In An Economy Predicted To Improve Here Are Some Things You Can Anticipate

After a long and contested election cycle, a new president will be inaugurated and with this result, some experts are predicting the economy will begin to improve significantly.  If the rebound is as strong as these experts are predicting retailers will be one of the beneficiaries, with an increase in customers and sales.  Likewise there may also be more shoplifting activity that takes place.  An increase in sales would seem to make sense given that there would be more people with jobs and potentially more money in their pockets, but why would there be an increase in shoplifting?  There are a couple of possible explanations, for example during those periods when the economy is slumping retailers tend to order less merchandise.  The result is shelves may stay empty longer or there may be fewer high ticket goods available for criminals to steal.  Less product displayed can translate to less opportunity and opportunity is one of the necessities for a theft to take place.  There is also the chance that with fewer customers in a store, employees are more readily available to offer customer service to shoppers and this is certainly a deterrent to shoplifters.  One of the first recommendations I always make for improved shortage results is for a store to focus on customer service.

Along with increased sales and the potential for more shoplifting, what are some other things you can anticipate with an improving economy?  You may find you are in need of more employees to help in your store.  Cash stands that may not have been very active could start to see new life as lines begin to increase.  Customers don’t want to wait for service so it is important to have enough staff to meet the demand.  Sales floor coverage will likely be stretched thin again impacting shopper perception of wait time.  Hiring could be crucial and in an improved economy you could be fighting for talent.  Don’t settle on a warm body, ensure you conduct pre-employment screenings so you can be confident that the person you hire is the right fit for your team and has no hidden skeletons in the closet.

An improving economy means more transactions and that means cash registers have more money in them and credit card swipes.  Make sure credit cards are the only thing being swiped and then only during the customer transaction.  More cash in a register is a tempting target to an employee who may be experiencing a personal financial crisis.  Make sure your front end or cashier supervisors are doing random cash drops at the registers, taking most of the money and leaving enough in to continue ringing sales.  Watch for cashiers who may be tempted to swipe a credit card and forget to hand it back to the customer.  If you see credit cards lying beside a register, question where it came from and pick it up and retain it in a lost and found.

Anticipate the need to replenish shelves more quickly.  During slow economic times merchandise doesn’t always sell quickly and so filling empty spaces on shelves and fixtures may have been able to wait until the next truck load of freight arrived.  If sales improve as predicted it is important to have plans in place to address “holes” more quickly.  Prepare to monitor for out of stocks during the day and get it refilled from your stockroom quickly.  If you are selling a lot of vendor supplied product, such as soft drinks, bread, cereals and snacks, etc., partner with your vendor representatives to increase deliveries and representative visits.

If you require an increase in floor replenishment, don’t forget to protect product with retail anti-theft devices before it gets to the selling floor.  Remember I mentioned there could be increased shoplifting with an improving economy.  It is easy to overlook the protection of merchandise as it flows from the stockroom.  I should note that I would prefer to see merchandise protected as it arrives to the store, but some stores do wait until it gets sent to the sales-floor before applying Checkpoint tags and labels.

The potential for growth in sales is exciting for retailers.  Don’t miss the boat by not being prepared for it.  Have a plan to meet the needs of an expanding customer base. Be ready to fill your sales-floor and don’t forget to prevent shoplifting by protecting your merchandise before it gets to the floor.  Going green will take on a whole new meaning in the coming years!


     

     

     

Avoid Being A Victim This Holiday Season

woman

Happy Holidays! Or, are they really?  Retailers are not the only ones that suffer from theft during the holiday season.  Yes, shoplifting, employee theft, and merchant thefts occur more during the holiday season than at other times of the year for retailers, but people around the country are more and more vulnerable to theft that occurs at their front door.  Have you bought anything online? Has it been delivered? There are many stories of packages being delivered, but never actually received by the recipient.  Where is it?  Some of them at least are at the hands of thieves that go prowling neighborhoods in search of delivered packages left at your front or side door. If you ordered something online and won’t be at home during the day, asking a neighbor to accept the package for you is not imposing, it is just neighborly. Take precautions this holiday season to avoid being the victim of theft. 

