Alpha Security — Page 27

Employee Theft

April 16, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Employee theft according to the research done by many independent companies, is the number one reason stores across the country lose profits. A loss prevention team can help you address the issue and solve it, but most often than not, the theft that is happening in your store can go undetected for many months, or even years before your or your loss prevention team is aware of it. Training and educating your loss prevention team could save you thousand of dollars every year by making sure they attend workshops or seminars that keep them aware of the happenings of loss prevention every year.

Follow the links below to read more about this topic.

U.S. retail workers are No. 1…in employee theft

Light-fingered employees cost American stores (and consumers) more than shoplifters do.

It’s almost Groundhog Day, but for retailers, the holiday season is finally winding down.

“The four months from October through January are when stores see not just their biggest sales volume of the year, but also the most returns and exchanges,” says Ernie Deyle, a 30-year veteran of the retail loss-prevention wars who leads the business consulting practice at London-based data analytics firm Sysrepublic. “Unfortunately, the same four months account for about half of all annual shrinkage.”

That shrinkage, made up of missing goods from shoplifting and other causes, costs U.S. retailers about $42 billion a year, according to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, an annual industry study led by Deyle and inventory management firm Checkpoint Systems.

What Wal-Mart U.S. Executives Learned By ‘Walking The Store’

I began my career in the grocery business as a bagger. During that time I observed that my boss, and sometimes his boss and some other senior executives, would “walk the store”. These walks provided the opportunity to perform visual inspections to see what was going right and wrong with the store. We all understood that we needed to be on our toes in case someone from headquarters decided to pull a surprise visit. This is exactly what the senior management of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) U.S. recently did.

Eight months ago Greg Foran took over the U.S division of Wal-Mart, which has struggled with hit and miss same store sales ranging from -1.5% to positive 2.4% over the past five years. He and his team decided they were going to make it their top priority to understand the business under their charge and that included store visitations. On Apr. 1, they gave investors a strategic update indicating that Wal-Mart U. S. may be losing its grip in executing some basic common sense retailing principles. Let’s examine.

Empty shelves

One of my bosses in the grocery industry had a saying, “we sell groceries not real estate” in reference to empty shelves, with the underlying implication that shelves need to be full of merchandise so that customers can buy it. Customers aren’t interested in the air above empty shelves. Greg Foran noted some occurrences of empty shelves and full backrooms in some of the stores he visited:

Group steals bags of cash from D.M. stores, police say

A group of thieves distracted employees at four grocery stores over the weekend and stole bags of cash, including $10,000 from one business, police say.

Three females and a male would enter a store and pretend to buy items while distracting employees to another part of the business, security video shows. One of them would then steal from behind the counter or an office.

They robbed La Cruz 3 and El Palomino on East 14th Street and La Favorita on East Grand Avenue on Saturday. Saigon Market on Euclid Avenue was robbed Sunday morning, according to police reports.

“They seem to be targeting mom-and-pop type places. Businesses like QuikTrip and Kum & Go have rules about dropping off cash once they get to a certain amount,” said Sgt. Jason Halifax of Des Moines Police Department. “It may suggest the suspects had prior knowledge of how the businesses handle cash.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Workshop, Periodic inventory, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, security devices

Watch Your Profits Soar with Bottle Locks

April 16, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

In order to stay profitable, you have to evaluate your strategies every once in a while to see if there has been any positive or negative impact on your business. Even if your sales have increased throughout the year, if your loss from theft has also increased just as much, you’re right back where you started. For a liquor store, bottle security can make or break your business. In the past, there weren’t many merchandise protection solutions for liquor or wine bottles. But like I said, that was in the past. Now there are several options available, such as bottle locks, which will keep your merchandise on the shelf for paying customers.

We all know that liquor and wine comes in bottles of all different shapes and sizes, so you may be wondering if there is a device that will protect your specific products. Alpha Security also thought of that, and they have the answer to your problem, with many different types of bottle locks that will fit just about any kind of liquor or wine bottle you have in your store. Some of the options available are the Magna Guarde Bottle Cap, the EASy Bottle, the Crystal Guarde, the EASy Guarde, the S3 Bottle Cap, and the Steel Grip. No matter which option you choose, you can rest assured that your liquor is protected. Most people wouldn’t even dream of stealing your products after seeing the devices on top of the bottles. One look at the locks on top of the liquor or wine bottles is usually enough to make someone think twice about attempting to steal the alcohol.

