Safety And Shoplifting

July 11, 2017 by Leave a Comment

As a retail business, shoplifting, employee theft and lawsuits come hand in hand.  Preventing shoplifting and employee theft are somewhat under control by you or the management of the store, while  lawsuits are-although preventable-not under strict control. 

A shoplifting incident can become something of a life or death situation very quickly. Here, the rules and regulations set by the owner or management of the store and that employees must abide by become too important to ignore. 

As an owner or manager of a store, safety must be your number one priority.  Safety not only for your employees, but for your customers as well. An employee chasing after a shoplifter when they have left the premises is dangerous and should never be encouraged. Lawsuits and deaths lost due to chasing after a shoplifter have been numerous.  The resulting death of a shoplifter have landed people  in jail and in the courthouse. Safety should be your number one priority at all times.

Family of slain Chicago area Uber driver sues Walmart

CHICAGO — Relatives of a suburban Chicago Uber driver who was fatally attacked while on the job has sued Walmart, where authorities say the driver’s teenage attacker stole weapons just before the killing.

The family of Grant Nelson filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Cook County against the retailer and two other companies overseeing its security.

Authorities have charged 16-year-old Eliza Wasni in Nelson’s death, saying she stole a machete and knife from Walmart early on May 30 and then got into Nelson’s car and brutally attacked him.

The lawsuit claims two Walmart employees or contractors stood near the door as Wasni exited. The lawsuit alleges they were negligent because they failed to stop the teen and ask her any questions.

Guard at CVS Pharmacy chases down, kills shoplifter in Dallas, police say

A loss-prevention staffer at a CVS Pharmacy store shot and killed a suspected shoplifter after chasing down his getaway car Sunday afternoon in southeast Dallas, police say. 

Police arrested 36-year-old Julio Ruvalcaba Monday on a murder charge.

Officers were dispatched to the shooting about 3 p.m. Sunday and found 31-year-old Christopher Geddes lying on the curb on the eastbound C.F. Hawn Freeway service road and Elam Road, police said.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Surveillance video showed Geddes shoplifting from the CVS on South Buckner Boulevard and running to a Toyota Camry in the parking lot, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Footage from several minutes later shows another person leaving the store and getting into a Chevy Camaro parked outside. CVS employees identified that person as Ruvalcaba, a loss-prevention staffer tasked with reducing shoplifting.

 

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“I Can Out Sell My Theft & Inventory Shortage”….. Yeah Right

June 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment

If you believe that you can outsell your cash or inventory losses due to theft, you probably won’t be in business for long. Or if you do survive, you are no way living up to the margins you deserve. In my 35+ years of loss prevention particularly helping medium to small retailers, I have heard this more times than I can believe.

Consider this, as an example, if you have a net 2% profit over all. In other words after taxes, rent, payroll, merchandise cost, insurance…. you clear 2 cents on the dollar. Then a $100 dollar loss will cost you $5000 (100÷.02). Yes, FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. You will have to purchase, ship, receive, stock and sell another $5K just to BREAK EVEN on a $100 loss. I doubt even a drug dealer would make money that way.

Don’t delude yourself. 

Now on the flip side. I do not advocate that you turn your store into a six sided steel box to protect yourself from shoplifting, employee theft, vendor fraud and paperwork errors. Exactly the opposite. I want you to have an open, friendly and inviting environment for your legitimate customers and employees. What you can’t be is naive to your shrinkage and loss problems.

First, realize that you must do inventories at a minimum quarterly, more often if things are seriously out of whack. Cycle counts for individual SKU’s that seem to be loss problems are also important. Do not wait until the end of a quarter or heaven forbid end of year to find out you have a problem. You have to go on offense not defense. Theft and shrink are business problems. Nothing more, nothing less. We can easily show you how to do this. You do not have a retail LP issue that has not been seen and dealt with before.

In regard to employee theft what are your hiring practices. As an LP professional that has personally conducted over 2300 investigations and interrogations of employees involved in theft, I started looking up the drain pipe to see where it is all coming from.  It starts with the application and employment interviewing.

For shoplifting; Do you and your staff know really know how shoplifters act. Probably not. Shoplifters are easy to spot. You just need to know what to look for. Stopping them is incredibly easy. Again, you just need to apply the correct tools and training.

But all of this is for nothing, if your retail attitude is not straight.

