A loss prevention investigator works to drive sales by proactively investigating many types of losses. As a retailer in the United States, you face many sales killing challenges including internal or employee theft and the brutalizing affect of Organized Retail Crime outfits.
Working a variety of stores from grocery to high end beauty products, I have seen the negative impacts of these types of losses. It is not a pretty site when a store closes because it simply cannot sustain the losses incurred as a result of poor inventory controls, employee theft and external factors. At times, these losses could have been mitigated simply by bringing loss prevention consultants and spending the money to counter these losses.
If a business is losing money, it is crucial to act fast and acknowledge the “hows” and “whys”. As loss prevention investigator , I was brought in to investigate a store experiencing shrink as high as 25%. This was a chain of about 50 stores, which were small boutique type no larger than 3000 sqft. Looking at other stores in the company, this was not the only one with high shrink, just the highest. I looked into everything starting with their receiving practices. I followed the delivery truck several times; I watched trucks being unloaded and audited the store’s receipts. Matching what I could, I found no issue that would lead to explain the losses.
Further, I conducted night surveillances, watching the closing crews and management. Now, any loss prevention investigator worth his salt could tell you that what I saw was cause for alarm. Management on at least 4 nights was in the store several hours past closing, alone. Not only is this a safety issue but offers ethical challenges. As a result of these poor controls, management took advantage.
Several nights of my surveillance, I witnessed the manager put box after box of merchandise outside the back door, near the emergency exit. As she left the building, she would simply drive around back and pick up here “prizes”.
In the next few days, as the loss prevention investigator , I interviewed the manager. She admitted to taking merchandise daily for the last year and a half. However, my investigation showed losses for more the 2 years, in fact, the same amount of time the manager had been with the company.
Work by loss prevention consultants would have stoped this problem before it started.
For more information about loss prevention consultants visit us at loss prevention investigator or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
