Preventing Shoplifting In Your Store

A Target or Walmart store can and are able to fight shoplifting in their stores every day of the year.  The expense associated with shoplifting has for many years been known to be passed down to the consumer, and the increase in prices has been an expense that gradually has affected consumers around the globe.

In the United States retail shrink which includes shoplifting, employee theft, administrative errors and vendor fraud cost the US retailers close to $50 billion in 2016 alone. More than 36% of shrink was due to shoplifting, and 30% was due to employee theft.

Many local businesses across the United States have taken different approaches to prevent shoplifting.  From investing in Facial recognition software to shoplifting prevention training, many businesses have taken different approaches to the prevention of this crime.  But, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) even as the average inventory shrink rate has increased by close to 1.5% the budgets for loss prevention personnel has decreased or remained flat.

What are some of the steps local businesses have taken to prevent shoplifting?

Signage – A Spokane Washington local business has signage that lets you know from the time you enter their store that they have Video surveillance in use and they will prosecute you in case of shoplifting, and they also have a policy of taking your name when you enter their fitting rooms. If you shoplift, they already have your name.

Customer Service -has been proven to be one of the major loss prevention strategies businesses have adopted that can also benefit them in the long run. Be aware of the difference between offering great customer service and stalking a customer.

Training –  Trained personnel cannot only help you prevent shoplifting but can prevent incidents from getting out of hand.  Knowing the laws, regulation, and the process when a shoplifting incident occurs can save lives and prevent lawsuits.

Facial recognition software – If you are using facial recognition software in your stores, caution has to be taken into consideration.  Using facial recognition improperly can lead to too many problems and too few rewards.  Properly trained personnel are one important aspect of using this kind of security measure.

There is probably a fine line between great customer service and making your customer feel like a criminal.  Losing customers because your employees follow them and are constantly asking them if they need help or making them uncomfortable is not a good solution.  If you are also targeting people for no apparent reason, the probability that the bad experience will find an outlet that will carry bad publicity for your business is very likely.

Let us know if some of the above methods you are using seem to be working for you.


Employee Training And Shoplifting

After the holidays, you probably have a whole array of chores you must do to decide whether you had a good or bad year.  The holidays are behind us, and if you seem eager to have new strategies to put in place, it is not uncommon, and you are not alone.  New year resolutions are abundant during this time of year, and even though many of them are related to exercise, eating and health issues, yours can be directed completely to the business side of your life.

For a retail business owner, employee training is always an important issue they should not neglect.  There are many aspects of every business that owners must take care of to ensure a well-run business and employee training is one of those important issues they must keep in mind.

Employee training has been shown to help businesses keep more of the profits, and to reduce the shoplifting happening at their stores.  Paying for employee training is one way of investing in your business, and seeing the return of investment right away.

One of the many benefits of employee training is the certainty your employees will know what to do in case a shoplifting incident occurs.  From the way they approach the suspected shoplifter, to the way they apprehend them, their training can be the difference between a lawsuit for your store or not.  The guidelines they are supposed to follow are clear for trained employees when dealing with a difficult situation, and a dangerous situation is clearly assessed and dealt with before lives are endangered.

Employee training can also be a deterrent to shoplifters.  Shoplifters will be less eager to enter your place of business if they know they will be approached and even questioned or apprehended if they do something illegal.  Making your business a place where shoplifting is hard can get around to other shoplifters.  Sharing the names of “easy” places to shoplift is well known among them, make yours the “hard” place shoplifters are unwilling to try.

Trained employees know how shoplifters behave and how they try to get away with stolen merchandise.  They know which items may be a target for shoplifters, and which ones if the opportunity presents itself will be stolen without a second thought.


 

 

Shoplifting And The Law

Law changes across the United States dealing with shoplifting are always changing.  Police departments across states work among businesses to protect them from shoplifting and other illegal activities. Businesses need and demand harsher sentences to deter shoplifting.  Businesses dealing with shoplifting are inarguably in accordance with the police force, and want solutions to protect their business and ultimately their bottom line.  When training your loss prevention personnel, what is allowed and what is prohibited according to the law, must be addressed with them and with the management of your company. A well trained loss prevention officer can be the difference between a law suit or not.

For more about this topic, follow the links below.


Civil Demand Letters After You Are Busted For Shoplifting

Shoplifters who were caught and released are getting an additional scare in the mail after the event occurs. You may have been caught lifting a pack of gum, or a shirt from a local store. When you were caught you may have just been asked some questions and let go on the spot. However, a letter might come in the mail to scare you after the fact even if you aren’t arrested.

Typically when you are caught shoplifting in Illinois, the store gets their merchandise back undamaged, on the spot. There are no damages incurred by the store, as they are free to sell that t-shirt or pack of gum. However, some law firms are coming after shoplifters in an attempt to gain monetarily for the event. A letter arrives, from a law firm claiming damages and back legal fees they claim a shoplifter owes.  This is called a civil demand letter. This letter does not mean any charges have been filed against the shoplifter and the person who receives the letter probably shouldn’t pay. In my opinion, making the payment admits guilt.