The devices work by locking on to the top of the bottles, effectively stopping anyone from opening the liquor to drink or pour into another container. Even if they somehow get the liquor out of the store, they will not be able to enjoy it, because of benefit denial. If a shoplifter steals your liquor and tries to remove the security device, the only thing they will likely wind up getting is a damaged bottle, liquor on the ground, and a bruised ego. The bottle lock on top of the bottle makes certain that you and your staff the only ones that are able to open the bottles until they are sold. This is because they can only be removed with a special key that you can keep on you or at the registers. It will allow you to easily help your customers when needed, and keep the checkout process moving quickly without any backup due to removing the devices.

Something else you will want to consider is that bottle locks can also keep minors from getting their hands on your alcohol. The last thing you want is to find out as the owner of a liquor store, is that underage drinkers got a hold of your stock. The only way you can ensure this doesn’t happen in your store is by strictly adhering to the laws regarding alcohol sales, and have a good bottle security program in place. These devices will also assist you in achieving your goal to prevent shoplifting in your store altogether. In the process, you will keep your products out of the wrong hands, and keep them in the hands of paying, of age customers.

For more information contact us: (bottle locks) or call 1.770.426.0547

For more information contact us: bottlelock.net or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: Alpha Security, bottle lock, bottle locks, bottle security, easy bottle

Controlling Retail Shrinkage by the Numbers

April 14, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

The margins in a retail business can be slim. It doesn’t take much shrinkage for a store to go from the black to the red. One of the primary roles of a successful store manager is to develop, follow and then tweak a comprehensive security plan. The creation of an effective plan takes a large investment of time, money and effort.

Managers often have gut feelings about where their losses are, and may even have a good idea about how to control them. However, few of them understand — and therefore can’t effectively address — the full scope of the problems. A successful plan starts with knowing the numbers, not indistinct feelings or incomplete ideas.

The yearly National Retail Security Survey (University of Florida) started in 1991and is considered to be the most accurate and comprehensive in the industry. The 2014 report estimates that the total shrinkage amount for retail businesses is $44.25 billion. This is broken down into 5 categories. The numbers have been rounded and don’t add to 100%.

Employee Theft (41%) – Many managers believe shoplifting is their number 1 shrinkage problem and make the mistake of overlooking this statistic, to their detriment. Employees will steal time, money and merchandise. This is regardless of how nice or punitive their supervisor is, good guys get stolen from as much as bad ones do.

Shoplifting (33%) – People steal for a variety of reasons. With the advent of the Internet (which makes it easier to sell stolen items) and the difficult financial times of the last several years it has been steadily on the increase. But, it remains consistently second to employee theft, which has also been rising.

Administrative (15%) – This category represents common human error involving administrative tasks, not deliberate fraud. It includes things such as: miscounting or misplacing stock, money/cash register mistakes, lack of follow through on paperwork and poor record/receipt keeping.

Unknown (7%) – Some researchers view this category as a miscellaneous or catch-all one, where odd or seldom seen circumstances, which don’t fit any other classification, are located.

Vendor Fraud (6%) – This is another area of shrinkage that many managers overlook. They trust their supplier or its representative and ignore all the places (i.e. warehouse, delivery driver, invoices, order forms) where their shipment is shorted “just a few things”.

Before developing a loss prevention security plan it’s vital to understand where the loss is happening. Then valuable resources, time and money, won’t be wasted on ineffectual systems, training and equipment. Good managers know their employees, customers and suppliers, and have a feeling about where the problems are. Great managers know all that too, but they back up their subjective feelings with objective numbers.

Nicole Abbott is a writer and psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in the fields of mental health and addiction. She’s an educator, consultant, lecturer, trainer and facilitator, who’s conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, college classes and seminars.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Periodic inventory, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, surveillance

The Tricks of the Shoplifter

April 9, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Managing or owning a retail store is not easy. Shoplifters and employee theft are in some instances a daily occurrence, and the profits you were thinking you were getting have disappear. The digital age has brought information to the young mind easily and instantaneously, and although some use it for the benefit of their mind, others use it to cause harm and to commit crimes. Have you checked the videos on Youtube about how to shoplift? From how to shoplift and not get caught, to instructions on how to prepare before shoplifting. Yes, your shoplifting prevention team has to be aware of these tactics to be effective apprehending shoplifters.

