Shoplifting and How To Prevent It.

January 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Shoplifting has a significant impact on the retail industry.  While the true figure is debated by the leading retail industry organization, it is known that it is a multi-billion dollar business in itself.  As a result of this activity, many industry leaders have invested in resources to prevent shoplifting.

 These investments have come as direct result of the impact of shortage, which is made up of shoplifting, internal theft and operational error.  While internal theft and operational error impact the business, this article will focus on preventing shoplifting and the retail anti theft devices used.  To prevent shoplifting, a business leader needs to first identify how the losses are occurring.   Once the method is identified, the leader can then implement the use of retail anti theft devices.  These retail anti theft devices can be CCTV systems, RF tags, clothing article security tags, and remote monitoring systems.  These Retail anti theft devices can have a significant impact to prevent shoplifting.  To effectively use retail anti theft devices and prevent shoplifting, the retail leader should compare their shortage number before and after the use of retail anti theft devices.

 To prevent shoplifting the use of retail anti theft devices can act as a part of an overall loss prevention strategy.   Retail anti theft devices are so effective in preventing shoplifting, that I have seen high shortage stores effectively reduce levels to below industry and national standards within a years inventory cycle.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store for retail anti theft devices that can help you prevent shoplifting in your business.

 For more information on how you can use retail anti theft devices to prevent shoplifting contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

 

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Better clothing security leads to better profits

January 3, 2012 by

Clothing security is sometimes overlooked when finding ways to increase profits. Not surprisingly, managers and business owners can forget the importance of a well-functioning clothing security program.

Working in the retail environment over these past several years, I have come to understand that clothing security is a very important part of the clothing retail business. Specifically, clothing security tags help prevent the merchandise, aka profits, from walking out the door. Acting as a physical and visible deterrent, clothing security tags provide the necessary piece to increasing store profits through protection of merchandise. Now security tags on clothes work only as well as they are executed. Have a poorly executed plan and you’ll be not only wasting your money on clothing security tags but you’ll be losing your profits.

Security tags on clothes have been around for a few years now, and the technology has gotten much better. Clothing security tags have become more appealing and are not as imposing as once were. I remember seeing security tags on clothes for the first time and thinking, what a horrible sight.  Cables, pins, and buttons sticking out everywhere from the merchandise, making it almost impossible to purchase and at times damaging the product, not the best when thinking of sales and customer service.

Look closely at your overall store performance when determining what types of clothing security you need. Will security tags on clothes work for you? If you are a clothing retailer, you need clothing security, and in my opinion, nothing works better than security tags on clothes to prevent theft and boost your profits.

The retailer I work for has a well-executed merchandise protection program and is seen daily when looking at sales and service records.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547.

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Preemployment Screening: The Multitiered Approach

January 3, 2012 by

Retailers both large and small are starting to realize the importance of pre-employment screening via background checks. As a loss prevention professional one of the toughest challenges was to convince the powers that be the importance of preventing loss by contracting a background check company. The proof is in the pudding, countless post theft interviews point out prior terminations as well as criminal convictions. During post theft interviews many of the suspects stated that they were never asked at any stage of the hiring process about previous employment terminations nor whether they had been charged and convicted of any crimes. But a business can not jump into the pre employment screening process without a plan. There are many background check companies out there offering a variety of services. The key is to choose a background check company that employs reputable background check experts and offer various services including criminal background checks (local/state/federal), employee background checks (previous employment & education) as well as pre employment screening training.

In doing research for the right company to conduct your background checks you have to look at the process as a whole not just background checks. I would look into the accreditation of the background check experts for the companies I was considering. I would choose the company that had the widest range of job experience in both human resource and legal backgrounds. I would want their team to include individuals who have worked in the retail world, the legal system and government work. This would ensure a healthy knowledge of not just conducting criminal background checks or employee background checks but also a seasoned knowledge to ensure your company and theirs worked in tandem to achieve common goals.

