TAKING CARE OF THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE CARE OF YOU – HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR LP TEAM

October 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

image3-NEOBIZMAGI’ve had the pleasure of running the most productive team of LP agents in our company for quite some time. My team of 10, who cover markets across the Southeast, consistently make solid cases day in, and day out. Not too long ago, my peers put me on the spot at a regional meeting and asked what makes my team so successful. We have the same number of people in markets like Houston and Atlanta, who don’t have the number of cases that we do. So what’s the secret to success?

Hire the right person

From the time I have an opening, I look for the perfect candidate. I actively go out and recruit when time permits. I’ll reach out to my industry peers and find out who their top performers are… and not so shamelessly try to lure them away. I have never once settled for a “warm body” hire, as I see all too often in our stores. I not only need someone who can catch a thief and build cases, I need someone who can work alone, who has a strong work ethic and can build partnerships with stores teams, managers and local law enforcement.

Pay for performance

When you find that right person, don’t let a few dollars come in the way of a great hire. Money is a great motivator and in this field, you get what you pay for. Spending that extra payroll can pay off for you in the long run. This assures that you are getting someone who will be dedicated to their job in addition to being less likely to go rogue and cause you a potential lawsuit. Remember, you can get a job flipping burgers for $10/Hr. is that the quality person you want on your team?

Training

I don’t care how much experience someone has. When they come to my team, they all get the same amount of training. I often hear store managers say that “they don’t have time to train new store employees.” That makes me cringe. Without proper training, you are setting a new hire up to fail. I personally provide the first 2 weeks of training to all my new hires. Yep, I scrub down to a t-shirt and shorts and work the floor, just like the old glory days. After that 2 weeks, I have them shadow 2 of my top performers for another 2 weeks each. 6 weeks of training altogether before they are ever released on their own. There is always time to train.

Set expectations

Time and attendance. Cases. Personal code of conduct. Interaction with managers/law enforcement. All these areas need to have certain expectations set in stone. I expect my team to arrive to work on time each day. I expect them to make solid cases each week and I expect them to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times when interacting with anyone on behalf of the company. This also includes shoplifting suspects. When someone on my team fails to meet those standards, you can bet your paycheck they will be called out on it. I don’t accept sub-par performance in any job category; neither should you.

Motivate, Motivate, Motivate

I can’t stress that enough. A productive team is a motivated one. Find ways to get your team motivated. For me, the simplest, yet most effective method I’ve found is free food. My top performer each month gets a $30 gift card to the restaurant of their choice. I also find the time to spend at least a few hours each month with my team and when possible, buy them lunch. Twice a year we’ll do a cookout as well. I’m telling you, free food is a motivator. Try it out.

Aside from free food☺, I find that calling out great performance motivates everyone. Just last week, one of my agents made a $1,500 shoplifting stop. I publicly recognized him for his work and 2 more of my agents made $1k stops that week. Would they have made those stops anyway? Maybe? What I can tell you is that there exists this atmosphere of friendly competition amongst my team. Seeing their peer get recognized undoubtedly made them more focused in order to gain that notoriety as well. Just as you call out the bad, always call out the good.

Communication

This is my “cliché” for a successful LP team, but it holds water. Each week we all get on a conference call and talk about the previous week. I’ll let each one of them talk about their apprehensions and what they could’ve done better during each case. This is also an opportunity for me to bring up any concerns I have, company initiatives coming out, or any other house cleaning that I need to speak to. This is also a great time to discuss new trends and big time boosters that we need to focus on. If you’re not speaking with your team regularly, then you’re leaving valuable information on the table.

Weekends/scheduling

We’re retail. We’re busier after 4 and on the weekends. Does that mean you have to work your team a closing shift every night and every single weekend? No. (I heard the collective gasp.) Remember I told you my team is the most productive in our company. Guess what? They only work 1 ½ weekends a month. That’s right. I schedule them to work one weekend and one additional weekend day. During the busier holiday times, we might increase that a little bit, but it’s important to keep those in there to prevent burn out. I give them a free extra weekends off, they give me plenty of shoplifters. I have no complaints. I also don’t schedule them the same mid/closing shifts every day. I vary from  openings, mids and at least one close per week. Again, I try to prevent the burnout of working a close every Friday, or all day every Saturday.

You’ve more than likely heard plenty of these before, however applying them to your LP team can be highly beneficial. We have to remember that those we employ are put in incredibly stressful and often potentially violent situations each and every day. The idea that they get up and are happy to come to work each day is a true testament to their character. I had a boss a long time ago tell me that employees are people first and employees second. You take care of the people who take care of you. Those two lines are how I run my team and it’s never let me down.

