When we are talking about shoplifting, we are here referring to two groups. The first one consists of the planned thefts at the big retail stores. The people involved in these crimes belong to big shoplifting rings where they steal the items and sell again. The second one is that of opportunistic shoplifters. These shoplifters don’t plan beforehand about the stealing, but rather grab an item or two whenever they get a chance. It is mind-boggling that almost three-fourths of total shoplifting cases belong to the opportunistic shoplifters.
Now you got a little worried about your store? Don’t let this worry steal away your peace of mind!
Here’s the much-required help you can use. Just scroll through!
1. Increasing their Perceptibility
When it comes to your business, always keep your guards high and this can be done by increasing the perceptibility of your products. The first way of increasing the perceptibility of your products is making your products visible from your resting place. For the sake of tips, consider keeping the taller displays near the periphery and shorter displays close to the register. When you have all your products within the range of your falcon eyes, then the shoplifters will think twice before grabbing the things and taking them home without paying for them! All this will definitely make a decline in the shoplifting stats.
2. Sharing your shoplifting code
A proper plan for your business can save you a lot of bucks! When something as bad as a theft occurs, you can set some penalty or fine for that matter. This is the very basic approach to keep burglars and shoplifters at bay on your store shelves and out of the gates! Start with outlining and implanting a shoplifting policy. The next important step is to tell it out loud to your customers. You make all this a lot more effective by using signs and hoardings. For instance, posting statements like: “Get a free ride in the police car when you grab an item without paying” or “shoplifting is a criminal offense” or “ you are under surveillance”, etc.
3. Be attentive
Employees should be alert at all the times in your store, especially the time between opening, closing and replenishing stock hours. Besides these, staff should be on their toes all the time and they should have eagles eye. It’s very necessary to know which products are popular amongst the customers and have the chances of getting shoplifted. You can protect those products by placing them in the areas where staff can easily monitor it at all times.
4. Surveillance system
In this technology-driven era, when it comes to the security of the stores, you can act smart and be proactive by installing security cameras. These help in keeping the shoplifters at bay. Installing surveillance systems in the workplace will also deter the employee theft. The surveillance system will then here be helpful in building a secure working environment and also prevent criminal activity. Besides all these, use security tags on your products, these will prevent shoplifters from stealing anything. The security tags on the merchandise will alert the security towers and the security system lights up as soon as the shoplifter goes out of the premises.
Security systems also have an added advantage of increasing the productivity of the employees. Its mere presence can make employees more aware of how their time is spent, and this helps improve the productivity and customer services. Most thieves know national retail stores have the cash to invest in video surveillance, closed-circuit television (CCTV), a security guard, and other anti-theft devices. The thieves also know many mom-and pop up shops can’t afford these resources – making these kinds of properties perfect targets.
5. Pre and Postpurchase inspection
Keep an employee to double-check the bags as the customers enter and leave your store. If the customer is carrying an extra bag while entering your store, then arrange a counter to manage those bags and ask your customers to collect them while returning. This will minimize their chances of stealing things.
Once the purchase is done, make sure to cross-check the products bought by the consumers at the end of the counter, while coming back. Even if you’ve got a customer making a purchase, there’s still the chance an extra item or two ended up inside.
Though it may not be possible to completely eradicate shoplifting, you can undoubtedly take the measures mentioned above to make it more difficult for the budding thieves to rob your store.