The pre employment screening process starts with the job application. What is  considered a thorough job application? What are you trying to ascertain in the application to help you select the right person for the interview process. Notice I didn’t say select the right person to hire, this is a step by step journey and if done correctly will lead to the best possible choice of employees. From the very start I would be working with the background check experts by reviewing my company’s current hiring process. I would ask for a review of the job application. It is imperative your job application is detailed and uses correct wording to flesh out any prior convictions as well as terminations from previous employment. Obviously any recommended changes would have to pass through the human resource and legal department, but lets be honest, they should be a part of the decision making from the start. By asking the right questions on the application you will hopefully deter those potentially bad employees from completing an application. Also by asking the right questions you can start to formulate questions for those people whom you choose to make it to the interview level.

The next step should be gathering together all of the applications which have made the cut. Each application should be gone over with a fine tooth comb and pertinent questions formulated for the interview. Typically many of the questions will center around employment history. You can really ask the same questions thereby ensuring the answers are all the same and coincide with the results of the employee background check. The other area to be delved into should be any charges or convictions. If the job application shows a conviction and an explanation of the charges and outcome then it is necessary to ask detailed questions regarding the incident. This again will be either proven or negated by a criminal background check. During this first interview you can also ask specific questions to ascertain honesty and loyalty. Notes should be taken by the interviewer or preferably a witness so as to ensure information has been properly gathered for review. Follow up questions can be and should be formulated for a potential second interview.

A second and even third interview is recommended before actually hiring an employee. After the first round of interviews the powers that be should convene to review the notes and opinions from each interview. Detailed follow up questions should be constructed to hone in on areas of concern or uncertainty. Focusing on honesty, loyalty ability to handle pressure and a person’s disposition can and should be done at this second interview. At this point you as the interviewer can really start to focus on these follow up questions to dig into and flesh out and potential issues not yet fully addressed. Each step is an obstacle a potential employee has to clear to achieve employment. It should not be a walk in the park.

The last step is ensuring the potential employee fills out the proper release forms so the correct background checks can be processed. It is very important that correct addresses and prior addresses are collected since most company’s will conduct local criminal background checks within the county the potential employee resides. I firmly believe that local and state wide criminal background checks be conducted since travel is cheap and readily available thus increasing the bubble we exist within. The employee background check is very important, any shift from the truth should be addressed formally.

As you can see the preemployment screening process is a multi tiered system that will hopefully give you the best of the best potential employees. More and more company’s are realizing that to impact their shrink proactively they need to start at the beginning with a structured multifaceted hiring process. Having background check experts work with you to formulate such a plan will pay for itself in the end.

For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

 

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Employee theft of cash – Atlanta Georgia

January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Employees can steal anything, but nothing is more sought after than cold hard cash.  Employee theft (also called internal theft) of cash is perhaps the most common theft that I investigate.  The reason two fold.  First, merchandise can have limited functionality to the thief, but cash can be used for anything.  Secondly, there are more ways to steal cash than merchandise.

Internal theft of merchandise is generally straight forward.  The employee takes the merchandise and leaves without paying.  Sometimes you run into employee theft where the employee bags up merchandise and “passes it off” to a friend or family member without charging them, but these are the two main examples of merchandise theft.  An employee theft investigation into cash theft can have a lot more avenues to follow.

One way internal theft of cash can take place is by the cashier simply opening the drawer and removing the cash.  Look for large amounts of “No Sale” transactions to find this type of theft.  Another common employee theft investigation finding is cash theft by voids.  In this method the cashier will void a transaction when they see the customer is paying with cash.  They will still take the cash from the customer and give them the product; but since the void shows the sale as never taking place the associate is free to pocket the cash and there is no traceable shortage on the register.  Another popular cash theft option is refund fraud.  In this case the cashier will do a fake refund to product from the shelf or just laying around the register.  They will then pocket the cash or put the money on a gift card which they can later use or sell.  Whichever method the employee decides to use, employee theft of cash is still a major problem for retailers.