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ANNUAL INVENTORY BEST-PRACTICES

October 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

theft (11)For a large portion of retailers, this time of year means one thing, inventory. I personally hate this time of year. I’m getting a little older and I just can’t hang with overnight shifts. It doesn’t make it any better that my bosses what us (RLPMs) to attend as many inventories as our schedules allow… I’ve done three this month so far and my sleep schedule still isn’t back to normal. With all that inventory on my brain, I thought I’d share some best practices for my peers out there.

First, let me say that my company doesn’t contract any third party to conduct our physical count. We do it ourselves. While there are some great companies out there who service some of the world’s leading retailers, we’ve found that our inventory management is much better when left to the people who it matters most to.

Second, we take the majority of our store inventories overnight during September-October as opposed to the end of the 4th quarter in the January time frame. We do this because for several reasons. One, our stores are slower in regard to foot traffic right now. Second, we are light on inventory as we gear up for the holiday. Lastly, we want to catch all those “out of stocks” that we have through the store prior to the big rush. This allows to be in a far better stock position going into the holiday shopping season. You can’t sell pegboard, right?

In my years of supporting the inventory process, I’ve seen what works, what doesn’t and what is just a waste of time. Here are just a few of my inventory best practices:

Count overnight – No customers. That’ all that needs to be said ☺

Apparel – Key here is making sure that all garments have a barcode. Missing tags can really hold up a count for hours. Starting about 1 week out from inventory, begin assigning key associates to go rack, to rack, to rack looking for missing tags and replacing as they find them. We use a sticker on each rack with the associates initial once it has been cleaned up. This gives us accuracy and some level of accountability.

Footwear – if you sell footwear, you have mismates. Now is the time to purge them.

Hiding spots – As a manager, you are fully aware of all the hiding spots in your store. Find them, as well as all the merchandise hidden within. Think warehouse racks, offices, storage cabinets, and basedecks.

Basedecks – I’m going to give them their own bullet point here. A basedeck is the bottom shelf on a gondola. They can be lifted up and merchandise can be hidden under them. I make it a point to lift up every single basedeck in the store prior to inventory. I always find thousands of dollars of merchandise.

Gift cards — if these are replenished like any other product, make it easy on yourself and pre-count them. You don’t want to be stuck scanning/counting 10,000 gift cards on inventory night.

Warehouses/storage containers – Pre-count these the day before your inventory. This will again save plenty of time during the night.

Top-stock/Risers – either pre-count your back-stock ahead of time, or assign one or two people to count this during inventory night. I’ve always had success with a “top-stock team”.

Single Scan areas Vs. Multi Scan areas – To this day, I have managers make some pretty bad decisions on area tickets. Yes, Single scan takes a bit longer (since you have to scan each item), but your accuracy will be far greater. Obviously, your single scans will be in your soft lines (shoes, clothes) but they can have a benefit in hardline areas as well. Areas such as ammunition, fishing poles, sleeping bags and tents, and any other area where an associate may get confused (or lazy) with multiple colors and sizes.

Have a team in place as well as a plan – What area will be the most difficult? Once you figure that out, start there. The rest of the night will be a cake walk.

Warehouse shipments — make sure to suspend any warehouse shipments a day before your count. Additionally, if you do get a truck before your inventory, make certain it is not received in until after your count. If not, you could potentially see a significant loss on paper due to all that missed product sitting in the loading dock.

Use DNI markers on all that product you pre-counted. This will ensure that your counters won’t count the same product twice.

While this list is far from being all inclusive, it does give you a baseline for what you should be looking for. Often times, we get caught up in making sure our shrink isn’t too high, we forget that accuracy is as just important. For example: if you have 200 lawn chairs, but there are 5 different colors, (red, blue, yellow, green and black). Each of these chairs has its own sku, but they are all $5. If an employee scans and counts all 200 under only one sku, you will have no shrink, but your inventory counts will still be off. Your books will show 200 red chair and zero of the 4 other colors. Most likely, you’re now going to be overstocked on the additional colors. Proper inventory management starts with an accurate inventory count.

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Shoplifting Problems Today

October 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment

shoplifting5

Shoplifting is a problem that affects retailers worldwide. In the United States shoplifting is a problem that affects the retail industry tremendously. Millions of dollars are lost daily due to this problem, and although legislation about this problem continues to change to punish the perpetrator accordingly, the problem is far from disappearing.  The rules and regulations about shoplifting that are to be observed by the management and employees of your store should be reviewed regularly to ensure they reflect the times and views of the owners of the retail store.

For more about this and other news follow the links below.

Indianapolis shoplifting suspect dies in police custody after breathing problems

Indianapolis police said they were investigating the death of a shoplifting suspect who complained of breathing problems.

The man died in the back of an ambulance on Saturday afternoon after being arrested by the Indianapolis metropolitan police department (IMPD) and Cumberland police department, the IMPD said in a news release.

