Case Studies

How a 400+ Location Retailer Saves $558K a Year on Background Checks

Written by Alex Skaine | Apr 14, 2026 3:15:00 PM

24,000 Retail Hires. 98.3% Same-Day. 0.12-Day Turnaround. $558K Saved.


The Situation


Convenience retail operates on razor-thin margins and relentless turnover. With over 400 locations across New York State, this operator hires thousands of new employees annually - cashiers, shift managers, warehouse staff - many of whom need to be behind the counter within days, not weeks.

In an industry where a single bad hire can mean register shortages, workplace safety incidents, or regulatory exposure, cutting corners on screening isn’t an option. But neither is waiting five days for results while a competitor snags the same candidate.

This company didn’t just need a screening vendor. They needed a partner who understood that speed without accuracy is reckless, and accuracy without speed is unsustainable.

A Partnership Built to Last


This client has been with CIChecked for over 20 years - one of the longest-standing partnerships in our history. They were among CI’s earliest clients, and they’ve stayed because the relationship delivers two things no other provider has matched: NY Checked™ and the kind of service that picks up the phone on the first ring.

In two decades, their screening needs have evolved from a handful of locations to a 400+ store operation processing nearly 25,000 subjects a year. The partnership scaled with them - not by adding layers of automation and losing the human touch, but by combining investigative depth with the technology to deliver at volume.

The numbers in this case study? They're from a single year: 2025. While others automate, we investigate.

The Results: By the Numbers

METRIC PERFORMANCE
Average Turnaround Time (All Subjects) 0.12 Days
Same-Day Subject Completion Rate 98.3%
Same-Day Element Completion Rate
99.0% 
Projected Annual NY State Fee Savings
 $558,378
Total Compliance Checks Conducted
59,902 


Speed Excellence


When retail HR teams hear “background check,” they typically brace for days of waiting while shifts go unfilled and overtime costs pile up. This client experiences something entirely different: an average turnaround of 0.12 days - roughly 3 hours from order to completion - across nearly 60,000 research elements. While most providers are still sending status updates, this client is already onboarding.

Criminal Screening Turnaround

MetricSearch Type Volume Same-Day Avg TAT
NY Checked™ (Proprietary) 6,879
99.0% 0.10 days
National Alias Criminal 4,849 98.0% 0.09 days
Statewide Criminal 1,352 96.3% 0.24 days
County Criminal 181 87.8% 0.38 days
Federal Criminal

7

100%

0.00 days


The Investigative Depth


Volume doesn’t mean shortcuts. Behind the speed metrics sits an investigative architecture designed to catch what database-only providers miss. Every search runs through CIChecked’s proprietary Cyber Investigation Criminal Enhancement layer, which cross-references criminal data against multiple intelligence sources, flags discrepancies, and triggers deeper investigation when indicators warrant it. This isn’t a database dump. It’s a licensed investigative agency doing what licensed investigators do.

Enhanced Screening Components

MetricSearch Type Volume Same-Day Avg TAT
Cyber Investigation Criminal Enhancement 12,224 99.1% 0.11 days
Five Boroughs Cyber Search 3,462 99.7% 0.00 days
Credit Report (Employment) 351 100% 0.01 days
Sex Offender Registry

10

 90.0% 

0.26 days

 

The Lesson


"We greatly appreciate the partnership we have with CIChecked. Michelle and her team are always responsive. They consistently meet our timelines, and the reporting provided is concise. Would highly recommend CI!"

— Director of HR, Healthcare Client

The NY Checked™ Advantage.


New York’s criminal court system is notoriously complex. County courts only process felonies - meaning standard county criminal searches miss the vast majority of misdemeanor convictions handled by town and village courts across all 62 counties.

For a retailer with 400+ customer-facing locations, that gap isn’t an inconvenience. It’s a liability time bomb.
NY Checked™ was developed by CIChecked President Michelle Pyan starting in 1999, built on an exclusive partnership with New York State law enforcement.

After 12 years of development and testing, it launched in 2011 as the industry’s first proprietary
NY criminal search solution. Today, with over 500,000 searches completed, NY Checked™ delivers results in 2–4 hours, covers local, town, village, and city courts that county-only searches miss, includes both misdemeanor and felony data, and uses fuzzy name matching to catch records even with variations and misspellings.

Most screening providers don’t even know this gap exists. Their clients pay the price - literally.

Why This Matters for You


This convenience retail chain isn’t just running background checks. They’re operating a screening infrastructure that processes 24,000+ candidates annually across all of New York’s complex court jurisdictions, and over half a million dollars in annual fee savings.

They’ve been doing it with CIChecked for over 20 years. That’s not inertia - that’s a partnership earning its keep, every single day.

That’s what happens when you partner with investigators instead of database vendors.

Ready to transform your background screening?

Schedule a confidential consultation: (518) 271-7546 | info@cichecked.com | Contact Us

CIChecked is a certified woman-owned, licensed private investigative agency specializing in thorough pre-employment background investigations. Recognized on HRO Today's Baker's Dozen Customer Satisfaction list for excellence in background screening.