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

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An Honest Mistake or a Dishonest Associate – Atlanta Georgia

December 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

In any employee theft investigation there is an important question that should be answered quickly.  Is this a case of an associate making an honest mistake?  I have found that associates that make honest mistakes will not develop a pattern of errors that become harder to explain the longer the employee theft investigation continues.  The purpose of the employee theft investigation is to uncover the truth about observed suspicious behavior or suspicious transaction based on exception reporting.

The reason it is necessary to conduct a thorough investigation is due to the tremendous amount of employee theft that has been committed and was caught far too late.  In the retail industries that I have worked in, employee theft accounted for more than half of all the losses the companies incurred.  The reason for such high losses is because of the time employee theft may go unseen.  Companies can be taken for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, if employee theft is not disposed of quickly.

While working as a loss prevention manager, I remember when an internal theft case was discovered at one of the store’s distribution centers.  The internal theft case found that there was a pattern of receiving shortages occurring in several districts, all being serviced by this specific distribution center.  The investigation found that the distribution center associates were working with store receiving associates and stealing thousands in merchandise.  The receiving associates would always say that there was just an honest mistake when they unloaded the truck and that the merchandise did arrive at the store.  Thanks to the smart efforts of several loss prevention professionals and corporate loss prevention the case was solved.  This internal theft case included multiple associates in multiple locations.  The theft that was being done could have continued for a long time, if there were not quick and concise actions by the Loss Prevention Department.

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

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The Smallest RF Label

December 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

When I say small, I mean small. This particular RF label is only the size of your standard postage stamp. There are a plethora of different Checkpoint labels available to fit your needs and this one is designed for smaller items that do not need big, bulky RF labels taking up an entire side.

 While the postage stamp RF security labels are small and aesthetically pleasing, you do need to keep in mind that their detection is not going to be as good as some of the larger Checkpoint security tags. As I have stated in some of my previous articles, when it comes to RF security tags, size matters. This is why it is very important to know what RF security labels to use in what situations.

 There is always going to be decisions to be made about which RF security tags to use on what products. Do you sacrifice aesthetics for better detection or sacrifice some detection for aesthetics? If the latter is your choice, then the postage stamp label is right for you.

 The Checkpoint postage stamp label is available in three main styles. The first style is a simple plain white label that is very popular for obvious reasons. The second style is a faux barcode. This feature helps to disguise that it is a security tag even further than it’s already small size. In the third style the label is black. This helps the label blend into darker colored merchandise to help keep it from standing out.

 With all of this in mind, I hope I have helped you decide what security label will best help you stop shoplifting from occurring in your store.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, and other RF labels that can help you stop shoplifting in your business.

 For more information on Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, RF labels, RF security labels, RF security tags and how to stop shoplifting contact us at RF label or call 1.770.426.0547

 

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Prevent shoplifting with Public View Monitors!!!

December 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Public View Monitors (PVM) have been around for years.  The reason you have seen them for years is that they do a good job to prevent shoplifting from your store.  There are many companies that use a myriad of retail anti theft devices, but I am surprised how often business leaders don’t think of Public View Monitors.

 For those who may not know, a PVM is a monitor that you hang on the sales floor that shows a specific camera view.  These are most commonly used at entrances and exits.  This is to show customers that they are being monitored and that you do have cameras.  This knowledge will go a long way to prevent shoplifting as thieves don’t like to steal from stores with cameras.  Many shoplifters know that stores use fake domes to make people think they have cameras.  The PVM’s show them that you are not pretending, but actually have a state of the art system.

 Another way to prevent shoplifting with Public View Monitors is to place some viewing your high theft items.  At my stores I use PVM’s by my baby formula, razors, cosmetics and over the counter medications.  This lets would-be shoplifters know that those particular areas are monitored and if I am missing product then I can see who took it.  By showing them that they are on camera we have seen a remarkable reduction in theft.  This is also a great deterrent to hold up and robbery.  Again, if someone knows their illegal actions will be captured on video and turned over to the police they are less likely to commit the act.  By showing would be robbers that you have good camera coverage you will force them to other stores who are less adequately protected.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store for retail anti theft devices that can help you prevent shoplifting in your business.

 For more information on how you can use retail anti theft devices to prevent shoplifting contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

 

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Clothing Security: When you cant nail it down.