The man told officers he was having trouble breathing and an ambulance was summoned. The medical crew assessed the man and determined he could be transported to the city’s arrestee processing center, but while in the back of a jail wagon the man again complained of breathing problems.

A second ambulance was called, but the man’s condition quickly deteriorated and he died despite attempts to save his life, police said.

Walmart employees in hot water over video of suspected shoplifter

ARLINGTON, Texas — Walmart employees who confronted a suspected shoplifter in a Dallas suburb may now be in trouble themselves, reports CBS DFW.

A cashier recorded the incident in North Arlington, which was posted on a Facebook page for Walmart employees. It appears to show a woman shoplifting and employees taunting her and grabbing her bag on her way out of the store.

The video then shows an unidentified woman walking up to the suspected shoplifter outside the store and and starting to fight with her.

One of the employees involved has resigned and an investigation is underway, CBS DFW reports.

Retailers call for legislation amid rise in shoplifting in Dublin

Retailers are lobbying the Government to introduce tougher penalties for repeat shoplifters as gardaí reported a 40 per cent increase in the activity in inner city Dublin.

A Dublin central Joint Policing Committee was told this week that overall property crime, such as burglaries, car thefts and shoplifting, was up by 8 per cent in the division.

Chief Supt Pat Leahy told the meeting that burglaries and car thefts were down this year but a sharp increase in recorded shoplifting had brought up the total.

He said the apparent increase in shoplifting coincided with a change in the way the crime was recorded.

“Every single incident of shoplifting now is recorded as a crime. Whether it is a lipstick or it is a €400 jacket, it goes in as a crime,” he said.

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The Habitual Shoplifter

September 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment

shoplifting2According to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) there is no profile of a typical shoplifter. 

And while three quarters of the shoplifters are adults, the rest are under age persons. Men and women shoplift equally, and more than three quarters of the shoplifting done in the United States is considered opportunistic.  Habitual shoplifters, which according to the NASP steal an average of 1.6 times per week, employee theft and organized shoplifting rings are a major concern for the retail industry, and the cause of billions of dollars of loses.

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

Habitual Shoplifters are an International Concern

Shoplifting and other forms of retail theft cost retailers tens of billions of dollars each year. As a result retail leadership has learned to recognize the value of a well-trained management staff and a professional loss prevention department. We have learned to drive operational efficiency, and ensure that controls are in place and adhered to throughout the organization. We have learned the value of deterrence, limiting the desires and the opportunities for theft and other losses by integrating loss prevention concepts with retail practices. We have embraced a belief in training and awareness as being at the heart of a successful loss prevention program.

Despite our best efforts, there will always be those that will test our resolve. For those retail loss prevention professionals that must deal with shoplifters every day, we are trained to recognize that a shoplifter can look like anyone—shoplifters are not bound by gender, race, creed, or social standing. Professionals are trained to identify patterns of behavior and must follow strict protocols before shoplifting suspects can even be approached. There are well-defined principles that guide our decisions, and clear steps that must be followed before an apprehension is made.

But there are times when specific individuals will draw our immediate attention. Based on well-established patterns of previous behavior, the habitual thief—those that are known to have stolen from us on multiple occasions in the past—deserve our efforts and focus. While not a definitive indicator of future intentions, their presence in the store warrants priority consideration.

Teton Village Sports shoplifters arrested

TETON COUNTY, Wyoming –

Two suspects in a recent shoplifting were arrested after they returned to the same store wearing the clothing the store managers say they stole.
On Saturday at 10:24 AM the Teton County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an employee of Teton Village Sports reporting that the suspects from a shoplifting incident earlier that week were back in the store. They were reported to be even wearing the same clothes they had been wearing when captured on surveillance video earlier.

Teton County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who were patrolling the area, arrived within seconds and positively identified the suspects as those wanted for the original crime. The deputies say that the suspects were in the process of victimizing the store for the second time.

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Reducing Shrink with the Bottle Lock

