Retailing is one of the world's largest industries. As retailing and wholesaling have become more global, competition has intensified. Today's retailers face unprecedented challenges, including industry consolidation, employee attraction and retention, and business continuity. And as always, consumers are demanding ever-higher quality - at ever-lower prices - for the products they buy.

For a retail business, these trends create a host of risks - strategic, financial, operational, and hazard - that can prove costly.

Marsh's Retail Practice specializes in addressing the risk and insurance needs of retailers and wholesalers. Our approach includes a thorough assessment of client risks and solutions tailored to meet clients' specific needs.

Solutions for retailer and wholesaler risks include:

• E-Business Risk Solutions - The Internet gives a retail business greater speed, efficiency, and worldwide access to potential markets and customers. But it also brings new legal uncertainties and complex risks. Marsh offers comprehensive consulting and risk transfer services for e-business ventures.
• Retail Stock Throughput - Marsh can help a retail business achieve better coverage - with lower deductibles - to insure stock against damage from windstorms, floods, and earthquakes.
• Construction Wrap-ups - A retailer that plans to invest at least $50 million per year in new construction and remodeling may find that a "rolling wrap-up" program can greatly lower insurance costs.
• Workplace Violence Prevention - Retail businesses are especially vulnerable to violence in the workplace. Marsh can help reduce the number of violent incidents and lessen the impact of those that do occur.
• Integrated Disability Management - Managing all disability-related costs and moving toward returning employees to work as soon as possible can dramatically reduce a retailer's labor costs, while increasing staff productivity and customer service quality.
• Business Continuity and Crisis Management Consulting - A crisis - whether at a store, a distribution center, or company headquarters - can lead to serious injuries, disruption of the flow of goods, and consequent loss of business. Marsh's Risk Consulting Practice examines business processes to identify areas critical to a retailer's survival.
• Merger, Acquisition, and Divestiture Consulting- Many retailers are choosing to grow through acquisitions or mergers. Marsh can quickly and efficiently recommend ways to minimize the risks associated with these complex transactions.
• Claims Consulting - For most retailers, employee and customer claims comprise the largest share of total cost of risk. Marsh claims consultants have partnered with many retailers to manage these claims more cost-effectively.
• Workers Compensation Claims - In the retail industry, workers compensation costs are often second only to payroll expenses. Marsh's proprietary benchmarking tool, Dimensions, can compare workers compensation costs with those of peer retailers and help analyze internal data.
• Transportation and Logistics Consulting - Retailers are always looking for ways to get goods to points of sale with more efficiency and a lower cost of risk. Three Marsh organizations - the Retail/Wholesale Practice, the Transportation Practice, and the Supply Chain Consulting Practice - offer the retailer a team approach to better management of risk.
  

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