Another problem is business apathy. The “oh I am so busy I do not have time”. You don’t have time to keep your profits on your bottom line and not the thief’s? Then why are you doing all this? Making a living for you, your family and employees is all what it is about.

I have had people steal from me. It doesn’t feel good and it makes me angry.  I work really hard and try to work smart to provide my family’s income and the income for my employees. But the thought of simply covering it up in my own mind is unthinkable. It should be for you also.

Go on the attack. Fix your loss problems before they happen. Remember, we can help you with that. We are simply an email or phone call away.

Have a super retail day!

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Look For Red Flags When Reviewing Applications And Interviewing Job Candidates

June 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment

How many of you have done IT? You know the IT I’m talking about. You looked at an application, interviewed the candidate, had a bit of an unsettled feeling about him or her but hired them anyway. IT may be a few days, a few weeks or a few months later but IT becomes a reality, buyer’s remorse. You hired someone who turns out to be a dud. It may be they are calling out of work on a regular basis or perhaps they aren’t following directions on tasks you are assigning them. It may be that you think they are stealing money or merchandise from you. Whatever the problem you just wish you hadn’t hired this person. It is frustrating to make those types of employment decisions, but don’t feel like your small retail store is all alone because you have to make these hiring choices yourself. It even happens to big companies that have Human Resources departments dedicated to trying to hire and retain the best employees.

There are things the smaller store owners and managers can do to try to improve their chances of hiring good applicants for their stores:

  • First and foremost, if you aren’t doing background checks consider hiring Loss Prevention Systems Inc. (LPSi) to do them for you. Their team can dig into a candidate’s past to verify they aren’t hiding important information from you. They can do criminal background checks, verify employment, validate driving records, and so much more. By having a background check company conduct pre-employment screenings on your candidates you also protect your business from potential liability lawsuits if your employee were to harm someone while acting as a representative of your business.
  • When you are reviewing applications look for red flags on the application itself. This could be a significant gap between jobs. While a month up to three months may be explained as just a difficult time finding employment, more than that may be a cause for concern but not necessarily a deal breaker on its own.
  • Look for brief periods of employment or a pattern of going from one job to another, sometimes known as job hopping. While some of this may be expected from a teenager or a college student who may have to find summer work between spring and Fall Semesters it should not be the case for someone out of school for a year or so. Job hopping could indicate someone who has problems at work either with the job itself or the manager. It could also indicate someone who has been stealing and quit before being caught.
  • If your application asks if a former employer may be contacted, look out when the applicant indicates “no” and/or leaves the former supervisor’s name off of the application. There could be a reason they don’t want you to contact that employer.
  • When conducting interviews look for the way the applicant dresses. Regardless of how casual the atmosphere of a business may be it should still be expected that an applicant will come to the interview in at least business casual attire. If an applicant does not care enough to make an attempt to impress the boss in an interview it is highly unlikely they will attempt to impress the boss in their job performance.
  • Look for eye contact from the applicant during an interview. Some people do not know how to interview, have been out of the workforce for a while or may just be nervous so some glancing around is to be expected. On the other hand, there should be some eye contact and if it seems the person is avoiding it, you should consider this a red flag.
  • Cell phones! While they seem to be a necessity of life, they do have an off button. If your candidate fails to mute a phone and it goes off during an interview let it raise a flag. If the applicant asks if you mind if they take the call, I suggest you end the interview at that point. Very few life and death matters take place during an interview. It is more a matter of poor planning. They didn’t take time to mute their phone, turn it off or tell someone where they would be at the time of the interview. If you aren’t more important than that phone during an interview you won’t be more important when they start working for you.

When you hire someone you invest a lot of time and money in them. When you have to get rid of them you start the whole process over and invest more money. Don’t throw good money after bad, recognize red flags and hire right the first time.

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The Costs Associated With Poor Hiring Decisions

June 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment

We make decisions each and every day that have consequences. We set our alarm clocks and when they go off we choose to do the right thing and get up so we have time to prepare for work properly, showering, grabbing a bite to eat, sipping a cup of coffee or two and saying good-byes to our family. It is possible we may choose to do the wrong thing, hit the snooze button and get that 5 extra minutes of sleep but there is a cost associated with it. That five minutes easily turns to fifteen minutes, showers go by the wayside, we grab the first thing we can find in the closet (or hamper), our socks wind up not matching and if we are fortunate we grab a cup of coffee in a travel cup and hope it doesn’t spill on us as we jog/stumble to the car.

