Red Tape In Retail Theft Prevention

From small business to big box, all retailers have to have policies and guidelines to keep their operations going in the right direction. Cash control, hiring and training, and loss prevention measures, among other key business factors, should be consistent and fully understood by all members of your staff. I am a firm believer that employees should never quote policy in a customer service situation, but the company’s policies should be known and applied. These rules can sometimes be very stringent and restricting when it comes to how the staff can stop shoplifting issues. I work for a retail pharmacy, and our staff must meet several components before making a stop.

1. Only a member of management can make the stop.

2. The manager must see the person conceal merchandise.

3. They must be able to articulate exactly what the person has.  (for example: I need to speak to you about the bottle of ibuprofen in your pocket.)  

4. They must not lose sight of the suspect.  If sight is lost at any point, the person cannot be stopped.

5. The person must be past the point of purchase. (for example: Between the registers and the Checkpoint Systems pedestals.)

6. Employees may not exit the building to follow or question a suspected shoplifter. No physical contact with the suspect is allowed.

I could say I have followed these rules every time I have made a stop. But that would put me in jeopardy of being struck by lightning, so I won’t.  

Rules are made for good reasons. They are made to keep us, our customers, and our company safe. The thing is that sometimes you just can’t stick with them. Let’s say you are sitting in the office and you notice a suspicious character. They are darting around, filling a bag with expensive merchandise, like high end blue jeans. Or they have just emptied a couple of pegs of phone chargers or other electronics.  Do you really want to wait on them to make a run for it? The Checkpoint Systems will alarm and go berserk, but it will be too late. No, I am not saying to go accuse them of plotting to steal. Don’t ever do that. But there is nothing stopping you from approaching them and offering some excellent customer service. Let them know you know what’s going on. Tell them their basket or bag looks awful heavy and tell them you will put it behind the checkout counter for them to pay for when they are ready. Same thing goes if they just have a handful of those electronics. 

Take a look at the new trend of thieves coming in pairs. One gathers the merchandise while the other remains in the background. The staff is not even aware of the second person being part of this. The first one doesn’t pay any mind to cameras, or even attempt to hide what they are doing. They sometimes take the stuff to a restroom, where the accomplice is waiting. They don’t even bother trying to remove any Checkpoint Labels or other anti-shoplifting hardware. The gatherer comes out of the restroom with the bag, while it’s actually the accomplice that has the concealed items with them. Staff stops the first guy while the second guy gets away. They may even choose to make this exchange right near the front door, anticipating the alarm sounding, so during the distraction the store staff again naturally detains the wrong person. My solution to this may sound bad, but it makes more sense to stop this in its tracks. Otherwise, productivity halts, reports have to be written, and court dates will loom if you are able to make a successful recovery during one of these scams. The most likely scenario is second guy gets away, and you were too covered up dealing with the first guy to get any description or details about the one that got out anyway.   

Of course, you have to make sure it all jives with your immediate supervisor, but I say stop the first guy while it is in progress. Before they even try to get past your Checkpoint Systems, take it all away from the one gathering, and put it behind the counter. Show them who’s in charge.

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