September 17, 2015 by Leave a Comment
JD Blog-004 Bottle Lock-4 (Secondary – Liquor Bottle Security-3)
Reducing Shrink with the Bottle Lock
Not a single day goes by without an email coming in to our task force office about a large-scale liquor theft.  Every time, I notice that it’s a retailer who isn’t using the bottle lock for liquor bottle security.   Liquor and wine is a market that generates a lot of revenue on its own, along with incremental sales on snacks and soft drinks to go with the liquor.  With those increased sales, comes increased shrink exposure.  As a team leader for a regional Organized Retail Crime task force, I see the struggle against liquor shrink every day.  Our first effort is to help retailers stem the loss by preventative measures and liquor bottle security.  The first thing we do is recommend the bottle lock.  It’s a simple but highly effective device that makes the merchandise less attractive and usable to both the professional and amateur shoplifter.  The technology fits over the top of the bottle and keeps anyone who did not purchase the bottle from opening it.   Only the key can remove it.  The bottle lock works with existing EAS systems or can be a stand-alone item, just providing physical benefit denial.
At the conclusion of one particularly large investigation, we interviewed the suspects to help us figure out how to better prevent the losses.  They told us that when selecting a store to target, the first thing they looked for was the bottle lock.  If it was in place at a particular store, they would move on to another location.  That speaks volumes about its effectiveness for liquor bottle security.  They told us that the first time they tried to defeat one inside the store, the bottle burst and the liquor went everywhere.  While the store still had a loss on the damaged bottle, they didn’t lose 10-15 bottles, which was the average this group hit for.   Fencing locations are unlikely to buy bottles with that are brought in by the bad guys because the fence wants to avoid getting caught.  How easy is it to prove that he purchased stolen merchandise when it came in with a theft prevention device still attached?
What the area retailers also discovered was an unexpected side benefit…the reduction in losses due to juvenile shoplifters opening bottles and pouring the contents into their water bottle or other container.  Not only did this reduce shrink, but it also reduced some liability for inadvertently providing minors access to alcohol.   One of the initial concerns our local stores had was an increase in time it would take to process a transaction when the clerk had to remove the Bottle lock.   As long as the key is at the register, we found that it had a negligible effect on transaction time.
The concern we had as an investigative team was security of the keys.  The keys come attached to a lanyard.  That lanyard can be screwed right into the counter under the register, keeping it secure and out of sight.  We have not had any keys compromised locally.  Also, to help in this regard, we talked to the prosecutor’s office and they agreed that unauthorized possession of a key would subject the bad guys to a charge of possession of burglar’s tools, a felony, and defeating a theft detection device, a misdemeanor. That’s a strong piece of preventative information.
Locally, the tough fight against the organized, large-scale theft of liquor from our local businesses has been made much easier by the individual stores using the bottle lock.   It’s a great tool for any size store.
For more information about bottle lock contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.

Not a single day goes by without an email coming in to our task force office about a large-scale liquor theft. Every time, I notice that it’s a retailer who isn’t using the bottle lock for liquor bottle security.  Liquor and wine is a market that generates a lot of revenue on its own, along with incremental sales on snacks and soft drinks to go with the liquor. With those increased sales, comes increased shrink exposure.  As a team leader for a regional Organized Retail Crime task force, I see the struggle against liquor shrink every day. Our first effort is to help retailers stem the loss by preventative measures and liquor bottle security. The first thing we do is recommend the bottle lock.  It’s a simple but highly effective device that makes the merchandise less attractive and usable to both the professional and amateur shoplifter. The technology fits over the top of the bottle and keeps anyone who did not purchase the bottle from opening it. Only the key can remove it. The bottle lock works with existing EAS systems or can be a stand-alone item, just providing physical benefit denial.

At the conclusion of one particularly large investigation, we interviewed the suspects to help us figure out how to better prevent the losses. They told us that when selecting a store to target, the first thing they looked for was the bottle lock. If it was in place at a particular store, they would move on to another location. That speaks volumes about its effectiveness for liquor bottle security. They told us that the first time they tried to defeat one inside the store, the bottle burst and the liquor went everywhere. While the store still had a loss on the damaged bottle, they didn’t lose 10-15 bottles, which was the average this group hit for. Fencing locations are unlikely to buy bottles with that are brought in by the bad guys because the fence wants to avoid getting caught.  How easy is it to prove that he purchased stolen merchandise when it came in with a theft prevention device still attached?

What the area retailers also discovered was an unexpected side benefit…the reduction in losses due to juvenile shoplifters opening bottles and pouring the contents into their water bottle or other container. Not only did this reduce shrink, but it also reduced some liability for inadvertently providing minors access to alcohol. One of the initial concerns our local stores had was an increase in time it would take to process a transaction when the clerk had to remove the Bottle lock. As long as the key is at the register, we found that it had a negligible effect on transaction time.

The concern we had as an investigative team was security of the keys. The keys come attached to a lanyard. That lanyard can be screwed right into the counter under the register, keeping it secure and out of sight. We have not had any keys compromised locally. Also, to help in this regard, we talked to the prosecutor’s office and they agreed that unauthorized possession of a key would subject the bad guys to a charge of possession of burglar’s tools, a felony, and defeating a theft detection device, a misdemeanor. That’s a strong piece of preventative information.

Locally, the tough fight against the organized, large-scale theft of liquor from our local businesses has been made much easier by the individual stores using the bottle lock. It’s a great tool for any size store.

For more information about bottle lock contact us  or call 1.770.426.0547.