Employers can make poor decisions too when they don’t take the time to hire the right person. Some of you may be familiar with a cost/benefit analysis. You probably use it when you are deciding how to run your store(s). Do you allow your inventory shortage numbers to sit at 1.5% or do you invest in a Checkpoint Security System, spending money now but reaping the benefits later in significantly reduced shrink due to theft?

Do you keep investing all of your money into one store hoping to find the formula that will increase your foot traffic or do you take the risk and open a second store in a new market and try to attract a new batch of loyal customers? Is the cost of the investment going to benefit you over time with increased sales? The same thing holds true for your hiring decisions.

When you hire the right person, all kinds of good things can happen. You may bring on a future department supervisor or assistant store manager. You might be adding that person who seems to make everyone around them smile co-workers and customers alike. Sometimes your hiring decisions result in a home run and that new employee is just a self-motivated go-getter who learns quickly and doesn’t wait around to be told what to do next. The right person offers new ideas and suggestions to help a business get better and wants to see the company succeed. Those people exist it’s just a matter of finding them by not rushing to fill positions and hiring the first person you interview.

But did you know there are hidden costs to making a bad hiring decision? Suppose the applicant doesn’t work out for you for one reason or another and you have to end his or her employment, now you have to go through the hiring process again. What does it cost to advertise the job? How much time will you spend reviewing applications, making phone calls to check on references and setting up interviews? Let’s not forget the time it takes to conduct the interviews. Once you make a hiring decision, guess what? Now you have to train your employee, investing more time and pay for the time training is taking place. Oh, and did I mention that there is a chance that the person you fired will file for unemployment? You may have grounds for termination but even if you do, you need to spend time at the unemployment office fighting the claim. The larger retailers often have a Human Resources Manager to take care of this, unfortunately smaller business owners don’t have this person and so the owner or store manager has to go to the hearing.

What are some of the other costs associated with making a bad hiring decision? A poor performer can have a negative impact on the morale of other team members. Who wants to pick up the slack for someone else? You may have hired a thief and then your cost is amplified in the shortage they are causing in stolen money or merchandise. You may find you pay for a poor hiring choice in terms of spending time on disciplinary action and all the steps you have to take to get rid of the employee.

What’s the answer for a small retailer? We can help you with pre-employment screening as a background check company who can thoroughly investigate a prospective employee doing the legwork of checking out who the applicant really is. Next, take your time in reviewing applications. It’s better to be short-handed for a while and get a quality candidate than just filling a spot out of desperation. Building a strong, reliable team may feel like it takes longer but it will pay for itself in the long run. 

     

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Smaller Retailers Retaining Talented Employees In An Improving Economy

June 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment

I remember the days when I needed to fill a position on my Loss Prevention Team and we could post an advertisement and I could easily get a dozen applications or more. Some of these applicants were talented and had extensive Loss Prevention experience and some had very little work experience at all but were looking for a job. The same thing happened when our Human Resources Manager would post job ads for cashiers, flow team or just about any position in the store, people needed work and took the time to sit at our application kiosks and apply on the spot. I’m not implying it was easy to conduct all of the interviews and sometimes the pool of prospective employees did not seem very appealing but they wanted the work and we could be somewhat choosey. The upside to this was that from a disciplinary and retention perspective, if an employee was not doing the job expected of them or they had attendance issues it was easy to go through the corrective action process and correct them right out the door. We knew we had people chomping at the bit for those positions.

     Another benefit for the store in a struggling economy was that good employees were fairly easy to retain. There wasn’t a lot of competition looking to hire new area or department managers. Talented employees also knew that they were probably going to get the maximum available hours and were sure of their position within the store. Going to another business had risk associated with it since there was no guarantee they would be getting the same hours or enjoy the management. While the employee may not have cared for all of the managers in our store, the managers’ styles were a known quality to the employee.

