The retailer who has to prevent shoplifting in his store to remain profitable might well exclaim;
Employee Theft: Big Business – Atlanta Georgia
February 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment
When I first started in this industry I always looked at employee theft as the manifestation of greed or desperation, however recently I have noticed that it is becoming big business.
We all know that there is no honor among thieves, but apparently there is no honor among retailers either. One of my stores is located in a strip mall. 2 stores down is a large beauty supply store. One of the cashiers at my store was apprehended for employee theft trying to sneak a backpack full of high-end shampoos, perfumes, etc. out of the store without paying. During the interview she began singing like a canary. (I sincerely love these kinds of people, by the way) It appears the owner of the beauty supply store was happily paying anyone who stole from us. This allowed him to pay the thief and still sell the merchandise at a lower price than we were because it was all profit to him. Needless to say we went after that store owner like a pit bull on a chew toy.
In another instance I was at a local watering hole that I don’t often frequent when a young man that I recognized from one of the grocery stores I work at walked in. He saw me, nodded nervously and walked out quickly. The bartender proceeded to tell me that he and a couple of his buddies come in about 2 or 3 times a week selling large quantities of meat and seafood at discount prices. Of course I looked into it and of course they were guilty. The 3 men, 2 of which worked in the meat department were sneaking the product out of the store at night and selling it on the street to whoever was willing to pay their low prices because again, it was all profit to them. Be aware, employee theft has graduated from the minors and is becoming a major league business.
For more information about internal theft or employee theft investigation contact us at Employee Theft or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
One Step to Prevent Shoplifting
February 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment
To prevent shoplifting, remember the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” What this saying means is that it is easier to prevent a condition from occurring that it is once it has become established.
When applied to shoplifting, a major concern for almost any retailer, this statement makes a lot of sense.
The main idea of prevention is to keep shoplifting from occurring in the first place. To do this, the retailer should increase the risk to the shoplifter. The other side of the equation would be to increase the shoplifter’s punishment, but that assumes the shoplifter will be caught and even then the punishment is up to a judge or jury.
So, other than posting a sign at the entrance that reads “Shoplifters Will Be Shot”, what can a retailer do to deter and prevent shoplifting at his store?
One excellent deterrent to shoplifting is the presence of a retail anti theft device at the entrance to the store. One such device is the Checkpoint Security System. While the system, which consists of one or more antennas depending on the size of the entrance, is certainly not “in your face” obvious, it is recognized by most shoplifters as an effective anti shoplifting solution that is difficult to defeat.
The Checkpoint Security System never gets distracted or takes a break. It doesn’t care what a shoplifter looks like, how he is dressed, or how many bags he carries. Blind spots in the store that are used by shoplifters to conceal merchandise are unimportant to it.
In short, all the Checkpoint Security System cares about is if the merchandise passing through it has been paid for or not. If not, an alarm sounds to alert the staff.
Keep honest customers honest and prevent shoplifting by committing to reduce shrink and save money with Checkpoint.
Call 770-426-7526 to speak with a loss prevention agent or click here: Retail Anti Theft Device. Be sure and visit our Online Retail Loss Prevention Store.
Snowballing Employee Theft – Atlanta Georgia
February 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The reason employee theft is so dangerous to a company is because of its’ snowballing effect. Think about it, if you saw the same customer come into the store everyday and hang out in the same department you’d become instantly suspicious of them, right? Well, that’s exactly what your average employee does, however we assume that they’re there to simply do a job so we think nothing else of it. The truth is their position gives them unquestioned regular access to both your money and your merchandise. In essence, your business is in their hands.
Employee theft is like a drug. The first time an employee decides to take from the company they’re usually scared and apprehensive. They’re shaking like a leaf; beads of sweat form on their brow and they’ll probably talk themselves out of their first few attempts. After the first time though it becomes easier and easier to conceal merchandise or dip into the register. Before you know it that same individual who looked like a frightened child the first time is a regular retail John Dillinger, and just like Dillinger he’ll eventually recruit a gang.
Some thieves are smart and keep their wrong-doing to themselves. Most like to brag. Once the bragging starts the snowballing will too. Other associates will begin looking for ways to get away with either cash or merchandise and now you have multiple people taking multiple things at multiple times of the day. Your employee theft is out of control! What’s the solution? Stop the snowball before it starts. When the other employees see that first individual get taken away in handcuffs all of a sudden employee theft doesn’t seem like the great idea it once did.