Follow the links below for more information.

Video:

How To Shoplift Without Getting Caught Using a “Thief Book”

Female shoplifters caught on camera

Several supermarkets have complained that social customs enable women to steal with impunity.

Muhammad Hamouda, sales manager at an electrical accessories company, said 70 percent of thefts in his shop are made by females, primarily stealing women’s accessories.

Most thefts are monitored on closed-circuit TVs, which have also revealed various tricks of these thieves, particularly women with large handbags into which laptops, devices for hair and body care can be concealed. Only female security staff at supermarkets can deal with women thieves.

Hamouda said: “Mostly shops do not complain to police, but demand a written confession with a copy of her identity card, and then let her go free. But there are also shops that make her pay double the price of the article she shoplifted and she is prohibited against stepping inside the shop in future,” he said, adding that some ladies deny the charges and threaten to call the Haia as a means of defense.

Muhammad Asiri, a salesman in Asir, said there were suspicious disappearances of women’s accessories such perfumes, vanity bags and rings, discovered at the end of the month. Guards do not notice anything because the missing articles were mostly light and can be easily hidden. Occasionally there are gangs of women involved in these thefts, Asiri said.

Confessions of a teenage shoplifter

Anonymous

I couldn’t help letting out a low whistle of admiration when I read news that the cost of goods stolen in the average shoplifting incident is now £241. Bloody hell, I thought, as I tried to imagine how exactly you would stash that many eye-shadow compacts up your sleeve. You see for a few months back when I was 16, shoplifting was the hottest craze at my suburban girls school. It spread like a virus through Year 11, to the point that students would pop into town at lunch and return with a huge cache of stolen goods. They’d upturn the contents of their bags on to a desk with a shout of: “Who wants what?” Now, the thieves providing the British Retail Consortium with a headache this week with their high-cost hauls are more likely to be professional “steal to order” shoplifters, not a gang of feckless teenage girls. Nevertheless, it instantly brought back that rush of adrenaline that always follows a bout of five-finger discount “shopping”.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring

Wardrobing & Returns

March 30, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

There is a new term in the retail dictionary. “Wardrobing” is the process where a customer purchases a piece of your merchandise, uses it one time, then returns it claiming a small flaw or just taking advantage of your liberal return policy.

We see this especially in clothing such as expensive dresses, prom dresses, shoes and suits. But tools, electronics, beach wear and more can be a target. The problem is hardly new. However, it has always been frustrating. Not only has the retailer experienced a loss since the merchandise is no longer new but chances are that you or your staff put a considerable amount of time into the initial sales process. Couple that with tight margins and expenses and the problem gets expensive quickly.

Add to this that word will spread. If your store is known as an easy mark for wardrobing, then this kind of shopper will flock to you like metal to a magnet.

The problem is also not just a brick and mortar store problem. In many ways it is worse for online stores. Because it is a faceless transaction, the shopper is more likely to feel comfortable about doing this.

Whether it is right/wrong or illegal, is a side issue. Wardrobing causes Retailers significant losses.

So how do we fix the wardrobing problem that leads to your returns being higher than they should be? First look at your return policy. Have you dusted it off lately and updated it? Look at the circumstances of accepting returns. Look at the time limits. Is there a restocking fee? Is the customer responsible for shipping on certain items? Look at your competition’s return policies both in store and on-line. Maybe they have solved the problem and the wardrobers are now coming to you. If you would like, I can also be an LP sounding board (at no charge) for your return policy. Just call me, Bill Bregar, at 770-426-7593 x101.

We also offer an excellent fix for wardrobing. The “Shark Tag” by Alpha High Theft solutions basically puts an end to wardrobing. Shark tags are bright tags that mount directly to the merchandise or can be attached via a lanyard. An example could be that the Alpha Shark Tag is placed in a very obvious area such as the bust line (as a guy I would notice it!) of a prom dress. The Shark tag can be removed easily by the customer at home with a pair of ordinary scissors. Once the Shark Tag is removed, your stores policy kicks in. Without the Shark Tag attached, a return is no longer possible.

Also, Shark Tags are VERY inexpensive! If you would like a sample, please contact us.

Remember, you and your staff put a lot of time, effort and expense into your sales efforts. Do not let the thieves or even the wardrobers, rob you of your margins or even your business!