     Today the economy is improving and it is getting harder to hire and retain talented staff. Many national retail chains are now starting their employees out at $9 and $10 an hour. It is difficult to compete with these kinds of wages for entry level positions and for a small retailer, the choice could be hire at the rate but the cost of doing so is a reduction in the total number of employees you can keep on your team. If you are successful at bringing on an employee at minimum wage, how do you retain the talented employee who may be drawn to greener pastures on the other side of the fence? What can the small, independent store owner do? Let us offer some tips that can help you keep the great employees you can’t afford to lose:

  • Show your appreciation. It may seem silly but people want to know they are pleasing their manager/boss. Your store may be too small to have an employee of the month, it doesn’t work well when you only have a small number of people working for you. That recognition loses its value fairly quickly. Buying a drink for someone from a soft drink machine or bringing in pizza or snacks is always well received. It shows you’re thinking of them.
  • Get to know your employees and even learn something about their family. If something happens with their family member that they are proud of, like a child graduating from high school, give them an opportunity to tell you about it. If they have a sick family member or even a pet express your sympathy, maybe even suggest they take a day or two off to care for that person or pet.
  • Consider buying a small gift card of $10 or $20 every once in a while to a fast food place or a movie theater. Don’t necessarily make it in conjunction with any specific activity the employee did for you or any special sale they made. Do it at randomly and maybe place it in a “thank you” card with a note letting them know you appreciate their hard work.
  • Speaking of “Thank You” cards, there aren’t a whole lot of things that mean more than a hand written note mailed to someone’s home expressing gratitude for the service they provide to a company.

If a monetary bonus is in the budget following a successful inventory or prior to a holiday, like a Christmas bonus, it can go a long way to employee retention. A small bonus for someone making minimum wage can make a big difference for them.

It is hard for a small retailer to compete against the big companies, especially in retaining talent. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Demonstrate loyalty and appreciation for the people who make your company successful and they will return the favor.

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Employee Theft and Shrinking

June 21, 2017 by Leave a Comment

It is not surprising that employee theft and shoplifting increases every year.  With online “chat rooms” where shoplifters share their “methods” and the many ways they can get away with shoplifting, it is not surprising the losses across the globe are reaching staggering amounts. 

In 2013, the losses due to shoplifting amounted close to $16 billion globally, a 34% increased over the previous year.  The National Retail Security Survey revealed that in 2015 retail lost an approximate $45 billion due to shrinking, up by more than a billion from the previous year.

What are the expectations for 2016, and 2017? What will the losses amount to this year?

For more about this and other informational topics, follow the links below.

Employee Theft on the Rise According to Latest Retail Survey

Major retailers lost over $44 billion in thefts by customers and employees according to Jack L. Hayes International’s annual Retail Theft Survey.

Wesley Chapel, Fla. — Jack L. Hayes International, a leading loss prevention and inventory shrinkage control consulting firm, has released its 29th Annual Retail Theft Survey.

According to the survey, 438,000 shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2016 by 23 large retailers who were able to recover over $120 million from the thieves.

“In 2016, dishonest employee apprehensions increased almost 10%, with the dollars recovered from these dishonest employees up nearly the same amount (9.3%). While shoplifting apprehensions and the dollars recovered from these shoplifters decreased ever so slightly, 0.2% and 0.9% respectively”, says Mark R. Doyle, president of Jack L. Hayes International.

According to the survey, one out of every 27 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2016. The total number, 53,786, is an almost 10% increase compared to last year.

Over $42 million was recovered from dishonest employees in 2016, up 9.3% from 2015.

Survey participants apprehended 384,296 shoplifters in 2016, a slight decrease of 0.2% from the prior year. The average shoplifting case value in 2016 was $203.18, a slight decrease from 2015 when the value was $204.57.

Exclusive Retailer Survey: Tackling Shrink 2017

C-stores may suffer from a bundle of cash-related issues, but tech-driven solutions are on the way.

One of the show-stopping numbers from the musical “Cabaret” includes the famous refrain, “Money makes the world go ’round.”

But money also makes the world of convenience retailing complicated. And problems such as cash miscounts, sticky-fingered employees and lack of data around dollars can stop the show for eager-to-perform operators who have to devote valuable time and resources to solving these snags.

To help shine a spotlight on the currency concerns c-store retailers face, CSP and Technomic conducted their seventh-annual cash-management report, commissioned by FireKing Security Group (complete results below). Finalized in March, the study surveyed 175 convenience operators who make or influence choices related to cash flow, banking and cash management in their stores. Thirty-seven percent of respondents operate one store, while 63% operate two or more locations.

