Retail loss prevention initiatives necessary for success & profit

By definition, retail loss prevention  is a type of private investigation into larceny or theft. It is police and detective work for the private business instead of the general public. Businesses that do not take into consideration basic loss prevention and asset protection procedures will not survive.

The focus in retail loss prevention is on shoplifting, fraud and employee theft. According to the 2006 National Retail Security Survey, shrink is divided into five categories:

46.8% Employee theft
31.6% Shoplifting
14.4% Administrative error
3.75% Vendor error
2.86% Unknown error

To understand  retail loss prevention , a business needs to understand shrink. Shrink is merchandise or assets that are unaccounted for – and the loss is usually identified during an inventory. A business’s books will tell how much merchandise the business is supposed to have, based on receivings, shipments, etc. The difference between the books and what merchandise is actually there is called shrink.

A business must analyze its operations in order to identify factors that contribute to loss. Strategies must then be implemented to combat shrink. As illustrated in the statistics above, employee theft creates the most loss for a business and has to be taken into consideration when creating a program to reduce shrink. Many businesses only focus on shoplifting as a contributor, but employees can actually steal much more.

Retail loss prevention is a necessary effort in order for a business to be successful and profitable.

For more information contact us: retail loss prevention or call 1.770.426.0547.