December 29, 2011 by

It is a very busy time for retailers, school is back in and the new merchandise has already arrived for fall.  Many retailers are finding that they have more apparel than they have racks to display them.  This means setting up aisle displays and displays near the entrances of their stores.  Retailers are also aware that this is the time of year when they lose a lot of clothing due to theft.  So, what do you do when you can’t nail it down?  You ensure that your clothing security practices are effective at protecting your merchandise.

Clothing security tags or a clothing alarm allow retailers to face this busy season more confidently.  Checkpoint tags are probably by far one of the most widely used tags when placing security tags on clothes.  Checkpoint tags have been around and are durable and effective at preventing shoplifting.  Checkpoint tags are consistently sought after for their style and adaptability to retailer needs.  Clothing security is important and having the right clothing security tags on your clothing is critical. A clothing alarm is equally important when trying to prevent shoplifting. A clothing alarm can be music to a retailer’s ear and a sour note to a perspective shoplifter.

Placing security tags on clothes located near exits or entrances is a must to prevent them from easing out the door. Clothing security tags send a clear message to a perspective shoplifter and that is, not at this store.  .  Retailers have so many things to worry about and focus on during this time of year, clothing security should not be on the list.  Take the necessary steps now and invest in clothing security tags.  These tags can mean the difference between a good year and a great year.  It is the goal of an organization to sell it goods, not to simply let them walk out the door. By placing security tags on clothes you are defending your merchandise. Use clothing security tags when you can’t afford to nail it down

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

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Pre-employment screening: keep criminals out of the work place

December 29, 2011 by

Finding the right person for the right job can be a daunting task for any employer.  Pre employment screening will help you identify the right candidate so you do not waste precious time and resources on a new hire that’s going to do more damage than good.

Background check experts believe keeping an unqualified person out of the workplace is extremely important to protect assets. States have their own pre employment screening laws that employers must follow.  In addition, overarching Federal regulations exist that govern a background check company.

A company I once worked for conducted a pre employment screening for all new hire associates as part of our shortage mitigation program.  We outsourced our employee background checks to a background check company to reduce our liability.  During the hiring process we asked each prospective employee to complete a consent form authorizing the background checks.

Criminal background checks were conducted on all candidates that have access to cash or restricted areas.  The background checks were returned by the background check experts in a timely fashion and we were armed with the information we needed to make an informed hiring decision.

I was surprised to learn how many of our prospective new hires were convicted of shoplifting.  A significant number of prospective new hires even had a felony conviction that would have gone unchecked if we had not conducted a background check.

Without the information you need to make an informed decision your business is vulnerable from infiltration by career criminals and thieves.  Criminal background checks helped us keep criminals out of the workplace and are without a doubt the first line of defense to protect assets and profits.

For more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

 

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Employee theft and Peer Pressure: a Dangerous Combination

December 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As long as your business has employees, there will always be the possibility of an internal theft problem. Many business owners think it will never happen to them; however all it takes is one dishonest employee to dramatically cut into your businesses profits.

One recent employee theft investigation that I worked involved a dishonest employee and her friend. It was obvious from video and interviews that over the course of time the dishonest employee became more confident as she got away with discount abuse time after time. As her friend saw her get away with the abuse, she became involved in the discount abuse as well. She allowed many of her friends and family members to use her discount to receive merchandise for half off retail price. This type of internal theft heavily impacted the store’s sales numbers and after the two employees were fired we saw an increase in the store’s profits.

Employee theft like this highlights an important point: if other employees notice a dishonest employee getting away with doing something wrong, they maybe more influenced to become involved in dishonest behaviors as well. It could result from peer pressure or simply the allure of seeing someone take advantage of the system and not get caught.

The best defense against employee theft is to keep an open ear. An employee who talks about having no money but is constantly shopping is a major red flag. Another red flag is employees whose friends and family members frequently shop in the store on regular intervals. If you suspect you may have an internal theft problem, consider hiring an LP professional to conduct a full employee theft investigation.

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

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