Results from this year’s study reveal big concerns—and opportunities—for retailers’ cash-handling practices.

The Amazon Approach to Groceries Won’t Replace Stores

It’s a model that could thrive in dense, affluent areas. Most areas are neither dense nor affluent.

​For a certain kind of urban professional, Amazon and Whole Foods are brands that define the consumption of staple goods: the weekly trip to pick up cheese, produce, maybe some pasture-raised organic beef; and the nice UPS man dropping off everything else, from toilet paper to truffle oil. On Friday, those folks learned that they are facing a future of truly one-stop shopping: Amazon.com Inc. plans to acquire Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion.

But what about the rest of America? Well, if you happen to work for rival grocery chains, the news is not good. Competitors from Costco to Kroger to Dollar General saw significant chunks knocked off their market capitalization. Other casualties may include Walmart, the $15-an-hour minimum wage (Amazon is aggressively experimenting with cashierless stores), and the rather unique corporate culture that drives Whole Foods.

 

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Do You Know What a Shoplifter Looks Like?

June 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment

 

  1.  A French Historian is accused of stealing American war heroes’ dog tags to sell on eBay. 

  2. Colorado publisher accused of stealing money from authors

  4.  Store clerk accused of stealing thousands in lottery tickets

The retail industry is not the only one dealing with theft in the United States.  The retail industry looses more than $35 million dollars  to shoplifting every day in the United States. But, theft does not seem to restrict itself to retailers, theft occurs in every place where the opportunity arises.  The shoplifter can be a member of a shoplifting ring, or a regular shopper who has a job, a family, or even financial stability.

There is not a profile of a typical shoplifter.  The shoplifter can be a government representative or a store clerk, a policeman or a French Historian, a shoplifter can be a member of your family or a neighbor.  Many of these people often times feel ashamed or are unable to talk about this issue with other people and are unable to seek help, but the problem does not go away, and everyone looses.

If you are in the retail industry and believe what a shoplifter looks like as they enter the store, then you have already lost against shoplifting. Training the management and employees of a store to combat shoplifting is an important aspect of any store that wants to be profitable.

Read more about this and other issues by clicking the links below.

Exactly What Is a Shoplifter and How Much Do You Know?

Industry veterans may find it odd to ask ‘What is a shoplifter?’ after years of experience. But it’s always good to revisit the fundamentals.

When asked “What is a shoplifter?”, most readers of the LPM Insider probably have a pretty good idea of how to respond. I do too, but it’s interesting what you learn (or re-learn) when you actually do some research on the subject. If you look up the definition of shoplifting, you will find different variations in wording. Some reference larceny, some concealment, and others talk about intent. But the basic definition boils down to this: shoplifting is the “theft of merchandise from a store or place of business.”

The terms “shoplifting” or “shoplifter” are not usually defined by law. The crime of shoplifting generally falls under the legal classification of larceny and can be a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the dollar amount stolen. State by state, larceny laws vary greatly.

For the average person, shoplifting is sometimes confused with burglary or robbery. However, all three are different. Burglary refers to unlawful entry into a building with the intent to commit a crime, especially theft. If a burglar is successful, they will not come in contact with another person.

Shoplifting girl sparks compassion from Atlanta police officer

Atlanta (CNN)In a rough part of this city’s northwest side, the call about a shoplifter at a discount store should have been straightforward.

For Officer Che Milton, it was the first call of his shift — on his fourth day on the job.
Inside the store, Milton met a sobbing 12-year-old named Heaven Staples.
“She’s crying, bawling. Tears everywhere,” Milton told CNN. “She was upset she was caught stealing.”
Heaven told him that she was stealing shoes because her 5-year-old sister needed them.
“I couldn’t put her in the system, being 12 years old, for stealing some $5 shoes,” Milton recalled. “I’d rather just take her home and see what’s going on.”
The ride was short. Heaven cried. Then, they walked in the door.
“That’s when I saw the conditions — how the conditions were in the house,” Milton said: five children and their big sister, Heaven, without much food or furniture.

 

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Can High -Tech Prevent Shoplifting?

June 14, 2017 by Leave a Comment

The causes for shoplifting are varied and the solution to these issues are not yet answered.  Many people shoplift because of a mental issue, while other shoplift because it is easy and profitable for them.

