When we think of gift boxes and wraps during this time of the year we would probably think of robe boxes, shirt boxes or jewelry boxes. Wraps would bring to mind those colorful papers and foils that we use to hide the boxes and try to camouflage the gifts inside. Then there are the ribbons that tie everything together and make the packages beautiful. The whole purpose is to protect the items we have purchased from prying eyes and snoops.
Retailers have to protect their merchandise against more than just prying eyes, nosey relatives, and curious kids. Store owners have to think about theft issues that will be impacting them during the holidays. It is an unfortunate fact of life that during this time of the year criminal activity, especially shoplifting rises significantly. The harm that is inflicted by these criminals is more than simply the loss of a piece or two of merchandise. The business owners, store employees, and customers are all impacted by the actions of those who enter a store and steal from it.
The obvious effect theft has on the business owner is that a stolen piece of merchandise eats into the profit margin of the store. We use to estimate in Loss Prevention that for a big box retailer it required selling approximately 10 units of something to make up for the loss of one unit of the product. The small or medium retail owner is trying to be careful in how much to markup goods in order to stay competitive with the national chain stores. Consequently, these owners may have to sell a bit more to make up for a stolen item.
Employees are impacted by shoplifters because it could mean a storekeeper may not be able to hire an additional worker for the holidays, never mind for an entire year. Merchandise shortage may mean seasonal hires have to be let go a little earlier than a business owner truly wanted to release them. Shoplifting also means that shortage has to be considered when a store owner is deciding on employee pay. Knowing that theft is going to happen and it will hurt profits, a business owner has to keep expenses lower and one of the biggest expense areas to a store is payroll.
Customers are affected by thieves because many of the store markups are a direct result of shoplifter activity. Customers don’t want to pay more than they have to for an item and so they may take their business to a big box competitor or to online shopping if prices increase. Mom and Pop shop owners can’t afford to mark-up goods too much or they risk losing business. Not marking up to make up for losses means Mom and Pop stores have to sell more to customers. Customers they are already fighting to keep. To top it off, the shoplifters take merchandise that may have been available to a paying customer to purchase. The customer can’t buy what isn’t there and a vicious cycle ensues.
In order to combat shoplifting and larceny at all times of the year, the small retail owner should be using retail anti-theft devices. This is where the best boxes and wraps come into play and they aren’t the type we use for our gifts. The ones store owners should be using are those that will keep thieves and criminals from stealing in the first place. Small items can be protected in Alpha Keeper boxes while larger items are securely surrounded in Spider Wrap. Both devices allow owners to leave merchandise in the open and accessible to customers who can then carry items in the store or to a register. By the same token, the anti-theft devices keep criminals from being able to get access to merchandise and prevent them from getting products out of the store without causing alarm activations.
Business owners, you don’t need to experience empty shelves and cash drawers on the account of theft. Don’t allow crooks to victimize you, your employees and your customers. Box and wrap your products with retail anti-theft devices so your shoppers can have the merchandise they want at affordable prices. Your customers can enjoy more green in their pockets and you will see more green in your registers.
“Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh…” OH BOY, this is one of my favorite times of the year! Christmas time and the other holidays just make it special for me. The television specials, the music, the foods and treats and the decorations all combine to just give a warm feeling. I even feel like people tend to be friendlier and more helpful to each other. Then there is the shopping to do, going out to window shop or find that perfect gift for someone(s) special in our lives. Living in the South we don’t often get to dash through the snow but when you live up in the northern states you can add the winter frolicking to your holidays. Even if we haven’t experienced it almost all of us have seen pictures or movies with reindeer dashing through the snow pulling Santa’s sleigh. There’s something about it that evokes a bit of childhood magic.
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are more than 28 million small businesses in the United States and they account for more than 99% of businesses in the country. Small businesses employ close to 57 million people in the United States alone and are a driving force in the progress of the US economy. The good news for an entrepreneur that wants to start a business is that they are not alone, but if you are a small business in the retail industry, the problems you will encounter do not come as paperwork filings or taxes paid. Shoplifting and employee theft are two of the major causes small retail shops face financial distress during their business enterprise. It is an unfortunate problem, but the problem is there and the small business owner has to find solutions to the specific problems in their store.
It might be too early for retailers to prepare for the holiday season, but it is never too early to implement security measures to prevent shoplifting in their stores. The holiday season attracts more customers than at any other time of the year, therefore shoplifting incidents increase with the increase of customers as well.
Are you hiring someone who has the tendency to steal from their employer?
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Black Friday morning and we had lines of customers jockeying for position at 16 front end cash registers, two pharmacy registers, a jewelry counter register and 2 registers at our electronics counter. Sure, there were a lot of people, hundreds if not a thousand at one time but we were handling it. I had our Loss Prevention team monitoring cameras, checking receipts at the front doors and walking the floor with “Security” jackets on to deter theft and prevent fights. The store management team had good plans in place for replenishing freight on the floor and giving employees breaks. I had worked with the Store Manager to control the flow of customers into our building and all had gone off without a hitch, no pushing, shoving or fights. I even had a number of police officers at our front doors aiding us with crowd control. We had really planned for every contingency, or so we thought. The one thing that we had not planned for happened and it was a major problem, our register system went down! The audible sighs, snide remarks, and expressions of anger and frustration were heard in one collective voice. All of our managers jumped into action trying to reboot registers and get systems back online. Ever so slowly we got things moving again but it was a nightmare and it made us realize the scary truth, we had not really prepared for everything as well as we thought we had. A number of shopping carts had been abandoned with Black Friday specials in them and no salesfloor staff available to re-shelve the merchandise.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought it would be an appropriate time for me to ask the employers out there how thankful are you for the staff you have? I don’t mean are you just thankful you have people who work for you in a general sense but how thankful are you for what they bring to the workplace every day? Maybe you have never thought about it like that. I’m certain you are thankful that Bobby showed up on time today or Mary Jane rang up customers without a customer complaint. But have you ever looked at how you express your thanks to your team? Maybe your attitude is that you pay them and that should be enough. Perhaps you give your employees a birthday card when their birthday rolls around each year. But is that really sufficient? Is it fair for your employees to expect more from you in terms of recognition?
I watched a video shared with me by a former Loss Prevention Manager colleague. The video showed three subjects enter a retail store and all appeared to be wearing masks and at least one looked to be carrying a rifle of some type. There were several employees at the front entrance when the subjects walked in and one of the employees seemed to say something to the one who was carrying what I will refer to as a rifle. The video was not the greatest and the camera is pointing into the store from the exterior door so for the most part, the backs of the perpetrators are seen.
Are you a small business owner dealing with the security of your store? Are you tired of not knowing where the losses are coming from? Employee theft and shoplifting are two of the major losses retail stores across the United States face every day. The millions of dollars the retail industry loses every day are due to employee theft and shoplifting, so how do you prepare yourself from employee theft? Employee background checks can be a first step in dealing with employee theft. Paying for background checks for your employees is investing in the future of your store. Training them and going through the hiring process takes time and money. By hiring the right people the first time, you save time and money that can be spent elsewhere.