Know Your Rights if a Store Detains You for Shoplifting

Being detained by a store or mall security office under suspicion of shoplifting is an experience no one wants to have. Often mall security will try to pressure you into signing a statement admitting your guilt (often threatening to call the police if you don’t) or force you to pay restitution for your offense, but in some cases things can escalate. If you’re detained for shoplifting—regardless of whether you’re innocent or guilty—you have rights. Here’s what you need to know.

This post is part of our Evil Week series at Lifehacker, where we look at the dark side of getting things done. Knowing evil means knowing how to beat it, so you can use your sinister powers for good. Want more? Check out our evil week tag page.
What Has to Happen for a Store to Detain You

The first thing you need to know is what a store has to have or has to see in order to exercise their right to detain you. First, a witness or employee needs to establish probable cause.


Shoplifting offenses are fairly common, but that doesn’t mean shoplifting crimes aren’t taken seriously.

Shoplifting offenses are fairly common, but that doesn’t mean shoplifting crimes aren’t taken seriously. Every state’s penal code includes provisions that apply to shoplifting (usually under the umbrella of theft or larceny statutes), and penalties can be harsh — especially when the dollar value of the merchandise is high, or the offender has a criminal record.

What is Shoplifting?

Shoplifting is typically defined more broadly than the simple removal of merchandise from a store without paying for it. You can also be charged with shoplifting (or retail fraud) for things like:

  • altering a price tag
  • removing (or even just trying to remove) security tags and other theft-prevention
  • “secreting” an item on your person while still in the store (putting merchandise in your pocket or purse), and
  • removing an item from its packaging and concealing it in or among other merchandise.

 

Improving Loss Prevention Training For Your Employees

Training your personnel well on how to handle shoplifting incidents, can be an asset for any company. Excellent training is an asset.  Prejudiced training is a liability for the business plus it’s bad for business.  The loss prevention team and management of the store that receive training and are constantly educating themselves through out their careers, become  indispensable in any company.  

For more about this topic, follow the links below.


How Organizations Can Impact Loss Prevention with Improved Associate Knowledge

Four takeaways gathered over the course of transforming the way Bloomingdale’s approaches LP and safety training:

Prior to 2012, Bloomingdale’s was doing what most retail organizations do when it comes to lossprevention and safety training–relying on a number of standard training approaches like posters, classroom training, huddles, and pre-shift morning rallies. But these approaches just weren’t working.

As I contemplated this situation, I realized we weren’t focused on the right thing. We were concentrating on simply delivering training, when we should have been focused on building knowledge. Simply plastering posters on the wall or using all those other one-off approaches weren’t making our associates smarter or getting them to do the right things on the job. This dearth of knowledge was impacting our loss prevention and safety numbers.

We sought out and eventually discovered an employee knowledge platform that aligned with the organizational vision. The platform’s methodology, which was rooted in brain science principles, and its use of gamification techniques to keep associates interested, succeeded in building employee expertise over time. Since implementing the platform, we’ve reduced safety claims by 41 percent and saved $2.2 million per year, which is a $10 million savings overall.


Here are a 20 ways to make more money and boost your profit margins by minimizing loss in your business: – Modest Money (press release) (blog)

There’s an old saying that “you have to spend money to make money,” but it’s also true that one of the best ways to make money is to avoid spending money in the wrong places. If your business is spending too much money on unnecessary business expenses – or worse, if your business is losing money due to theft by customers or employee fraud – you are letting good money go out the door. And this makes it harder for your business to be profitable because you have to work that much harder.

Here are a 20 ways to make more money and boost your profit margins by minimizing loss in your business:

  1. Reduce Administrative Errors: Many businesses make seemingly simple mistakes in their pricing, paperwork or bookkeeping that lead to big losses over time.

VIDEO: What police told last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting about recent gunfire incidents, and more

Despite the overnight gunfire spree hours earlier, turnout was low at last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, so we recorded highlights on video. Above is what precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis told attendees; below, special guest Officer James Ritter, talking about the SPD Safe Place program, which has now been adopted by more than 50 cities across the country.

Toplines: Capt. Davis said a multi-city/multi-agency task force is working on the gunfire situation, which has seen recent incidents in South Park as well as West Seattle (SP also is part of the SW Precinct’s jurisdiction). None of the WS incidents have resulted in injuries – so far; the precinct is working with special teams including the Gang Unit and SWAT and trying to get more officers out on patrol to try to get ahead of the problem. They are working to identify potential suspects who might be from out of the area – he mentioned Kent, Renton, Federal Way – but spending time with family in this area.