The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention states that shoplifting has become one of the most prevalent crimes committed in the United States every year.  Shoplifting though is viewed by many of the  people committing the crime as an issue of no importance, or one that does not affect the communities or the people around them.

For a retailer, the issue of shoplifting is a big problem that cost them billions of dollars every year.

For more about this and other issues, follow the links below.

Police give tips to prevent shoplifting

Albany police said the number of shoplifting cases usually increases during the summer, so they’re working to keep local businesses safe.

Police held a meeting for their business watch group on Thursday and shared tips to prevent shoplifting. Some of those include using and testing alarms and video surveillance systems regularly and leaving lights on at night to discourage burglars.

Police said businesses should also communicate with their neighboring shops and with police to share information and surveillance video.

Store Security Turns High-Tech to Prevent Shoplifting

That five-finger discount will kill your bottom line. With $45.2 billion lost to retail theft in 2015, some stores — hoping to avoid the estimated tens of thousands it costs to employ a two-person security team — are turning to higher tech solutions that don’t need to be paid overtime. Technology like facial recognition software that keeps an electronic eye out for known shoplifters can be tough for small independent retailers to afford. But proponents say it doesn’t just catch shoplifters, it discourages them in the first place.

There is more to shoplifting than meets the eye

​Last week The National reported that a 29-year-old Macedonian woman, a tourist visiting Dubai, was sentenced to two months in jail. She was arrested in January for attempting to steal lingerie, perfume and lipstick from the Victoria’s Secret store at Mall of the Emirates. She admitted the charges, but in her defence she claimed that she didn’t know why she shoplifted. “I have money, but I steal,” she told her prosecutors.

The UAE is home to some of the world’s largest shopping malls; it also has one of the highest per-capita retail shopping centre densities in the world. It makes sense, in this context, to understand why people shoplift. Globally, billions of dollars are lost each year to shoplifting. So understanding its causes and consequences and trying to find cures are good for business.

In the case of the tourist, we might never know, for sure, why she decided to stuff her handbag with goodies from Victoria’s Secret. More generally, however, psychology and those concerned with consumer misbehaviour have advanced many ideas about why some people shoplift.

 

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Alpha High Theft Solutions Blending With The Checkpoint Label

June 2, 2017 by Leave a Comment

As many of you know Alpha High Theft Solutions was acquired by Checkpoint Systems many years ago. Checkpoint has encouraged Alpha’s brand growth and innovation. Alpha has produced the best high theft solutions, hands down in the industry. Innovations like Spider Wrap, Keepers, Bottle Locks, Cable Locks, Shark Tags, specialized hard tags literally protect billions of retail products worldwide.

As the largest nationwide Checkpoint Dealer we have watched and even helped with the research and development of some of these products.

It comes as no surprise to Loss Prevention Systems and many of you, that the Alpha High Theft Solutions name is being blended into Checkpoint High Theft Solutions. From the inside, the accounting and management functions have been the same for some time. But this has been accomplished slowly and carefully over time. The Alpha DNA is still there, stronger than ever.

When we at Loss Prevention Systems met recently with Checkpoint High Theft Solutions, we clearly saw the Alpha DNA. In fact to us it seems that it is even stronger than ever. We were shown new products, some we cannot discuss yet, as they are still in development with R&D and will be real game changers. The scientists and product specialists at Checkpoint overwhelmed us with the new items they are working on.

These are concepts that are becoming reality other companies have never even thought of. The application of science is, well, amazing. As soon as they give us the green light we will begin rolling them out to you. Maybe even a few lucky LPSI Retailers will get to test and evaluate some of these new game changers.

Checkpoint has evolved into inventory control solutions not just shoplifting electronic article surveillance solutions. When we couple that with Loss Prevention Systems actual loss prevention experience in both the shoplifting and employee theft arenas, you have a powerful partner to help you achieve the profitability you want and deserve. Our real world live training is included on every system we sell, as often as you need it, for the life of your Checkpoint System, FREE of charge.

Loss Prevention Systems includes even more. We are there to help protect you from the bad guys. Shoplifters, employee theft, robbery, burglary, pre-employment investigations, pre-employment interviewing, vendor fraud are threats to your very livelihood. We have personally dealt with all of these for large and small companies alike. A single store owner can have the same loss prevention programs that the big box stores have with Loss Prevention Systems and Checkpoint Systems High Theft solutions.