 

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Using Technology To Prevent Shoplifting

September 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment

theft (12)Shoplifting is an issue with lots of bad ramifications.  The shoplifting that many businesses experience is financially devastating for the business, local and US economies. The financial burden that small business owners experience due to shoplifting can be hard to overcome.  Profits are slim in some cases and the shoplifting and employee theft can make a small retail business close its doors for good. For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Why Inventory Tracking Software Is a Critical Investment

Running a small business often means making tough decisions about how to spend and where to invest your limited capital. From inventory shrinkage to supply and forecasting challenges, an effective inventory tracking system and software is a critical company investment.

If you don’t track your inventory, you have no way of preventing employee theft, and trying to create your own inventory system using a spreadsheet program like Excel is time-consuming, error-prone, and rarely effective.

These days, it is relatively inexpensive for a small to medium-sized business to get its own inventory tracking system with the latest software. When you consider the potential costs of not tracking your inventory, it’s a no-brainer.

Beating Inventory Shrink

In 2014, inventory shrink resulted in over $44 billion in losses for retailers, over 50% of it the result of internal theft, administrative errors, and unknown causes. Internal theft alone accounts for 34.5% of inventory shrink. Administrative errors make up another 16.5% of shrink. These can be significantly reduced through the implementation of effective inventory software and systems.

Owner: Shoplifting ‘not a victimless crime’

Owner’s experience shows the toll that shoplifting takes on small businesses.

BY SPENCER PARTS RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER

CARY, N.C. — In early July, designer dresses, slacks and jackets valued at $3,000 were stolen from ADORE Designer Resale Boutique in this Raleigh suburb, one of Nancy Alinovi’s two consignment shops in the area. She still feels sick about it.

“It’s just this feeling in your chest,” she said. “It’s not a victimless crime.”

Alinovi said it will be months before everything returns to normal at the family-owned boutiques, which cut prices in order to stay afloat after the theft. Her experience shows the toll shoplifting takes on small businesses, where margins are small and business is personal.

According to a National Retail Federation’s security survey, shoplifting accounted for 38 percent of the $44 billion in retail inventory loss due to crime in 2014.

Large capital losses from theft are especially hard on small businesses, said Jennifer Martin, executive director of Shop Local Raleigh, an organization that advocates for and supports small companies. Many smaller firms are tight on time and money, and an unexpected event can push them to the breaking point.

Security systems know all the self-scan tricks

MOUNT DORA — Last August, a 58-year-old woman, using a self-checkout station at Wal-Mart in Leesburg, allegedly was seen placing two items in her hand before scanning them so the scanner could not record the barcode and charge her for the blocked item.

Assuming she was being watched from afar, she also allegedly waved items too far away from the scanner for it to record a sale but made it look like she was using the equipment as intended.

On Saturday, a 30-year-old woman allegedly tried a couple of other ways to beat the system at Wal-Mart in Mount Dora, concealing items inside a sweatshirt and even a backpack she self-scanned.

Neither got away with it and face theft charges because retailers know all the tricks and have self-check security systems in place to detect them, according to the website retailtouchpoints.com.

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Using Anti-Shoplifting Devices On Laundry Detergent

September 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Laundry detergent. Pretty much every person in the country purchases this at least once per month. Think about all the times in the past that you personally have purchased a gallon of liquid detergent. 5 years ago, you more than likely had it on your list of things to buy, ran to the store, threw it in the basket and went about your trip without ever giving it a second thought. Now, walk into any mass retailer and I can almost guarantee that you will see some type of anti-shoplifting device attached to the bottle. Why?
Organized retail theft affect every retailer, big or small. These criminals target the small business just as much as they do the big box retailer. The only difference being the mass merchant can probably absorb more shrink than that family business around the corner. These thieves, who target stores with surgical precision do so for a living. From the time they wake up until the time they go to sleep, their entire day is spent organizing their route, planning their hits and stealing. Laundry detergent has emerged as a quick resell, thus making it a prime target for these organized groups. It can easily be resold on the street, at flea market and even in people’s homes. Large retailers have all begun utilizing anti-shoplifting devices to stem the losses, and as a small business owner who carries the same product, you should too. 
It wasn’t that long ago when I caught one of my first organized retail crime busts. I had been working an investigation at a store and had come upon a group of females who were eventually busted for stealing a large quantity of denim jeans. When the police arrived, they gained a warrant to search the vehicle, as it matched the description of a vehicle involved in a theft earlier in the day. When the search was executed, large quantities of soap, detergent, deodorant and other household items filled the truck from side to side and top to bottom. A subsequent police investigation led detectives to a home not too far away from my store. In their home, was a garage that was set up like a small retail store. It was literally a one stop shop for stolen goods. These ladies would steal product and resell from their home. It was the very definition of organized retail crime. They also took orders and would recruit others to boost for them. We learned that they were giving classes on how to defeat anti-shoplifting measures in the stores. One of the most commonly requested and sold items in their store was of course, laundry detergent. 
If your store sells laundry detergent, and it’s not protected by an anti-shoplifting solution, there are several things you can do to immediately start to reduce losses. There are several types of tags and labels out there that can be easily and affordably attached to your merchandise to stop a thief. My personal favorite is the iS Shackle Tag. These one piece hard tags can attach directly to the handle of the detergent and are pretty difficult to defeat, even if a shoplifter is using a tool. They provide a very clear deterrent to the theft to begin with, coupled with the low impact it creates on merchandising, gives you a great anti-shoplifting tool to combat theft. 
For more information, contact us: Anti-Shoplifting, or call 1.770.426.0547