For more information about internal theft or employee theft investigation or corporate fraud investigation or corporate fraud investigator contact us at Employee Theft or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Prevent Shoplifting and Miss All the Fun
February 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
You can prevent shoplifting from your store, but if you do, you are likely to miss incidents such as the following that were reported by the daily publication, Creative Loafing:
How much can a shoplifter stuff in his pants? A man seen on surveillance video at a convenience store in Connecticut, fled after stuffing at least 17 cans of Red Bull energy drink down his pants. And in Cairns, Australia, a 51-year-old man was caught shoplifting, witnessed by security staff putting three limes and a package of beef tongue in his pants. When cornered, the man (like clowns exiting a clown car) pulled out an additional two onions, three trays of rump steaks and a packet of lamb forequarter chops.
Okay, the thought of these two criminals actually stuffing energy drink and groceries into their trousers at first seems pretty comical. At least in these two instances, the offenders were detected and apprehended. Many times, shoplifters who are not quite so inept as these two get away with it, costing businesses billions of dollars annually in lost merchandise and profit, and there’s no fun in that.
Now nothing may prevent shoplifting entirely by really dedicated and daring theives like the ones described here, but there are retail anti theft devices that are manufactured to stop shoplifting by customers of a retail store.
A Checkpoint Security System at the entrance to a store announces that the management of the store is serious about controlling costs and crime by treating sholifting seriously, which in turn keeps prices low for customers.
A Checkpoint Security System is a type of electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology that detects special Checkpoint tags and Checkpoint labels that pass through its field and emits an audible alarm, alerting staff and others that merchandise is leaving that has not been through checkout. The shoplifters soon learn that the merchadise is protected and move on to less risky environments. The preventative benefit of the presence of a Checkpoint System has an immediate positive impact on inventory loss and profitability.
For your information, if Mr. Red Bull had been successful, the retailer would have had to sell an additional 340 cans of the drink to break even because of the profit loss from the theft.
Want to know more about ways to prevent shoplifting and keep your profits? Call LPSI at 770-426-0547 or click here: Retail Theft Prevention. Be sure to visit our Online Retail Loss Prevention Store.
Coordinating with Management to Prevent Shoplifting
February 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
If you’ve been in this business for any amount of time you realize that coordinating with management to prevent shoplifting can be a difficult task. The job of management in a retail environment is to make merchandise as accessible as possible to the customer in hopes that they will be more apt to purchase it. The loss prevention investigator knows that every customer could potentially be a thief so they’re trying to keep the merchandise from being readily accessible to these types of individuals. It’s like plaids and stripes, these 2 ideals just don’t go together.
For this reason it is vital that the loss prevention investigator have superior communication skills and be able to convey his concerns and his strategy to prevent shoplifting in a clear and concise manner. Years ago, in one of my stores, we created “the horseshoe” to combat a growing shoplifting problem with small, easily concealed merchandise. Essentially the racks were arranged to form a horseshoe or “U” shape and everyone who walked into the horseshoe was watched like a hawk. Inevitably theft went down significantly. Recently the management staff felt that the horseshoe was limiting customer access and was to blame for the decreased sales in that department.
As a result, the horseshoe was dismantled. Sales did make a slight increase but shrink in that department went through the roof. At that point it was easy to point out to management that the small increase in sales didn’t cancel out the large increase in theft. The horseshoe was back within a month and shoplifting leveled off. You have to consider the needs of the business above all else. If you can build a strong working relationship between your loss prevention investigator and your management staff you will make it that much easier to prevent shoplifting in your store.
For more information contact us at Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
A Funny Internal Theft Story – Atlanta Georgia
February 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A funny thing happened on my way to an internal theft . A company that I worked for was seeing unusually high losses in their Electronics department. Upon reviewing the footage and seeing the type of merchandise that was frequently going missing we determined that external theft, or shoplifting, was probably not the culprit. See, most of the missing merchandise stayed locked up in a back closet of the Electronics department just so average customers wouldn’t have access to it. Therefore it became obvious that it must be an inside job.
I entered the store in the middle of the night and installed a covert camera in the back closet of the Electronics department. I figured that whoever was committing the internal theft would continue doing so and with video footage of the deed it would be incredibly easy to build a case. What I didn’t realize is that there was a lot more going on in that back closet than I had anticipated. On a quiet Sunday afternoon I received a phone call from one of my detectives who snickered uncontrollably as he asked me how to handle the situation.
It seems that a couple of Electronics associates had been using that back closet as a rendezvous spot and were currently involved in acts that would make a madam blush. I called the manager of the department and had him conveniently walk in on them. (Since the lovebirds weren’t my initial target I didn’t want to alert anyone to the presence of a covert camera). The couple was terminated for unprofessional conduct and time theft and about a week later the actual thief was caught red handed with over $500 worth of MP3 players stuck down his pants. 3 for the price of 1 is always a good deal, especially when you’re talking about internal theft .
For more information about employee theft or employee theft investigation or corporate fraud investigation or corporate fraud investigator contact us at Internal Theft or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