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, security devices

Why You Should Always Prosecute a Thief

March 30, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Throughout the last few years, I’ve encountered and had the chance to network with several small business owners in my community. Most of these encounters were a part of a retail/law enforcement partnership. It always seems that these smaller stores have the same shoplifting problems as the big box retailers, but with one key difference. Those small stores don’t have the sales figures to cushion them from losses. If I compared my store (a large national retailer) to a smaller store in the same shopping center, and that smaller store has even ¼ the loss I see, that could be devastating to their ongoing success. Part of the problem is that smaller stores are less likely to prosecute a shoplifter, which makes them a very soft target.

The case for prosecuting every shoplifter is strong. You can look at every major retailer across the country and they all have large Loss Prevention departments with the goal of prosecuting everyone that steals from them to the fullest extent of the law. Why do they do this, and better yet, why should you? First, it sends a very clear message. You will not tolerate stealing your hard-earned money, and if you come in my store and steal, you will go to jail. Second, it keeps prices low for your customers, and shrink low for you. Finally, if someone steals from you and damages your product, even if you recover it, you’re still at a loss. By prosecuting that shoplifter, you are entitled to recover what has been lost during that particular incident.

It’s important to send a message to shoplifters. Believe me when I tell you that shoplifters share trade secrets. Not only does word travel on the new item to boost, but where the easiest place to steal it is. Shoplifters are like water, they travel the path of least resistance. If they know that the small store up the road won’t call the cops if they are caught, then that’s where they are going. It’s basically a win-win for the thief. They can either come into your store, steal and get away, or they can get caught with no real consequence and be released only to try again. You have to take a stand against their criminal acts and show them that you will not be victimized by their actions. Money:
We all like to boast our low prices. You can’t have a successful business if your prices are significantly higher than your competitors. Well, shoplifting affects your ability to keep prices low. If you are logging loss month, after month, you’re going to have to raise your prices in order to make up for the losses. This may help in the short term, but over time, customers will seek out the best deal for their dollar. Prosecuting a shoplifter keeps that merchandise in your store, it keeps the product available for your customer and it ensures that you stay in the black.

Money: You’re in business to make money. When a shoplifter steals from you, they are taking money out of your pocket, and food off of your family’s table. Let’s imagine a shoplifter steals a pack of steaks from you. Maybe they put the food down their pants, but you catch them at the door and get your steak back. Would you really put that food back out for sale? Probably not. If you didn’t file charges against that shoplifter, he was able to still cause a loss to your store. By prosecuting this individual, you will be able to collect, through the court system, what is rightfully owed to you. You wouldn’t allow someone to come into your home and steal your TV with no consequence, so why let them do it to your business?

Every time I have the chance, I bring up these points to whomever will listen to me. What I see the most is small business owners being afraid to prosecute a thief for various reasons. The most common is the reluctance to go through the judicial process. I know… the wheels of justice turn very slowly these days, but that’s no excuse to let a thief go un-punished. Your business is your life blood, it’s how you feed and provide for your family, so next time you catch that shoplifter stealing your hard earned money, make sure that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

E-Commerce Fraud:What You Need to Know

March 26, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

With the digital age came different types of fraud retailers were not used to encounter in their daily operations. Shoplifters came to the store and the loss prevention team knew the policies and procedures to follow to apprehend the shoplifter. Now, retailers fear online fraud and debate on how to keep customers information safe. The most prevalent fraud retailers are to be aware of is card fraud. Keeping cardholder’s information safe is a top priority for online retailers, and monitor suspicious transactions has become a top priority for them.

To learn or read more about e-commerce fraud follow the links below.

e-Commerce Fraud: The Rapidly Growing Challenge for Retail Investigations

Just as the word “e-commerce” has come to refer to a menagerie of different specialized markets, so e-commerce fraud comes in many different guises. And as the great pace of retail evolution dictates that retailers’ transaction processes are constantly changing, so the frauds change with them.

In a bid to stand on the top of the heap competitively, retailers are offering as many options to consumers as possible when it comes to ways to buy. You can place an online order at an in-store kiosk to be shipped to your house. You can place an order from your mobile device to be picked up at a local store. You don’t like the color of the new curtains you ordered through the online customer rewards program? You can return them to the nearest brick-and-mortar store to save on shipping.