Laundry detergent. Pretty much every person in the country purchases this at least once per month. Think about all the times in the past that you personally have purchased a gallon of liquid detergent. Five years ago, you more than likely had it on your list of things to buy, ran to the store, threw it in the basket and went about your trip without ever giving it a second thought. Now, walk into any mass retailer and I can almost guarantee that you will see some type of anti-shoplifting device attached to the bottle. Why?

 Organized retail theft effects every retailer, big or small. These criminals target the small business just as much as they do the big box retailer. The only difference being the mass merchant can probably absorb more shrink than that family business around the corner. These thieves, who target stores with surgical precision do so for a living. From the time they wake up until the time they go to sleep, their entire day is spent organizing their route, planning their hits and stealing. Laundry detergent has emerged as a quick resell, thus making it a prime target for these organized groups. It can easily be resold on the street, at the flea market and even in people’s homes. Large retailers have all begun utilizing anti-shoplifting devices to stem the losses, and as a small business owner who carries the same product, you should too. 

 It wasn’t that long ago when I caught one of my first organized retail crime busts. I had been working an investigation at a store and had come upon a group of females who were eventually busted for stealing a large quantity of denim jeans. When the police arrived, they gained a warrant to search the vehicle, as it matched the description of a vehicle involved in a theft earlier in the day. When the search was executed, large quantities of soap, detergent, deodorant and other household items filled the truck from side to side and top to bottom. A subsequent police investigation led detectives to a home not too far away from my store. In their home, was a garage that was set up like a small retail store. It was literally a one stop shop for stolen goods. These ladies would steal product and resell from their home. It was the very definition of organized retail crime. They also took orders and would recruit others to boost for them. We learned that they were giving classes on how to defeat anti-shoplifting measures in the stores. One of the most commonly requested and sold items in their store was of course, laundry detergent. 

 If your store sells laundry detergent, and it’s not protected by an anti-shoplifting solution, there are several things you can do to immediately start to reduce losses. There are several types of tags and labels out there that can be easily and affordably attached to your merchandise to stop a thief. My personal favorite is the iS Shackle Tag. These one piece hard tag can attach directly to the handle of the detergent and is pretty difficult to defeat, even if a shoplifter is using a tool. They provide a very clear deterrent to the theft to begin with, coupled with the low impact it creates on merchandising, gives you a great anti-shoplifting tool to combat theft. 

For more information, contact us: Anti-Shoplifting, or call 1.770.426.0547

 

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Where Can I Turn To? – Employee Theft

September 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
One of the most frequent question I get from clients is how do I start and employee theft investigation? They are more familiar with the steps to take after they know which direction to go, and who to be looking at as possible employee theft suspects. Where to start, and who is raising a red flag, is often more difficult to figure out.
I tend to get a lot of leads through watching my high theft items, and exception based reporting. Sometimes they pan out, but others end up being inconclusive, or a completely different scenario. One way that I have had absolute success with is employee tips. Every employee who has stepped forward to tell me that a co-worker was stealing has turned out to be positive.
Employee tips are hard to generate though. The employees do not want to feel like they are giving bad information about someone. As such, they need to have absolute faith in you- faith that they can trust you and you will keep their confidence and not make them out to be a tattle -tale later on.
One way to help facilitate this garnering of information is to find a way to allow the employees to remain anonymous when they disseminate the information to you. Many companies have an employee tip line set up. It’s usually a 1-800 number that the employee can call from somewhere other than the store, where they won’t be overheard or tracked. 
For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.

One of the most frequent questions I get from clients is how do I start and employee theft investigation? They are more familiar with the steps to take after they know which direction to go, and who to be looking at as possible employee theft suspects. Where to start, and who is raising a red flag, is often more difficult to figure out.

I tend to get a lot of leads through watching my high theft items, and exception based reporting. Sometimes they pan out, but others end up being inconclusive, or a completely different scenario. One way that I have had absolute success with is employee tips. Every employee who has stepped forward to tell me that a co-worker was stealing has turned out to be positive.

