the person looks like (physical description), what items were stolen or targeted, whether they've been in before (repeat offender status), the date and time of the incident, and any distinguishing features. Users can upload photos from CCTV or mobile cameras. This thorough data collection serves two purposes: it ensures sufficient detail for offender identification and prosecution, and it enables effective cross-referencing to identify traveling offenders hitting multiple locations.

Yes, mobile reporting is a key feature. Hobbycraft staff report incidents directly from the store floor using their mobile phones, as well as from desktop PCs in back offices. The mobile interface is optimized for quick reporting during or immediately after incidents, when details are fresh. This flexibility means store teams don't need to wait until they're at a computer to file reports—they can capture information in real-time, including taking photos with their phone camera. The mobile-first design recognizes that frontline retail staff are constantly moving and need tools that fit their workflow.

Information sharing is instant. When a Hobbycraft store reports an incident, neighboring stores in the configured region receive the information immediately. There's no delay for manual data entry, email distribution, or weekly reports. This real-time sharing is critical for catching traveling offenders who may hit multiple stores in quick succession. As demonstrated in Hobbycraft's experience, when one store reported an offender, another store "were able to recognize him quickly" when he appeared shortly after. This speed transforms crime prevention from reactive (responding after theft) to proactive (recognizing threats before they materialize).

After 18 months of deployment across all stores, Hobbycraft reports several key outcomes: significantly improved capability to pick up traveling offenders who target multiple locations; elimination of time-consuming manual data aggregation previously required with internal systems; better fairness and transparency as all stores gain visibility into regional crime patterns, not just their own incidents; improved offender cross-referencing through the centralized data collection system; and measurable time and cost savings compared to their previous internal platform. Store teams report increased confidence in recognizing and responding to known offenders due to the intelligence shared by neighboring locations.

Implementation timeframe depends on chain size, but Hobbycraft's experience with 100+ stores suggests 1-2 months is realistic for full deployment. The process involves: initial configuration of regional store groupings (1 week), loss prevention and management training (1-2 weeks), rollout to frontline staff in phases (2-4 weeks), and monitoring initial usage to ensure adoption (ongoing). Unlike complex IT systems, Alert is intuitive enough that staff training is measured in hours, not days. The platform is cloud-based, requiring no on-premise infrastructure. Most retailers see active usage within the first week as teams immediately recognize the value of regional intelligence sharing for catching traveling offenders.