People often rely on me to be the subject matter expert on just about everything. What’s the best way to apprehend a shoplifter? How do you spot a shoplifter? How do you identify what product will be a high theft item? How do you look so good in those jeans? Mainly, most managers want to know how they can prevent shoplifting. If I hadn’t said it 1000 times, I haven’t said it once. You cannot stop it completely, but you can take steps to minimize it and ultimately reduce shrink to an industry accepted number.
About 10 years ago I was offered my first Loss Prevention job. I was excited to work in a different field; having managed retail stores for a few years, I was ready to get into something else. Like any new LP Manager, I was hooked on the thrill of the chase. All I cared about, or focused on was catching bad guys. I wasn’t concerned at preventing shoplifting. Heck, I wanted people to steal so I could catch them. While this was definitely a part of my job, over time I learned that LP has to become a better business partner to the store, and that started with driving initiatives to prevent shrink before it ever happened.
Fast forward a few years, and literally every other day I’m in meetings with buyers, the operations group, marketing, or product development. They all want my opinion on new merchandise hitting the stores. They want input on possible new retail anti-theft devices that can be utilized and ideas on how to market a specific high priced item in a way that allows the customer to interact with it, all while keeping it secured so the dishonest person can’t leave the store with it.
Just this past month, some of our buyers got a really good deal on some name brand eyewear. Due to large quantity purchased, they wanted to put these out in the hands of the customer, instead of behind the locked glasses where similar styles are kept. The idea was to merchandise them on a end panel in our fishing department. The LP side of me had a problem with this. I knew if they were just placed on the floor, they would get stolen. I also saw the merchant side; we have these glasses at a good price and if we put them in the hands of the customer, we’ll sell them. The problem existed that we had to prevent shoplifting of these items before it had a chance to impact the store’s shrink. Ultimately, we opted for Alpha Eyewear Tag that secured the glasses and prevented folks from simply placing a few pairs in the pockets.
In order to prevent shoplifting you have to be proactive. In the retail world, you will always be running behind and putting out fires. When it comes to financial losses, you should be ahead of the curve. Any good manager that knows their business, also knows what gets stolen. Don’t be afraid to put your merchandise in the hands of the customer for fear of it being stolen. Be proactive and stop the losses before they ever happen!
For more information, contact us: Prevent Shoplifting, or call 1.770.426.0547
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