Employee tips are hard to generate though. The employees do not want to feel like they are giving bad information about someone. As such, they need to have absolute faith in you- faith that they can trust you and you will keep their confidence and not make them out to be a tattle -tale later on.

One way to help facilitate this garnering of information is to find a way to allow the employees to remain anonymous when they disseminate the information to you. Many companies have an employee tip line set up. It’s usually a 1-800 number that the employee can call from somewhere other than the store, where they won’t be overheard or tracked. 

For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Identify Your Thief-Use Clothing Security Tags Effectively

September 12, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I talk about boosters a lot in my posts; that is the type of thief I deal with the most, and the ones that drive me the craziest.  They constantly change their methods and targets, so my entire staff has to be on alert at all times.  In the drug store business, we know our over-the-counter health and beauty products are the most commonly stolen items.  If you are in the clothing and accessory business, you have a whole different line of merchandise, but you still likely battle the same groups I do.  Whether or not to utilize clothing security tags on your products can be a big decision.   In the small clothing business world, you have to keep costs down, both for your own bottom line and for the customer.  If you are having a problem with theft, you either have to sell more to make up for it, or raise your prices.   In the long run, putting security tags on clothes can make a big impact in stopping the losses you incur, and you will see the return on your investment.  Let’s take a look at some of the more common types of shoplifters.
First there are the boosters or professionals, of course.  These people steal for a living.  They are usually very skilled at avoiding detection.  They take great pains to fit in with your normal customer base.  Their targets are generally high retail, high demand, and easy to resell.  So they will go after the most trendy styles.  They hate excellent customer service.  They do not want to be seen or recognized, so they generally avoid eye contact with associates.  They also hate to see any type of clothing security tags attached in prominent places on the garments.  They know that at the resale point, they will receive less money for the merchandise because now the buyer will need to “clean” the items.  The best way to defeat boosters is to deter them.  Highly visible clothing security is a very effective way to encourage them to go somewhere else.
Next up you have the juveniles and minors.  They are actually responsible for a large part of theft in this country.  They may not really know the consequences for their actions, or they think they will get off easy if they are caught.  They may attempt the theft on a dare, or they may just do it because they think they can get away with it.  I dealt with a couple of middle school girls last summer that were stealing cosmetics.  These two thought they slick.  They gathered up arm loads of lipsticks, fake nails, and other items and took turns going into the restroom.  We found the empty packages in the garbage later that evening.  They returned the following week.  We let them “shop” while we waited on the police to arrive, and when we went to approach them, their eyes got huge and they knew their goose was cooked.  They said they stole from us because they didn’t think we had cameras.  (We do.)  Again, the best way to deter juveniles is to have your clothing security tags  and any other anti-shoplifting measures in plain sight.  You want them to see there is a risk of being caught.  
The last group is the regular customer.  I mean you see these people in your store on a frequent basis, and you never give them a second thought.  Their first time is usually on impulse, meaning they just see an opportunity and go for it.  They will usually steal something they would not normally buy for themselves.  Clothing security measures are paramount for this group.  If your “regulars” start successfully stealing from you, it will happen over and over again and regular theft means your business cannot survive.  Whether you go with the obvious ones on the outside of the garment, or even the ones sewn into hidden pockets and seams, clothing security tags are the best way to stop this group.  These are members of your community and their biggest fear is being caught stealing and ultimately recognized by their neighbors for their crime.
Identify whether your store is experiencing loss, what exactly you are losing, and who is responsible for it.  Then take a look at what clothing security tags can do for you.
For more information contact us 1.770.426.0547 or Clothingsecurity.net

I talk about boosters a lot in my posts; that is the type of thief I deal with the most, and the ones that drive me the craziest.  They constantly change their methods and targets, so my entire staff has to be on alert at all times.  In the drug store business, we know our over-the-counter health and beauty products are the most commonly stolen items.  If you are in the clothing and accessory business, you have a whole different line of merchandise, but you still likely battle the same groups I do.  Whether or not to utilize clothing security tags on your products can be a big decision.   In the small clothing business world, you have to keep costs down, both for your own bottom line and for the customer.  If you are having a problem with theft, you either have to sell more to make up for it, or raise your prices.   In the long run, putting security tags on clothes can make a big impact in stopping the losses you incur, and you will see the return on your investment.  Let’s take a look at some of the more common types of shoplifters.

First there are the boosters or professionals, of course.  These people steal for a living.  They are usually very skilled at avoiding detection.  They take great pains to fit in with your normal customer base.  Their targets are generally high retail, high demand, and easy to resell.  So they will go after the most trendy styles.  They hate excellent customer service.  They do not want to be seen or recognized, so they generally avoid eye contact with associates.  They also hate to see any type of clothing security tags attached in prominent places on the garments.  They know that at the resale point, they will receive less money for the merchandise because now the buyer will need to “clean” the items.  The best way to defeat boosters is to deter them.  Highly visible clothing security is a very effective way to encourage them to go somewhere else.

