When I was in the Military I was taught that to prevail on the battlefield I needed to understand who our enemy is. By better understanding them we could more easily defeat them. We could bring the correct amount and type of resources into combat to achieve victory.

I have found that this strategy also applies to business. In this case we have to understand shoplifters, if we are going to defeat them. Retailers tend to lump all thieves into the same group, shoplifters. Or they understand that there are professional shoplifters and all others. There are actually three types of shoplifters: Impulse, Amateur and Professional.

Each of these types of shoplifters steal for different reasons and in different ways. Impulse shoplifters can be stopped with techniques that will not work on the other two groups and so on. There are also commonly used items that a Retailer believes works, but are absolutely worthless on every type of shoplifter. An example of this is a sign that says something like “Shoplifters will be prosecuted”. Shoplifters are not afraid of signs or what they represent. They already know this.

So let’s try to understand the enemy.

IMPULSE SHOPLIFTERS: This is probably the largest group. These are people that will steal only, if we give them the opportunity. While in your store to purchase something they see another item they want but do not feel like paying for and the opportunity presents itself to steal.  They did not enter your store with the intent to steal. They may even then go through the POS and purchase other items they came in for. Most of the time the merchandise they steal from you is for their own use. As an example, I caught a shoplifter stealing a $1.00 fishing lure from a sporting goods department. When I stopped him at the doors, he had gone through the POS and purchased other items and he had over $100 in cash on him. But yet, he stole. I told him that it was good that he had the cash on him as he could use it towards bail.

Most impulse shoplifters can be deterred by simply greeting them when they enter your store and/or regular customer service contact on the sales floor. Studies have shown that if greeted, the impulse shoplifter will most likely not steal during that visit because they have been recognized.

AMATEUR SHOPLIFTERS: This type of shoplifter enters your store with the intent to steal. However, the merchandise is also for their own use or maybe for a friend or relative. It is unlikely they would have any professional shoplifting tools on them. But they may use a baby stroller, bag or backpack in addition to their pockets to conceal the merchandise. Unlike an impulse shoplifter they may be with another person who has knowledge of or is also involved. Amateurs take a higher level of customer service to stop. It may be necessary to overtly let them know that you are on to them.

PROFESSIONAL SHOPLIFTERS: As much as we see about them on TV there are not as many as the other groups. However, a professional can do a large amount of damage quickly. Professionals steal from you for a living. They profit ten cents on the dollar of what they steal and pass off to someone else that sells the merchandise. Professionals can bring shoplifting tools with them that can include booster bags and clothing, jackets that have been modified to hide stolen merchandise, etc. They will also use baby strollers, backpacks and shopping bags from your store or other retailers to conceal merchandise. Pros can be easily stopped with aggressive customer service and the use of a Checkpoint System and Alpha High Theft Solutions products. Because this is what they do for a living, if you can make their life difficult, they will go elsewhere. This is because they have to steal in volume.

The solution to shoplifting is twofold. First, a strong customer service program including follow up attention to each customer. The difficulty with that is we do not have the payroll to keep as many trained staff members on the floor, as we would like just to handle legitimate sales activity, let alone shoplifters. We cannot be everywhere at the same time. So the second half of the solution is a Checkpoint System. Tagged merchandise is protected 24/7. If a shoplifter attempts to conceal and then steal the merchandise, the Checkpoint system goes into alarm, alerting staff. Dozens of different types of Alpha products can be used to protect merchandise that is more difficult to secure.

If you would like more help on stopping shoplifters once and for all call us. 1-770-426-0547

Sell More, Lose Less!