But rest assured the Alpha brand is alive and well and living in Checkpoint High Theft Solutions. It courses through everything we do and stand ready to help you with. There are exciting times ahead for retail loss prevention and security so stay tuned for more information.  

And remember that if you hate shoplifters and theft as much as we at Loss Prevention Systems, please share this with your retail friends.

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Tips To Counter Website Advice For Potential Shoplifters

June 2, 2017 by Leave a Comment

There seems to be an advice website or YouTube video for nearly everything these days. Want to know who to call for home repairs? Need information about a car before you buy it? Looking for someone to date? Yes, it’s all on the internet, I’ve even completed some plumbing repairs and small vehicle repairs with the aid of online videos. Unfortunately, while there is a lot of help and good information on the world wide web, there are also sites that purport to be “informational” only but the information they provide supposedly tells people how to shoplift. What I find even more irritating is that some of these theft websites allegedly are written by former Loss Prevention personnel. The information they give is sometimes too accurate and could cause problems for a retailer who isn’t informed themselves on how to prevent thieves from stealing from them.

     Here is some ‘information’ that is published on the web and our advice can help you fight back against these shoplifter websites.

  • Website: Carry money with you, no money makes it hard to say it was spontaneous.
    Loss Prevention Systems Inc. (LPSI) Advice: It makes no difference if the shoplifter has or does not have money. Treat all shoplifters the same and be consistent in prosecuting within whatever your policies say.
  • Website: Carry a bag but don’t place anything in it. It may get you off the hook if they can’t find anything in it.
    LPSI Advice: Store Loss Prevention or Managers should never be stopping a suspect if they don’t know where the concealment took place and what was concealed. If you don’t know and didn’t see it, smother them with extensive customer service.
  • Website: Security does not go looking for poorly dressed people. They may pick on you out of boredom but they anticipate professional shoplifters will dress up a bit. Wear whatever you want.
    LPSI Advice: Loss Prevention professionals who do the job right look for signals that may indicate someone is going to shoplift and the types of clothes worn. Are the clothes unseasonable? Is the person wearing a bulky coat when it’s warm outside? Is the person in a known high theft area? Does the person avoid customer service from employees?
  • Website: If you get caught don’t act tough or be a smart “arse” (sic), cry, bawl, beg them not to call the cops, that your kids will be taken by CSV (child services).
    LPSI Advice: Always be consistent. Don’t play favorites and don’t do “favors”. Not applying the rules equally to everyone can actually get you into legal hot water. If there are children with the shoplifter there is nothing wrong with allowing them to call a family member or close, trusted friend to pick up the children. Often shoplifters who have no record of shoplifting have been caught before they were just released and not prosecuted. See how that works?
  • Website: Look for younger, or less ‘affluent’ associates who may turn a blind eye if they see you shoplifting.
    LPSI Advice: Train ALL of your associates on the importance of customer service and the necessity to report all suspicious activity. Perhaps initiate a reward program for employees who can demonstrate they have prevented a theft. This may be done if they can show clothes with torn off tags or an anti-theft device that was being tampered with and the associate walked up and disrupted the thief. Maybe it’s a fitting room attendant who finds merchandise hidden that a shoplifter was going to try to take into the fitting room. Age of an employee should never be a factor.
  • Website: Most employees at places with EAS (electronic article surveillance) door alarms (towers) view them as an annoyance instead of as an asset. If someone does respond to an alarm they are usually only allowed to ask you if you “forgot to pay for something”. They cannot threaten to call the police. There was no evidence.
    LPSI Advice: Ensure all associates are trained on appropriate EAS alarm response. Waving goodbye or saying, “It’s okay” is not appropriate. Employees should be asking politely for receipts and then looking for dates, time stamps, and verifying the items on the receipt are the items being carried out. If a discrepancy is found a manager should be called over. If nothing is found in bags or in the shopping cart, there are additional steps to take in order to determine the cause of an alarm.

     Loss Prevention Systems provides training for managers and staff on preventing shoplifting. You can contact LPSI for information on how to approach an EAS/Checkpoint system alarm. These are simply a few tips on how to overcome the tips from these “informational” websites. Don’t be a victim to shoplifters. You can prevent theft, reduce your shortage and increase profits. Proper training for you and your managers can pay big dividends regardless of what criminals may read on the world wide web.

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