There are multitudes of different ways for customers to shop in the modern omni-channel retailing world. But this proliferation of transaction processes can leave behind more and more holes that malicious actors can exploit. “You have this almost complete melding of digital and physical worlds now, and the primary challenge is keeping pace with that evolution,” said Jerett Sauer, director of loss prevention at Gap Inc. “Awareness of risk has always been a core part of any great LP program, and historically, digital space was outside that sphere of awareness; the focus was on people touching a POS or physical merchandise.

Kount and Ethoca Join Forces to Help Ecommerce Merchants Eliminate More Fraud, Accept More Orders

Kount, a leading provider of fraud detection and sales boosting technology, and Ethoca, the industry standard for collaboration-based technology solutions that help card issuers and online merchants increase transaction acceptance and stop ecommerce fraud, today announced a strategic partnership to help ecommerce merchants increase their overall acceptance levels.

Ecommerce merchants aim to strike a delicate balance: eliminating as much fraud as possible, while maximizing the acceptance of good orders. With the increasing frequency of data breaches and online security threats, many ecommerce merchants are tightening their fraud tools to stop as much fraud as possible, but that often results in too many good orders that are wrongly rejected and result in lost revenue.

Through its partnership with Ethoca, Kount now offers merchant customers worldwide an additional, complementary service with Ethoca Alerts. These alerts provide a safeguard to catch fraud that has already been confirmed between the card issuing bank and the cardholder.

Smart Card Technology Will Affect Your Fraud Prevention Strategy

With large retail chains like Target, Neiman Marcus and Michaels experiencing massive data breaches, U.S. banks and brick-and-mortar merchants face serious pressure to increase credit card security measures by implementing smart card technology.

This shift to more secure card-present transactions at physical, smart-card ready terminals will impact ecommerce sites as fraudsters are stymied at brick-and-mortar stores and turn their attentions to card-not-present (CNP) transactions online.

As smart cards become standard in the U.S., forward thinking ecommerce merchants must prepare for the coming increase in online fraud. Now is the time for software companies to ensure that their fraud prevention system is ready.

Brick-and-Mortar Merchants Face Serious Pressure

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Security, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Employee Theft, Loss Prevention Workshop, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, surveillance

The 3 Essentials for a First-rate Loss Prevention Program

March 11, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment
It’s never been more profitable to be a shoplifter. In the past it was difficult to make money from stolen merchandise. A thief commonly used a third party or “fence” to offload the product. Fencing was a secretive, high risk job and “average” shoplifters had no way to establish a connection with one. If they did have one he got a share of the profits, often the biggest cut.

But, the internet has dramatically changed this process. It allows shoplifters to function as their own fence. They’re able to eliminate the middleman and sell directly to, usually, unsuspecting people. Selling stolen goods is easier, safer and more profitable than ever before. Therefore, shoplifting is on the rise and, to stay in business, stores have to be diligent when creating a loss prevention program.

There are 3 main essentials needed for a successful loss prevention program. The 1^st and most important is proper store management. This topic is thoroughly discussed in other articles on this site. But, while vital, good management goes only so far. Ultimately, an effective plan also includes 2 other essentials – towers coupled with security labels and hard tags.

Towers are the 2^nd essential piece of a successful security plan. Checkpoint System is the leading provider of towers. Checkpoint’s towers are plastic or metal structures and are positioned on both sides of an entrance. They sound an alarm when an active Checkpoint tag or label, which is attached to the merchandise, passes through them. Many shoplifters will by-pass a store with towers and, instead, target one without them.

A 3^rd essential is hard tags and labels – Checkpoint has many types of each. Tags are applied to items such as clothing, shoes, and purses; they need a special tool to be removed. Some tags are filled with ink and will open if not properly removed. Labels are attached to things like books, DVDs, cosmetics and are deactivated at the point of sale. When shoplifters see a label or tag, they’ll often move on to merchandise that’s not so well protected.

Making a store a difficult target can keep thieves out of it, which creates a more pleasant, safer environment for employees and shoppers. Just as importantly, Checkpoint can be the difference between staying in business or closing the doors. Checkpoint System, coupled with security savvy management, can go a long way towards producing a profitable store.