Next up you have the juveniles and minors.  They are actually responsible for a large part of theft in this country.  They may not really know the consequences for their actions, or they think they will get off easy if they are caught.  They may attempt the theft on a dare, or they may just do it because they think they can get away with it.  I dealt with a couple of middle school girls last summer that were stealing cosmetics.  These two thought they were slick.  They gathered up arm loads of lipsticks, fake nails, and other items and took turns going into the restroom.  We found the empty packages in the garbage later that evening.  They returned the following week.  We let them “shop” while we waited on the police to arrive, and when we went to approach them, their eyes got huge and they knew their goose was cooked.  They said they stole from us because they didn’t think we had cameras.  (We do.)  Again, the best way to deter juveniles is to have your clothing security tags  and any other anti-shoplifting measures in plain sight.  You want them to see there is a risk of being caught.

The last group is the regular customer.  I mean you see these people in your store on a frequent basis, and you never give them a second thought.  Their first time is usually on impulse, meaning they just see an opportunity and go for it.  They will usually steal something they would not normally buy for themselves.  Clothing security measures are paramount for this group.  If your “regulars” start successfully stealing from you, it will happen over and over again and regular theft means your business cannot survive.  Whether you go with the obvious ones on the outside of the garment, or even the ones sewn into hidden pockets and seams, clothing security tags are the best way to stop this group.  These are members of your community and their biggest fear is being caught stealing and ultimately recognized by their neighbors for their crime.

Identify whether your store is experiencing loss, what exactly you are losing, and who is responsible for it.  Then take a look at what clothing security tags can do for you.

For more information contact us at Clothing Security or call 1.770.426.0547 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Using Policies and Procedures as a Shoplifting Deterrent

September 11, 2015 by Leave a Comment

law-3The policies and procedures about shoplifting and detaining shoplifters should be known  by every person in your store or business to ensure the safety of your employees.  The importance of the policies can help with employee theft in your store.  If a zero tolerance procedure is known by everyone, it can serve as a deterrent for future or possible theft. For more about this and other stories, follow the links below.

Adidas turns to a new data collection system to pinpoint problems and reduce shrinkage.

When he came home to Germany after the First World War, Adolf “Adi” Dassler went into the athletic shoe business, creating a company that was eventually named for its founder: Adidas. (His brother Rudi moved across the river and founded Puma. Shoes run in the family.)Today the Adidas Group, still headquartered in the small Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, is a global leader in the sporting goods industry, with 2014 sales of just under $16 billion. Its brands include Adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade, Ashworth, CCM and Five Ten. Earlier this year, the company sold its Rockport unit to a new entity formed by Berkshire Partners and New Balance.

“Adidas is not a natural retailer,” says Ken Bohnert, the company’s profit protection manager. “We came into the retail world on the back of our manufacturing arm — 10 percent of our income stream comes from retail, 90 percent from manufacturing.”

Wisconsin College Admin: Police Shouldn’t Prosecute Shoplifters [VIDEO]

An administrator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggested at a recent roundtable conversation that, in order to combat “overpolicing” in the community, police should no longer respond to shoplifting claims at large stores such as Wal-Mart, and shouldn’t agree to prosecute people caught stealing.

“I just don’t think that they should be prosecuting cases … for people who steal from Wal-Mart. I just don’t think that, right?” said UW-Madison director of community relations Everett Mitchell. “I don’t think [with] Target or all them other places, them big box stores that have insurance, they should be using justification, the fact that people steal from there as justification to start engaging in aggressive police practices, right?”

 Everett’s remarks were made Tuesday as part of a UW-Madison panel on the topic of “Best Policing Practices.” Everett argued that community police shouldn’t prioritize enforcing the law, but instead should focus on achieving “safety” as it is defined by a local community, even if that definition includes allowing some stores to be robbed with impunity.

Can You Sue an Employee for Stealing?

Dealing with customer theft is one thing, but what happens when it’s your own employees stealing from your store? Of course there are criminal laws against theft, but that may not get you the full value of what was stolen.

So can you file a lawsuit against an employee for theft? And, if so, what kinds of theft are covered?

Paycheck Penalties

If your state allows, and if you’ve decided not to fire the employee, you could consider deducting the amount of the theft from his or her paycheck. Just be careful: some states (like California) prohibit this entirely, and some states have certain restrictions on when employers can deduct wages and how much they may deduct. You don’t want your attempt to deal with theft to end up in a lawsuit against you.

 

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