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


Chamblee Police: Tips to Avoid Becoming a Holiday Crime Victim

Chamblee, GA, December 5, 2016 – The Post Reports – The Chamblee Police Department provides the following information on why thieves love the Holiday season and what you can do to prevent becoming a victim.

Why Thieves Love the Holiday Season

All the hustle and bustle going on over the holidays gives thieves what they want, almost as much as an unlocked bank vault and that is the opportunity to become invisible. Thieves can move through big crowds of rushed and distracted people without anyone noticing them. They can pickpocket and shoplift and when their victims realize that they have been robbed, they will have no idea who did it.

Thieves Feed on Opportunities

Thieves know that the police are overloaded during the holiday season and they take full advantage it. They thrive on the fact that the police and stores’ loss prevention staff have their hands full with amateur thieves who are hauled to jail for trying to steal from the electronics departments or waiting for the parents of teenagers who pocketed the latest video game.

In the meantime, the professional thieves are busy breaking into cars in the parking lots to steal gifts, cell phones and electronics or stalking and robbing. Some thieves prefer burglarizing homes. They spend their time walking neighborhoods, looking for houses that appear that the homeowners are away. Darkened homes nestled between neighbors with front yards bursting with holiday lights will draw their attention.


Albany police encourage businesses to be on constant crime watch

businesses should increase their vigilance, watching for crime in their stores, as shoplifting and thefts increase during the holidays.

It’s a serious issue, because a large theft in a small store could mean a merchant having to go out of business.

Chuck Roberts has owned John Ross Jewelers at his Dawson Road location for 30 years, and one reason he has been so successful is he was already thinking about criminals when he designed the shop.

“We built this store the way it’s built, to stop the shoplifting,” explained Roberts.

Police said that during this time of year, shoplifters and thieves increase their activity, because stores have more customers to hide among, and there is more on hand to steal.

“They have more merchandise available. So there will always be someone who is looking to find an illegal way to acquiring that merchandise,” said Albany Police Chief Michael Persley.

Roberts has well established trade practices to deter thieves and lots of surveillance cameras watching customers, because he has thousands of dollars worth of jewelry in his store cases, and knows crooks will go to almost any length to steal them.


Consumers beware of holiday crimes

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) – The winter months cover a time of seasonal giving and cheer.

Unfortunately, crime doesn’t pause for the holidays.

Especially after major online shopping events like Cyber Monday.

Ryan Adamson with the Terre Haute Police Department says you have to watch out for the occasional Grinch looking to steal.

He says, “Thefts of packages increase this time of year. Somebody is at work, they get a notification on their phone that UPS, or Fed-Ex, has dropped off a package. They get home and lo and behold, it’s not there. So be mindful of where your packages are going.”

Criminals are looking for an easy steal, so what is easier than an unattended package on a door step?

Adamson suggests, “If you can have it delivered to work, do so. Or, try to have them sent to a friend’s house or a relative’s house. Just somebody that’s going to be home. Or, make it to where somebody has to sign for the package, so the package is verified that somebody is there for it.”

Adamson also says to be careful where you place your presents once wrapped.

He says, “Don’t put your gifts in plain view right in front the window where everybody can see. Don’t put your big expensive TV right in front of the window. If you’re not going to be home, let your neighbor know. Have somebody check on your house for you to make sure everything is okay.”

Unfortunately, your car isn’t safe from winter scrooges either.


Preventing Shoplifting During The Holidays

shoppersFrom Miami, Florida to Seattle Washington, police departments across the nation plan to increase police patrols and police officers around shopping malls, downtown, and most frequented shopping areas around their cities to ensure people feel safe when they come out to shop for the holidays.  Another reason is also to ensure shoplifters know police officers are present and that their criminal activity will not go unpunished.  Shoplifting during the holidays increases, and retailers and police departments try to mitigate it by implementing shoplifting measures that can help them keep shoplifting to a minimum.

For this and other topics, follow the links below.


How does Walmart’s latest anti-theft program work?

Walmart is taking a different approach to shoplifters. 

The world’s biggest retailer is using the Restorative Justice Program to help reduce theft and police calls in their stores.

Walmart is often a hotspot for crime, according to an August Bloomberg report.

It’s not only petty crimes that plague Walmart stores all across the country, more than 200 violent crimes- including murders, attempted kidnappings and shootings- have happened in the nation’s 4,500 Walmart stores this year, according to the report.

While the Restorative Justice Program aims to cut down on shoplifting specifically, less petty crime often means less violent crime.

Restorative justice by definition, is a system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community.

Walmart aims to do just that.

“The program offers first time low risk offenders a second chance in order to make things right by participating in an educational course in lieu of prosecution.” said Delia Garcia, Director of Communications at Walmart.

The program launched in 2014 and is currently in effect in about a third of all Walmart stores, including in the Sacramento market, according to Garcia.


No retailer is immune to shoplifting

If you pay attention to court news, you know there’s a problem with serial shoplifters.

Many individuals are convicted of shoplifting three times or more. Sometimes, they try to steal from the same store.

In Grand Island, the majority of shoplifting violations reported this year have been at department or discount stores. That category is followed by grocery stores/supermarkets and then by convenience stores.

Businesses point out that theft translates into higher costs for customers.

A sign at Super Saver, for instance, says “To keep prices low we have installed an electronic inventory system.”

The number of thefts is probably proportional to the number of shoppers a store attracts, notes Capt. Jim Duering of the Grand Island Police Department. In other words, the greater the foot traffic, the bigger the number of shoplifters.

A Walmart spokeswoman points out that a company with multiple locations in a city will be victimized more than a single entity.

Walmart uses a multi-pronged approach to make sure the store is meeting “our customers and our associates’ expectations for a safe and enjoyable shopping experience,” says Delia Garcia.

Having a safe environment “begins with a very positive relationship with law enforcement,” Garcia said.


Mt. Juliet police increase patrols in shopping areas

Starting this week, Mt. Juliet police will increase patrols in Mt. Juliet’s retail areas for this year’s holiday shopping season.

On Thanksgiving afternoon, Black Friday and throughout the shopping season, more police officers will be concentrated near the primary shopping areas by Interstate-40, according to a release from the Mt. Juliet Police Department.

“The ultimate goal is to deter and prevent criminal activity,” Chief James Hambrick said. “We simply want Mt. Juliet’s shoppers to have a great experience at our area shopping destinations. Residents and visitors will see an increased police presence, and there will also be undercover officers that will not be easily noticed.”

 


 

TRAIN THE TEMPS

employeesAs I sit here on this Halloween night, thinking about how great it was when I was a kid to pillage the neighborhoods for candy and treats, I can’t help but also think about the next 60 days. The real fright comes now for all of us in the retail game. We’ve got so little time to do so very much. We all have new receipts pouring in, plan-o-grams that need setting, bulk stacks that need stacking and bins that need filling; all with the mad hopes of grabbing every possible dollar from now until December 24. A big part of that plan, for most, is hiring temporary help to get us through. Have you ever thought about how these temporary workers can impact your LP goals? With a little training and guidance, they can be one of your greatest holiday assets.

So, what LP practices should you train your temporary workers on? For starters, keep things simple. If you try and overload them with knowledge, you’ll get nowhere fast. I usually run with 5 big topics and expand upon them as needed.

  1. Customer service!

This should be priority number one! Honestly, this should be the priority for all training, regardless of status… Customer service is the absolute, hands down, no way around it, best possible way for you to discourage shoplifting. A thief loves to operate in the shadows. If a pesky employee is always there to lend a hand, well you’ll probably be putting a wrinkle in their plans. Make sure your temp hires understand that the service levels in your store should always surpass any other retailer. A customer should never be ignored, but enthusiastically greeted and assisted as if they were family. You’ll make more money from bigger baskets and the thieves will just hate you for it.

  1. Hot Spots

You know your building better than anyone, so you should know what the thieves love. Is it that rack of personal electronics on the rear aisle? Perhaps those new high end jackets you’ve got this year? Maybe even this month’s new footwear craze. Whatever it is, you undoubtedly know what it is. Well, Mr. Manager, make sure your temps know that information too! Explain what the hottest theft items are and have them be on the lookout for any suspicious activity near those items. Maybe they should call you if they see someone putting all 30 hover boards in a basket… just a thought.

  1. Look for suspicious activity

Easy for you and I; not so much for a high school/college kid’s first temp job in a retail store. Explain what this means to your temp crew. You know what your shopper looks like and how they shop. Train your temps to look for those tell-tale signs of potential funny business. You know, wearing the heavy coat, but it’s 85 and sunny outside (Maybe only in Louisiana’s winters…), clearing pegs, and all those other little bits of information that could help identify a thief.

  1. What to do?!

Well, your temps are paying attention to those hot items, happen to see a customer conceal an item, or they just have suspicions, what do they do now? GO TACKLE THEM! Or not… depending on your insurance, I guess. No, that’s a terrible idea, what they really should do is know how to react to such behavior should they observe it. This falls back to the very first training point above; go give em’ some good ole’ fashioned customer service. Don’t try to “watch” them, be overt with their presence. Your legit customers will love it, and if that person really did have fraudulent intentions, your temp just saved you some shrink dollars. Now, I would throw into this that if they do observe a crime, they need to know to report this to you immediately, preferably while the suspect is still in the store for you (or another manager) to handle.

  1. Safety

Did you really think we were going to talk about LP training and leave out our old friend safety? I never understand seeing debris or trash on the floor in a retail store. All those people working and no one can pick that shirt hangar off the floor? Does it really take an old lady to trip on it before we throw in to the trash? In my experience, GL/Worker’s Comp claims shoot through the roof this time of year. Make sure your temp crew understands your view/mantra/creed/constitution/mandate/stone tablet of what you expect in regard to safety. It’s not OK to climb on a gondola/shelf. It’s not OK to take a joy ride on the lips of the forklift. General frowned upon to ride a pallet-jack like a skateboard and also probably bad for business to leave water spills on the floor until someone decides to mop them up with the back of their shirts. Train them to be focused on unsafe actions/conditions and you may see a reduction in claims this season.

Not much work usually goes into training temporary workers, especially in a retail store. Normally, by the time you start to remember everyone’s name, it’s time to cut them all loose. Do yourself a favor and resist the urge to push people out to the sales floor with an index card’s worth of training. By putting just a little emphasis on LP practices in your temp training, I’ll guarantee that you’ll get a return on that small investment of time.

Shoplifting And The Holiday Season

grandmaIt is not surprising that CVS is once again the recipient of a lawsuit.  The history of legal suits against the chain is not new.  Black and hispanic shoppers are regularly profiled by the chain according to this Daily news report, and now CVS is targeting the elderly.  During the holiday season, stores do hire more personnel for their store to offset shoplifting, but targeting a specific group is a violation of their constitutional rights as United States citizens.  Profiling has been an ineffective practice that stores and in this case CVS keep engaging in, and which brings them no solution to the problem.

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


10 bizarre things Americans steal during the holidays

Shoplifting ends up costing the average consumer an extra $50 during the holiday season.

Americans tend to get sticky fingers around holiday time.

Shoplifting is a major problem for retailers around the holidays, says Ernie Deyle, the co-author of the Checkpoint Systems’ Retail Holiday Season Global Forecastreleased in October, and an industry consultant. Indeed, 37% of a store’s annual shrink loss — shrink is the revenue companies should receive minus what they do receive, due in large part to a combination of losses from shoplifting, employee theft and fraud — happens during the holiday season.

There’s more theft during the holidays for a number of reasons: Increased store traffic leads to more shoplifting, and people tend to rationalize shoplifting around this time: “It’s much easier to do so when a child’s Christmas present is at stake rather than an extra bathing suit for the summer,” the report reveals. Plus, stores tend to carry pricier merchandise during the holidays, “so even if the same quantity of merchandise was stolen, the value of the merchandise stolen is higher,” the report reveals.


Grandma and Grandpa, shoplifters? CVS thinks so

Public enemy No. 1 at your local CVS: Grandma and Grandpa.

Seven discrimination lawsuits filed Monday against the pharmacy chain in courts across the city include the revelation that a CVS “Loss Prevention” handbook warns employees that senior citizens on a “fixed income” present a “special shoplifting concern.”

Attorneys from the Manhattan law firm Wigdor LLP brought the suits on behalf of former employees arguing that the policy is “tantamount to an admission of discrimination against older customers.”

The lawyers, Michael Willemin and David Gottlieb, have testimony from 16 whistleblower ex-staffers who claim that CVS stores across the city discriminate by profiling elderly shoppers, as well as blacks and Hispanics.

CVS’s 2014 “Loss Prevention” training guide says that “each store may have special shoplifting concerns based on it’s location, type of customer, etc.,” according to court papers. Sticky-fingered seniors are listed as one “special concern,” the suit says.


Rare to have older kids join adults in shoplifting

When it happens, officers must use discretion

Adult shoplifters employ all sorts of methods. Among the most insidious schemes are those that use children as decoys or unknowing partners.

Most times, the kids in cases like these are too young to understand, let alone participate in, the crime. They are infants or toddlers under whose clothing or strollers the stolen items are stashed.

But there also is a smaller subset: adults who use older kids as outright accomplices in shoplifting. This latter problem became an issue here locally this week when Ocala police accused a woman and her boyfriend of inducing the woman’s 12-year-old daughter to help them steal clothing from the Wal-Mart on Southwest 19th Avenue Road.

The girl had the unusual distinction of being both a suspect and a victim in one single criminal experience: Police arrested the girl and charged her with theft, and then charged her mother with both theft and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.


 

Preventing Shoplifting This Holiday Season

shoppers

The holiday season is approaching . Along with the jolly spirit, festivities, and holiday shopping come new security issues.  Hiring extra personnel for the stores this time of year is only one of the many extra security issues retail shop owners and managers have to deal with this holiday season. Now, shoplifting flash mobs are making an appearance in retail stores across the country, making the damage so much more than the lone shoplifter.  Can the extra security personnel help?  Follow the links below for more information about this and other stories.


Flash mobs the latest threat this holiday season

The holiday season rings in more than just higher sales for retailers. There’s also more shoplifting and lower profit margins than the rest of the year, according to a report released today. Plus, this year, there’s an extra surprise — flash mobs

The holiday season rings in more than just higher sales for retailers. There’s also more shoplifting and lower profit margins than the rest of the year, according to a report released today. Plus, this year, there’s an extra surprise — flash mobs

The holiday season rings in more than just higher sales for retailers. There’s also more shoplifting and lower profit margins than the rest of the year, according to a report released today. Plus, this year, there’s an extra surprise — flash mobs.

Not the dancing, music-playing, watching-a-couple-get-engaged kind of flash mobs. But the kind of flash mobs where a bunch of people all show up at a store at once, pull hats low over their heads, grab everything in sight, and split.

Just last week, there was a flash mob at an Apple store in Natick, Mass., that took off with more than $13,000 worth of iPhones in less than a minute.

Another flash mob last month near Boston netted more than $14,000.


Extra holiday patrols to keep EMC shoppers safe

The Safe Shopper Program, an initiative to reduce crime in East Montgomery County during the holiday months, will run this year from Oct. 15 to Jan. 31, 2017.

With the holiday season approaching, people in East Montgomery County may begin noticing extra patrols from the Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office in EMC shopping centers.

The East Montgomery County Improvement District launched the Safe Shopper Program with MCCO Precinct 4 in 2012 as a way to diminish crime related to holiday shopping.

“It’s been a hugely successful program,” Kelley Mattlage, EMCID director of communications, said. “It’s basically a shoplifting safety program. EMCID pays the Constable’s Office overtime for extra patrols around the holidays. They go out to shopping centers and perform building checks, patrol parking lots and make sure no one is shoplifting or burglarizing vehicles.”

This year’s Safe Shopper Program begins Oct. 15 and will continue through Jan. 31, 2017; approximately two weeks longer than the program ran last year.


Recent thefts raise eyebrows at Abilene hardware store

ABILENE, Texas – Recent thefts at an Abilene hardware store are raising a few eyebrows.

A woman, with a baby carrier, is caught on surveillance video entering the store with a man and two children.

What happened next is surprising.

“Here they come, a man and his wife, her carrying the baby and they have their two little kids with them,” said Jennie Bright, general manager of Bible Hardware, while reviewing security footage.

“They kind of look around and come straight back down the aisle. There’s no employee right there and so she points to it, pulls the blanket back, puts it in there, covers that baby back up and walks out the door. The two kids are following and watching what the parents are doing.”

Bible Hardware in Abilene knows the cost of shoplifting is more than just the price of the item taken.

Bright said the store tried to keep the prices down to help customers out, but some people are helping themselves to what the store has.


 

Preventing Shoplifting During The Holiday Season

mens

October is almost half gone and before you know it the holidays will be fast approaching.  The beginning of the holiday season for many people starts around thanksgiving, but for the retail industry and the small shop owner the season has already started. Security during this time of year is a challenge for the retail industry to say the least.  Preventing shoplifting requires them to be aware of the new trends in technology and decide what will work for them.  Will they need to hire more loss prevention personnel? Are the new cameras working as expected?  Are the new hires trained and ready for the challenge of stopping a shoplifter?  The challenges facing the retail industry are many, and during this time of year, shoplifting and employee theft are very serious concerns for them.


Video Surveillance Tools: Seeing the Big Picture

Before deciding on a digital video security system, learn how the technologies work.

Video surveillance systems have become a mainstay for many loss prevention programs. As the technology evolves and business needs grow more complex, loss prevention leaders are looking for solutions that are both affordable and capable of meeting the escalating demands of the business.

LP Magazine sat down with Mike Dunn, vice president of business development for BSI, to garner his expertise and insights on building effective video surveillance systems and how to get the most out of existing systems to help maximize retailers’ options and investment.

What are the primary considerations when choosing between an analog versus an Internet protocol (IP) camera system?

Before deciding on a video option, it is advisable to first understand how the technologies work, as the differences in both camera technologies and method of video transmission are critical to developing a well-planned video solution.


Shrinkage causes $123b loss to global retailers

Shrinkage is defined as losses from shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud and administrative errors.

The retail sector in the Middle East should adopt effective strategies and solutions to curtail ‘shrinkage’ to improve profitability as it caused up to $123.39 billion in loss to global retailers in 2014-15, experts say.

Referring to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer Study conducted by Checkpoint Systems, the industry experts claimed that shrinkage, defined as losses from shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud and administrative errors, accounted for 1.23 per cent of total retail sales in 2014-15 compared to 0.94 per cent in the previous year.

Jayant Ghosh, business development manager, Checkpoint Middle East and Africa; and Ben Chua, Checkpoint product director for Asia Pacific, said shrinkage increased globally as retailers spent less on prevention and there was in increase in the type of products being targeted.

“In the US, we saw that apparel stores suffered the highest rates of shrink [2.28 per cent] followed by pharmacies/drugstores [2.25 per cent] and non-grocery retailers [1.9 per cent],” Chua recently told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of an event in Dubai.


Column: Everett boutique owner shocked by rampant shoplifting

By Kylie Sabra

Guest columnist

I have never shoplifted in my life — not even as a child.

It simply never occurred to me to take something that was not mine.

I am new to retail and I absolutely love my new life. Running ReFresh Boutique allows me to engage my artsy tendencies as well as my planning and logistical skills. I’ve lived a protected life I suppose. My professional career was in corporate marketing and communications where I dealt with a microcosm of humanity. I now find myself exposed to a far wider range of personalities, and most of them I enjoy immensely.

Then, there are the issues.

I remember how heartsick I felt the first time someone stole from me. It was an all-to-common occurrence.

I’ve been able to reduce much of the theft problem by adjusting security cameras and rearranging the store to remove blind spots and closely observing people with large bags, coats, purses and the like.


 

Is Your Checkpoint System Ready for the Holidays?

EASWe are getting ready for an increase in customer traffic. Is your Checkpoint System ready? Are you having false or phantom alarms? Is the system working properly? Have you had your system tuned or a Preventative Maintenance (PM) conducted in the last year or even 5 years?

Here are some things to check:

  • Checkpoint Systems do not generally like to be decorated. Anything with metal, foil, lights, electricity…. WILL cause trouble. Don’t decorate them.
  • Are the shopping carts, hand baskets pushed too close? Make sure they are at least 3 feet away.
  • Have you re-merchandised? Is tagged or labeled product too close?
  • Have you re-fixture in the area near the Checkpoint antennas? If so this could cause trouble. Again, you want to keep metal fixtures at least 3 feet away.
  • Have you added any other equipment in the vicinity of the system? CCTV, coolers, ice machines, vending machines, etc., all can make a huge difference in your system’s performance.
  • DO NOT put the Christmas tree next to the system. The lights and ornaments will cause problems.
  • Are you powering the Checkpoint system using an extension cord? Your Checkpoint Power Supply must be plugged directly into an outlet.

Check for these and other potential issues by simply standing back and looking your system over. Checkpoint Systems are commercial grade and made to last in a retail environment. But like any other systems and hardware, you have in your store, they need some TLC from time to time. Your car’s oil needs to be changed. Would you ignore that? Our systems need PM every once in a while.

If your system has not had a PM or service in some time or possibly never, then it is time. Besides checking the system over thoroughly, we will update the systems firm wear and tune it. You may see a substantial increase in performance.

Get a PM or service call scheduled now, before your attention is taken up with the selling season.


It’s Getting Darker Earlier, What LP Things Should I Be Doing?

outsidemall As a Loss Prevention Manager I always had three things I felt were my top priorities.  The safety of our store employees, the safety of our customers and the protection of store property.  Property in my mind always included the building (interior and exterior), equipment and merchandise. Planning and follow-up are the keys to keeping a store safe and secure.  I would mention that while I broke down my focus to three top priorities, my action plans always intersected. In other words, a plan for protecting a building from vandalism with adequate, working perimeter lights also made it safer for customers who walked to a housing area behind our store. With this in mind, it is important to create action plans that are relevant, sometimes adjusting for seasons such as holidays or being prepared for weather events such as hurricanes.  One change that is easily overlooked is the shortened daylight hours in the fall and winter.  With darkness descending upon us earlier there are steps Loss Prevention can take to keep stores safe.

Safety precautions to take as days get shorter:

  • Inspect parking lot lights.  If lights are burned out place a work order to have them repaired/replaced.  Dark parking lots make customers uncomfortable and they may choose not to shop in your store.
  • Inspect building exterior lighting.  These are the lights that are on the walls of the building and at the corners.  Criminals tend to prey on victims in areas with poor or no lighting.
  • Inspect the back of the store and loading dock areas.  Often this is the place where cardboard bales are kept, empty pallets are stacked and some stores maintain dumpsters.  If storage has to be kept here keep the area as neat and clean as possible.  Unkempt areas are attractive to drug and other illicit activities.
  • If your store has a storage trailer(s) located at the rear of the building, establish a time when employees are not allowed to leave the building to pull merchandise or store merchandise in the trailer.  This should be no later than dusk and that may be a flexible time as the days get shorter. 
  • Encourage employees who are leaving in the dusk to dark hours to leave with a partner.  It may be that they ask for a Loss Prevention partner to escort them to their vehicle if no one else is leaving at that time.  Always remember that a buddy system is the best method to prevent robberies of employees.
  •   Increase parking lot foot patrols.  Being visible makes customers feel safer and acts as a deterrent to those who may lurk in the parking lot waiting for an opportunity to grab a purse or commit a robbery.
  • Consider hiring a uniformed security officer or an employee to be present at the front door.  They can respond to EAS alarms and conduct receipt checks, but they can also offer escorts to customers leaving the building. They may also step outside the doors to do a visual inspection of the parking lot.  One store I worked at had a person who was hired to do just this and they were called a “Guest Ambassador”.  This person should not be used as a back-up cashier because the tendency is to keep them on a register and they lose their effectiveness at the front doors.
  • Employees will go on breaks and some are smokers.  If you are going to have a designated smoking area, be sure it is well lit and it should not be in a secluded area for the safety of those who may go out after dark.
  • Inspect any exterior closed circuit television cameras you may have on the building.  Make sure they are functioning, have clear pictures, and are retaining video for at least two weeks (preferably 30 days). 
  • Find ways to build a relationship with the police department responsible for the area where your store is located.  Contact a Crime Prevention Officer and offer to assist with Santa Helper events, children’s car seat safety events, or other activities that the department is helping for community outreach.  As you build a relationship, you may find more officers using your parking lot to stop and write reports or conducting ride by patrols.  The more police presence, the less likely crime will occur in or around your store.  This is always a bonus at night.

The tips are not exhaustive, there are other ideas you may think of as you create a plan specific to your store and location.  By being proactive and establishing a plan that will keep your store safe as the nights get longer, you will protect your business and your reputation and as a result drive up sales.


PROSECUTING A SHOPLIFTER – 101

law-3How do I approach a shoplifting incident? This question is asked of me almost on a daily basis by store managers and owners. We always give advice and best practices on how to deter a shoplifter by using EAS devices, but what should you actually do if you are faced with a shoplifting incident that you personally witness? When should you call the police? When can you legally detain someone? While not every situation is the same, there are some basic best practices to follow. Here’s what I train my managers and can be a great starting point for you.

Establishing probable cause

Before you detain anyone for theft, you have to establish probable cause to do so. The best way to do that is to follow the LP industry’s “5 steps” to an apprehension. By following these steps, you always ensure that a detention is within the legal limits, which protects you and your store from any potential civil liability. Those steps are:

  1. SELECTION

You need to witness the suspect select something from your display shelf/rack or peg. This lets you know that the product is yours, and that the customer did not come into the store.

  1. DISPLAY INTENT

Displaying intent to commit a crime is a pretty big umbrella. A customer can display intent to permanently deprive you of merchandise is dozens of ways. Some of the most common are removing the item from its packaging, concealing it on their person, altering the pricing indicator, or even consuming the merchandise.

  1. MAINTAIN POSSESSION

The most common way a shoplifter will display intent is to conceal the item on their person, or maybe in a shopping bag or purse. It’s vital that they maintain possession of your product at the point in which you detain them. You can get yourself into some legal trouble if you detain someone that doesn’t possess any stolen property, so it’s imperative that you keep constant, unbroken observation on the suspect.

  1. FAILED TO PAY

This one is obvious. They have to not pay for the item. Pretty straightforward and simple.

  1. EXIT THE STORE

Once you witness that shoplifter select your property, conceal it in their pants and then walk all the way up front, past the registers and out the door, you have now established probable cause to detain that individual.

There are obviously various scenarios that can throw a monkey wrench in the gears, so it’s also very important for retailers to know and understand your state laws regarding shoplifting. These can usually be very easily found by going to your Secretary of State’s website and searching for the statutes governing theft. Even though I’m well versed in my state’s laws and have been doing this job for a very long time, I still keep printed copies of the law in my bag that I carry at all times.  I also encourage you to reach out to your local law enforcement agency for help. Most departments have a retail liaison or similar position that can help you to understand exactly when a crime is considered to have been committed and what they expect from you as the retailer when responding to calls at your store.

Lastly, I implore everyone to always prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Don’t give one person a pass. Show that your store will not be a soft target and that you are committed to keeping prices low for your customers. By prosecuting each shoplifter, you’re also committing to keeping your store safe for your customers and your employees. There’s a theory in law enforcement called “broken windows”. It goes something like this:

You walk past a house or building with a few broken windows. The windows go unrepaired and that leads to other window breaking. Before long, the building is covered in graffiti and squatters may take up residence. Drug use inside proliferates and it attracts others with ill-intent. Fires could be set inside. This “moth to flame” action starts trickling down to other buildings and houses in the neighborhood and soon the area is a criminal hot bed.

While this is only a theory and is a matter of great debate in the world of criminology, it should get you thinking. If shoplifters know they can get away with stealing from you, they’ll come back. Eventually, they will get brazen enough to physically assault a store clerk that may intervene. If you’re not prosecuting these individuals, word gets out that your store is an easy mark. You may eventually get robbed and ultimately shut your doors because your customers refuse to shop at a store they feel is unsafe. You can stop this snowball effect by taking pro-active measures to prevent those from shoplifting as well as taking the necessary action to hold those accountable to the law that do take from your store.