So you have a CCTV system. That is not the end of your retail theft problems. CCTV like any other tool is ineffective unless used properly. To deter retail theft consider the following:

Employee Theft – To make the CCTV system more of an active system rather than passive try bringing in an employee every few weeks and discuss with them something you observed. For example, bring in a cashier, show them a short video of them checking out several customers. Complement them on their work. Not only the speed at which they processed the customers through the line but also that they are friendly and appear to be engaging. Make it ALL about complements. When they go back out to the sales floor what will they be thinking and telling others? “Wow, that felt good but they understand that they are being observed”.

Shoplifting – Having a signs that tell customers and shoplifters that you have a CCTV system or that it is live and being watched are fine but not the main way to make the system appear to be active. Try waiting until a customer or a suspicious person is in a concealed area or acting odd and then approach them. Say, “I noticed on our camera system that you seem to need some help. Can I help you with….”? Do this enough and word get around.

Vendor’s – This can be handled by combining the techniques for employee theft and shoplifting above. Bring the vendor or delivery person into your office and with that camera or clip of video playing where they can see it ask them about a discrepancy or issue with a delivery. You should also consider a positive comment such as “I noticed you working carefully and paying close attention to what you delivered. Thank you.” You could even e-mail a short video clip to their supervisor or upper management and complement them on the work this person is doing. That information will spread.

CCTV is a great tool to prevent retail theft if you use it fully in “active mode”!

Many retailers have a false sense of security when installing CCTV to deter retail theft. A CCTV system is a powerful tool, but like other tools in the war against theft it has limitations. Many retailers come to believe that once they have installed a CCTV system that their retail theft will drop and they do not have to do anything further. That belief may actually cost them more money.

Here’s how. CCTV systems are passive in nature. They record 24/7 but normally they are not actively watched. Certainly a small business owner may have a monitor in their office and glance at it throughout the day. But unless something is brought to their attention that is the extent of it. You may even have a monitor that a cashier can see. But really how much time does that cashier spend observing? Probably very little, especially after the newness has worn off.

So what is the solution? First you must set your expectations correctly. CCTV can be used to deter, stop and catch several types of retail theft including: employee theft, shoplifting and vendor fraud. Keeping in mind that CCTV is a PASIVE system you must remember that everyone else knows this also including employees, shoplifters and vendors. They know that you are not actively watching and that in most cases it is used to look back at an incident. They know that you do not have the payroll budget to actively watch. They will also test this to see if you are watching.

I will present the solutions to each of these in the tomorrow’s blog.

More info?  retail theft or call 1.770.426.0547