Nicole Abbott is a writer and psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in the fields of mental health and addiction. She’s an educator, consultant, lecturer, trainer and facilitator, who has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, college classes and seminars.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, security devices, surveillance

Video Surveillance In Your Store

March 9, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Surveillance in your store can be a big deterrent for shoplifting and employee theft. The knowledge that your store is protected, or at least that there are cameras capturing images of employees and customers, can help you save thousand of dollars yearly. Employee theft is costing the retail industry millions of dollars every year and installing a type of security in your store can help you reduce the shrinkage you are experiencing.

For more about shoplifting, follow the links below.

Surveillance best cure for shoplifting

Aside from the holiday seasons where people aimlessly weave through cart-to-cart traffic down aisles in department or convenience stores, it’s difficult to predict when there will be spike in theft.

Particularly, shoplifting.

As of Friday, the Hutchinson Police Department has worked two cases of shoplifting this month. Granted, only nine unpredictably cold and not-so cold days have scooted by in March. But January and February were hot months for shoplifting with officers responding to 61 combined reported cases of shoplifting, according to Hutchinson Police bulletin archives.

There were 24 reports of shoplifting in December. Numbers from the archive bulletin suggests the shoplifting occurs at three of the most recognizable stores in the city: Wal-Mart, Dillons and various Kwik Shops.

Hastings, Target, J.C. Penney and Kohl’s are also sprinkled on the list of popularly shoplifted stores.

But why the heart-monitor like spike in thefts recently? Police Lt. Martin Robertson isn’t sure of the answer himself.

US based company allows shoplifters to avoid the police by charging them for an online course

IN THE game of Monopoly, there’s nothing better (apart from maybe winning free parking) than turning over that community chest card to see the words “get out of jail free.”

Now imagine that someone hands you that card after you’ve committed a criminal act in real life.

That is essentially what one company based in the United States is doing.

The Corrective Education Company (CEC) is a start-up, and works with businesses to offer shoplifters an alternative path to reform other than the boring old legal system.

Founded by a pair of Harvard graduates, it offers the chance for apprehended shoplifters to pay $411 ($US320) in order to avoid a phone call to the boys in blue.

That money goes towards the cost of attending an online course which is run by CEC that claims to reduce the likelihood of recidivism for the individual.

The obliging shop owners who refer the shoplifters get a cut of about $US40 per offender, and according to Slate around 20,000 offenders have so far coughed up for the program.

That works out to be $7.2 million that CEC has profited by blatantly circumventing the established judicial system.

Walgreens Shoplifting Duo Captured On Surveillance

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, anti-thefts devices, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, retail security and monitoring, security devices, surveillance

Vendor/Contractor Fraud

March 2, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment
I want you to sit back and think about something for a minute. Other than your employees, how many other peopled have worked in your store last month? Drawing a blank? Think about those lights that needed replacing, or the compactor that needed repair, or even the new display cases that were installed overnight a few weeks back. While you may realize it, you more than likely have a great deal of contactors coming in and out of your store on a fairly frequent basis. These contractors and vendors have access to everything and employee has and sometimes more.

Not only do you have to consider product and equipment theft, what about data or intellectual property theft? Company sales figures, or closely guarded industry secrets? A single thumb drive and a bit of know-how can get a wealth of information into the wrong hands. Thinking about all of that, you probably want to repair your own sinks from now on…

Just as with any LP process, you have to implement a strategy that allows you to identify and react to theft, all while maintain the trust of the 99.9% of your customers that are honest. A few simple policies and best practices can protect your business from vendor/contractor theft.

First, you should establish a check in procedure. Vendors, or outside contractors should have to check in with the manager and then be taken to the area of the store that requires their services. If the area is a sensitive section of the store, or requires an exterior doors to be opened for an long period, a supervisor or key employee should remain in that area. In addition, a simple package inspection policy should be adopted and all employees, and outside vendor should be made to adhere to that policy. Basically, anyone exiting the store that works for you would have any bag, or box inspected by a store manager prior to them leaving the store.

An electronics policy should also be adopted around sensitive areas of the store. Vendors, as well as employees should be barred from using an external hard drive on any store computer system. Recording devices (cellphones) should not be allowed in sales offices, or anywhere that sensitive data is stored. You should also restrict any store Wi-Fi to store management only, and for the sole purpose of conducting company business.

While it may not be an area that you closely associate with shrink and loss, vendor compliance and control can become a major contributor to lost profits in your store. By implementing a few simple steps and practices, you can sure that you are doing all you can to prevent unnecessary loses to your store and company.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring