Quit Stalling About Employee Theft

May 3, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Every day I see news articles about employee theft. That does not even cover a fraction of the employee theft occurring both know or unknown. The fact is that approximately 45% of a Retailer’s losses are due to employees stealing. We focus so heavily on shoplifting that many times a Retailer misses the boat completely. Do not misinterpret what I am saying, shoplifting is responsible for about 35 percent of a Retailer’s losses. Which is also huge.

However, employees have access to your cash, supplies, and merchandise. Employees are generally trusted until they show us that they are not. Which may be too late! Many Retailers I have discussed this with over the years tell me that they trust their employees and treat them well. Therefore they would not steal from them. Those are the folks that have the worst losses and the biggest shock when it does happen. As human beings, we do not want to believe that someone would steal from us. We also are quick to turn a blind eye to the evidence even when it hits us in the head. We simply do not want to believe it.  

Another factor is that many Retailers do not know, understand and are afraid to do something. Will we make a mistake? Would we accuse someone of something they did not do? What civil and criminal consequences do we face? And the list goes on. This is yet another stalling factor for not doing anything. 

Quit stalling about employee theft. You face every other retail problem head on why not this. Educate yourself. We can help you with this. Make sure you know the signals of employee theft. Yes, employees who steal, act differently than other employees. You simply need to know what to listen and watch for. Do you “audit” your operation? For example, an audit can be as simple as making sure the Point-Of-Sale balances every day and if it does not, find out why. I have seen many Owners and Managers that say if the drawer is short $5 or less, they do not look into it because “it is not worth my time”, REALLY??? THAT IS SO WRONG and dangerous!!!! First by having a policy like this you are telling everyone that stealing $4.99 and below is okay. $4.99 times 365 days a year is a loss of $1,821.35. Oh, and that kind of theft WILL lead to larger and more frequent employee theft. 

Over my career, I have investigated, interrogated and put in jail somewhere north of 2300 employees for theft. The vast majority of those employees that were stealing did it for the same reasons. Many still stole even those the boss was “good to them”. I have seen employees that had been loaned large amounts of money by their employer, employees that were being put through school by their employer steal with no regret except for being caught. 

We can train you to spot employee theft and what to do about it when you suspect and find it. It is not hard to do. We can show you how to “test” employees to see if they are stealing. We can help you build the confidence to be on the offense, not the defense.  Your good employees will not care or suffer. In fact, they will help you. You just need to know how to proceed. 

Would you knowingly buy a car that had major engine and transmission problems? Probably not. So why would you hire someone with a criminal record? Why would you not find out that they have problems with violence, theft, drugs and worse when it is so simple, fast and cost-effective to do so? We can help you with that also. We conduct pre-employment screening, drug testing and more, nationwide. Look at it this way, you interview, select, employ, train, invest in an employee just to find out the hard way that they are very familiar with employee theft? When a pre-employment screening costs $20 how can you afford not to. Drug testing is also very inexpensive. You can quickly, cheaply and easily have a pre-employment drug testing done on all of your employment candidates when you offer them the position. Again, we conduct pre-employment screening and drug testing nationwide. 

You control every other aspect of your business, why would you not take more control of employee theft? Contact us today or call toll free 1-770-426-0547. 

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Importance Of Inventory Control-How Out Of control Are Profits Without Inventory Control?

May 3, 2019 by Leave a Comment

 Out of control spending may be okay for the federal government (Let’s be frank 20+ trillion of debt seems pretty out of control to most of us) but as a store owner or manager out of control expenses will bury your company. I am sure that you are looking carefully at where you spend your cash, reviewing controllable reports and monthly expenses. What you may not be considering is how operating a store without inventory controls in place can be negatively impacting the profits of your store. 

     When I talk about inventory controls I am not simply referring to activities on inventory night, I am talking about everything the store does all year to control merchandise. For example, the store I work for receives their pallets of freight several times a week. Included in these pallets are sealed plastic shipping boxes that hold individual pieces of merchandise. Some of these boxes have different colored seals and colored seals are indicators that the merchandise inside is high value/high theft goods requiring strict controls. The merchandise in these boxes requires security devices or immediate lock-up. When I was a Loss Prevention Manager for another company we had a lock-up cage we staged at the trailer receiving door. As specific high-risk merchandise came off of the trailer that product immediately went into the cage. That merchandise had to get to its department following a very specific path and if I observed any deviation from that path I was investigating the issue. The store where my daughter works requires all jewelry shipments be taken immediately to the jewelry counter, counted against the invoice and stocked. Jewelry is not allowed to sit out until it is convenient to secure it. Having a detailed plan for identifying high-risk products, verifying counts against invoices right away and immediately securing it are smart steps in preventing inventory shortage from getting out of control. 

     Electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems are another key piece of a sound inventory control strategy. When I mentioned securing products above it does not necessarily mean that merchandise has to go into a lock-up case. Most merchandise can be protected against theft with EAS labels, hard tags, wraps and other protective devices (for example Sensormatic has a product called Flexible Safers that can hold items and still give EAS protection). There are some things that a display case is appropriate to display merchandise in such as high-end jewelry. By the same token, there are EAS products suitable for costume and less valuable jewelry. Inventory control of such pieces of merchandise means tagging these items by a team of trusted employees before they are on the sales floor and accessible by other employees or shoppers. An EAS system also includes the installation of towers at all points of entrance and exit. A common error on the part of many retailers is the failure to place towers near vendor doors and employee-only entry doors. Failing to protect these doorways is a misstep in recognizing the reality of employee theft and the impact it has on store profitability. 

     Inventory control also takes place in in-store training programs. Teaching employees how the customer service they provide helps prevent shoplifting plays a part in inventory control. Training front end supervisors and cashiers how to properly handle EAS alarm activations determines how much merchandise you may or may not recover from potential thieves. Even the proper training of specialists who show merchandise from lock-up showcases impacts the potential for a crook to steal. How many pieces of jewelry should be out of a case to show a customer at any time? One, two, or three items? You have to teach your team what you expect and how someone may try to trick them while they are showing merchandise. 

     Inventory control is a year-round effort. It encompasses more than locking up merchandise or preparing for an annual inventory. Inventory control requires an in-depth look at where losses can take place, how they occur and who may be causing the losses. Once you do that you can implement solutions to the problem by creating a comprehensive shortage prevention strategy. Do that and you keep from losing control over your store profit line.  

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Is Pre-Employment Drug Screening Worthwhile In Today’s Culture?

May 3, 2019 by Leave a Comment

There are many ways for store owners to reduce the risk of employee theft and fraud. Background checks supplement interviews and screening questions on a job application. Manager training to know the signs and indicators that a worker may be engaging in theft activity of some sort is another preventative step. Electronic Article Surveillance systems and tags are helpful in deterring shoplifters and dishonest employees. Certainly Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Public View monitors and mandatory package checks before leaving work all play a part in preventing internal criminal activity. One of the best tools an employer can use to reduce the chance they will even hire a thief in the first place is the use of pre-employment drug screening. The prospective employee would go to the lab, fill the cup and labs would send off the sample to have it checked for illegal substances. That has been the most common of the drug tests and many employers have relied on it to help them keep their stores profitable and safe. 

     Is this still an effective method for owners to use? With states loosening their own laws surrounding marijuana use it is a mixed bag. Not all states are legalizing it and it is still a federal crime to use, grow, distribute or possess it. So if you are in a state where it is still a crime to use marijuana and an applicant applies to a job with your company but he/she comes from a state where it has been “legalized” do you have them take a pre-employment drug test? What happens if they take the test and results show they use marijuana, do you not hire them even though it was “legal” where they came from? This can pose a dilemma for store owners. If you do hire them, do you put yourself at risk for discriminating against someone from your own state who failed and did not get hired based on that result? 

     Leaving the marijuana out of the equation for the moment, there is still room for drug testing in the workplace, both pre-screening and random drug testing of employees. Drug screening can identify other illegal substances in addition to marijuana. According to thebalancecareers.com, “A typical drug test for employment purposes screens for drugs including amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, opiates, nicotine, and alcohol.” While you may decide to overlook positive results for marijuana you can still turn down applicants for the other drugs. States may be legalizing marijuana but the debates about the safety and effects of the drug on behavior remain a concern. Just because it is legal does not mean you necessarily want someone who uses this drug or any other drug working for your business. Pre-employment drug screening is still an effective tool in your efforts to combat theft and safety concerns. 

     Why test for drugs in the first place? By testing and screening out applicants who test positive you significantly reduce the risk of hiring someone who very well may steal from your store. It may be cash or merchandise but they have a habit to feed and they still have bills to pay and they are not going to feed that habit on a retail job. Working in the store gives them access to money and merchandise that will provide the resources for their addiction. Another reason to test is to keep your store safe. Someone who is illegally using drugs or coming to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol can be a cause of an accident or can be the victim of an injury in the workplace incurred while under the influence. Whether they cause the accident or are the victim of an accident, you can end up paying for it. There is also the safety of your other employees to consider. Someone under the influence of the wrong drugs can be unstable and volatile. What is it that is going to trigger a violent action on their part? Giving them a direction or task they don’t want to do? How about a customer that says something that sets off your employee. There is no place for violence or theft in the workplace and pre-employment drug screening can help prevent both from happening. 

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What can a Loss Prevention System do for you?

April 19, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Loss prevention technology along with the proper personnel training will allow a retail store to reduce loss, improve customer service and provide the data necessary to access up to minute inventory information in the store.

A loss prevention system is a preventable measure retail stores need to adopt to prevent the losses that plague the retail industry. A loss prevention system along with trained personnel can be a deterrent to shoplifting, vendor and employee theft that can save the retail store thousands of dollars a month.

A loss prevention system can protect the merchandise in the store while protecting customers and the employees as well. Incidents, where violence and sometimes deaths occur, can be avoided with the proper systems, training, and the continuous effort to ensure the safety of the employees and customers alike.

A loss prevention system can allow the employees and manager of a store to focus and ensure customers have a good experience shopping at their store. Good customer experience can translate to continuous business, and great customer satisfaction has been linked to less shoplifting in the retail industry.

If you are the owner of several retail stores, a loss prevention system can be adapted to each store’s unique layout and needs while providing the same information you need to prevent shoplifting or to take the necessary measures to prevent it.

A loss prevention system is an investment a retail store cannot do without, but along with an investment in a loss prevention system, trained personnel plays an important role in making sure the system can do what it is supposed to do. Data from the loss prevention system cannot go unchecked, and it cannot be ignored.

Employees have to be trained and knowledgeable of the stores’ policies and procedures regarding shoplifting to ensure an efficient and quick response if shoplifting occurs in the store. Violence can and must be avoided at all costs.

There’s research out there that clearly indicates the cost versus benefits of having a loss prevention system in place.  Profits in a business can be slim, losing them to shoplifting, employee or vendor theft can be detrimental to any business.

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Did The Grinch Steal Your Retail Christmas? 

January 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Wow, Christmas is over and Retailers are starting to dig out from the carnage. Unfortunately, some of the carnage is all the merchandise that shoplifters have liberated from your store. I believe that theft is actually the oldest vice around. Even older than “the oldest profession”. As long are there are two things on this earth 1-people and 2-stuff, there will be theft. Well, neither is going away anytime soon. So what do we do?  

The first thing is to make the decision to take your store back from the enemy. Putting the solution off will not fix the problem and it will get worse. The second is to implement the two proven solutions. Training and a Sensormatic system. 

TRAINING – Over the past 35 years I have heard countless retailers say the same thing. “I don’t know what I can or cannot do with or about shoplifters”. Shoplifters are no different than any other business challenge we face. Attack it head-on. Loss Prevention Systems can educate you on what you can and cannot do. But more importantly, we will take you off the defensive and put you on the offense. Now I know what you may be thinking right now. “I am not going to chase shoplifters down and tackle them!”. Well, I am glad we got that out because we do not want you to do that either. We want to prevent the loss from occurring (that’s why we call ourselves Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. What a coincidence, huh?).  

Training should cover a discussion of the problem itself, the law both criminal and civil, who shoplifters are and how to spot them before they even steal, going on the offensive with customer service tactics and more. We do this live via webinar with as many of your folks as you can pull together. I have actually found that most of the time we need to do two sessions so we do not leave the store short staffed or someone misses out. Training will help give you the confidence to attack the shoplifting scourge head-on. 

SENSORMATIC SYSTEM – “So if I am trained, why do I need a Sensormatic system and Sensormatic security labels?” Great question, glad you asked that! (sorry, I am in one of those moods) Consider this, training is only half of the solution. You and your staff can be trained up in the techniques to prevent and deal with shoplifting but you cannot be everywhere at once, even in a small boutique. Shoplifters WILL create an environment where they can steal. On top of that what you will find is that some of your “best” customers are also actually stealing from you. Yes, that good customer is buying merchandise, either small inexpensive items or even more expensive ones but they are actually stealing other merchandise in addition to that. And because they are a “best” or frequently seen customer less attention is paid to their activities. They are kind of a fixture, they hang out a bit, joke with the staff, ask questions and then…. They are simply not observed because “that’s just Sam or Wendy, they are really nice”. 

So to handle all that you will find that a Sensormatic system is actually cheaper than additional payroll. In addition to that, the Sensormatic system never takes a day off, does not call in sick or no show. The Sensormatic system is working 24/7. Actually, many of our systems actually power themselves down after you close to save on your energy bill. They automatically wake themselves up when you come in the next day. 

A Sensormatic system has two benefits. It sends a message to the thieves (real customers do not care) and prevents losses. And, of course, the tags and labels are actually protecting your merchandise and bottom line. 

So there are no more excuses. Make this year the best yet for sales you make and actually keep the margin make on the bottom line. Grinch, GO AWAY! Contact us today. We can make both Training and a Sensormatic system your reality. 

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A Proper Reflection Of The Past Year Can Make The New Year Even Better

January 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment

It is January and you are ready to get started on your new year. What does the start of a New Year look like for your business? Are you still trying to move out seasonal and clearance merchandise? Are you preparing to trim back payroll by releasing seasonal employees? Maybe you are already thinking about inventory and what you will need to do to prepare for that day. There are all sorts of ways retail owners and managers start the New Year but I would suggest that before you look forward you take time to look back on the previous year. 

There are a couple of reasons I would suggest reflecting on what the past year has been like for the business. First, by taking the time to reflect on the year you can celebrate the store wins with the entire store team. Employees want to know how their contributions have helped the store meet goals that were set. You may have one or one hundred successes to share but your entire team has put in the work and should be given a chance to share in the successes. It can be a simple cake in the breakroom or a small in-store party but let your employees know that their efforts paid off and are appreciated.  

 Another reason for reflection is that you can evaluate what did not go as planned. This is when you pull out planning documents or action plans and look at what goals were not reached. Did you meet your sales goals? Did you make stock shortage objectives? Did you meet your employee turnover goals? If you cannot celebrate an item as a win you will want to move that to the new store action plan for this year. You and your management team will need to consider what can be done differently to achieve the goals you set and missed. This is not a 5-minute task. This will require the team to drill down to the causes that led to a missed goal and then plan how to improve it. Sometimes this can feel personal and everyone needs to leave their feelings outside the room. Approach the problem as a group and find ways to help each other with action items. 

One of my favorite tools for a New Year is what I have adopted from several workplaces, a “What Works/What Didn’t Work” session. I have seen these done by only a management team but the truly effective sessions include team members and hourly staff. The employees will often provide you with insight into problems you did not know existed. Here is an example; you may think you have a good return policy and your return desk employees are happy. You don’t see anything that indicates problems with your refund program. What you may not be aware of is that your service desk employees are unhappy because they feel that managers are not supporting them after they turn down a refund with no receipt. The managers are called when the customer is upset and the manager arrives and tells the customer they “will take care of it”. Sure, the customers are happy and the policies look like they are enforced but the service desk employees feel foolish and undermined. A “What Worked/What Didn’t Work” session can help you see how you can improve policies, services and improve morale. When you conduct one, make sure you also ask your employees for suggestions on how to improve what they think did not work. Don’t let it simply be a gripe session. It also allows you to clarify reasons some policies may be in place that employees were unaware of before the meetings. 

After you have celebrated, evaluated and set new goals you are almost ready to jump into your New Year. Make sure your goals are realistic and create plans that will be effective in achieving those goals. If reducing shortage by .5% is your goal, you may want to install an Electronic Article Surveillance system. If making your hiring process easier and reducing paperwork is a goal, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can help you with their Applicant Management Center. If parking lot break-ins are an issue you can request improved lighting from your property management company. If you need help in risk assessment and loss reduction Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. offers a consultation package that involves everything from an onsite visit to a comprehensive loss prevention policies and procedures package. 

Start your year off right with a look back at the previous year. Share wins, evaluate opportunities and work as a team to create plans that will lead to an even better year than last. Make 2019 a year of growth and prosperity and consider taking Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. along as a partner!

 

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New Year’s Resolutions That Help The Environment And Can Keep Stores Profitable

January 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment

It’s 2019 and time to make some New Year’s resolutions! We all know how easy a resolution can be to make but they are hard to keep. We also know that it is just as easy to break a resolution but are there resolutions a store owner can make that would benefit the store AND benefit society? I think one resolution that would be mutually beneficial for both would be the implementation of environment-friendly policies and procedures. We are talking about sensible measures that would appeal to anyone on either side of the political spectrum. Right now there is a big push for the elimination of plastic shopping bags. There are also those opposed to going back to paper bags. What could the solution be? Try encouraging the use of recyclable, reusable shopping bags for your customers. You make those opposed to one-time use bags happy and you save money on the need to regularly purchase more shopping bags (which can be a rather pricey supply on your monthly expense report). To implement this type of change you would want to have reusable bags ready for your customers and you might even give them away for the first few weeks you start the program. After that, you might give customers a small discount to customers who bring their own bags, say 1% on every transaction.

     Problems that may arise by allowing recycled bags into the store. The first concern is the potential for increased shoplifting. Inviting customers to bring their bags into the store to bag groceries is going to make shoplifting that much easier. Thieves already walk by unattended cash registers to pick up plastic shopping bags as they enter the store. They fill them up, look like any other customer who has made a purchase at an in-store terminal and they leave. Most customers are honest but I would remind readers that one of the necessary ingredients for shoplifting is opportunity. Without opportunity, some people who may be tempted to steal for a thrill are kept in check. You provide opportunity by permitting reusable bags and some will take advantage of it. You also have to think, are the bags only allowed at the checkout stand? How do you keep shoppers from filling them up as a convenience rather than using a shopping cart? How do you monitor the shoppers for those who may be stealing and those who are simply picking up merchandise for purchase? It can lead to problems for store owners.

     There is a way to allow the use of shopping bags and minimize the risk of increased shoplifting and that is the installation of an electronic article surveillance system (EAS). If you are going to resolve to help the environment you can still do it just by adding an EAS System in your store if you don’t already have one. You tag all of your merchandise with EAS tags or labels depending on what the merchandise is or how you strategize your theft prevention procedures. If a shopper has concealed merchandise in a bag they brought in and did not pay for it the alarm is going to be activated and your employees will respond to it.

     Since we are on the topic of being environmentally responsible it is important that retailers know that many EAS tags are built out of recyclable materials. Hard tags can be used multiple times to tag and re-tag merchandise thereby saving on the need for constantly purchasing new tags and since they are recyclable they help the environment. It should also be noted a lot of Sensormatic systems help to reduce power consumption. When the systems are not in use (during non-working store hours) they go into a power saver mode. Stores save money and wasted energy. The use of EAS loss prevention equipment saves stores money by preventing theft and it allows stores the ability to appeal to their environmentally focused customers thus driving sales.

     Another environment-friendly step you can make as a retailer is to look at recycling those cardboard boxes your merchandise is shipped in. A cardboard bale can bring in anywhere from $10 to $20 a ton. If this does not seem like a cost-effective move for your store you could try partnering with a neighboring store and combine efforts. It isn’t a lot of money but it does keep cardboard out of landfills and you can advertise that to your customers.

     Resolutions may not be easy to keep but once you start down the road of using merchandise protection and you see the money you save in shortage and how easy it is to implement you won’t find it difficult to stay on track. In 2019, resolve to make some changes that will help the environment and make your store more profitable at the same time.

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Loss Prevention Systems For The New Year

December 12, 2018 by Leave a Comment

For a loss prevention officer, the holiday season is a hard time to be jolly when the busiest shopping season of the year brings with it its shoplifters, crime, and theft.  During the holiday season, the number of incidents involving shoplifting increases considerably, and the losses the store suffers can be devastating to their bottom line.

For any retail store in the United States and across the globe, having a loss prevention system in place or a loss prevention officer in their store can be the difference between having profits or losses during their fiscal year. 

According to recent studies, more than half of retail stores in the United States have stopped investing in their loss prevention teams or systems even though their inventory shrink rate has seen an increase in the last year.  The inventory shrink rate takes into consideration the following:

  • Shoplifting
  • Employee theft
  • Vendor fraud
  • Administrative and paperwork errors

Shoplifting theft accounts for almost 40% of the total theft a store experiences, and even though the amount an employee steals can surpass that of the common shoplifter each instance it happens, the shoplifting theft can be considerable every year.

According to many pieces of research, retail stores lose approximately $35 million a day due to shoplifting or $48.9 billion in a year. Those detrimental statistics in the retail industry are worth considering when many stores and businesses decide whether to invest in a loss prevention system or a loss prevention team to combat the shoplifting in their store.

A loss prevention system expense can be recovered within a short period of time, and if your losses are increasing each year, the time you will recoup the money invested in the system shortens considerably. 

The introduction of a loss prevention system in the store allows your employees to dedicate more time with the customers entering your store, than attempting to catch the shoplifter. The system also allows your store to be protected and send a message to the shoplifters. Shoplifters know where and which stores to target.  If you are a store that doesn’t prosecute shoplifters or doesn’t have a loss prevention team or system, you are vulnerable and can become the target store for many of these shoplifters.

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Tips On Merchandise Placement To Satisfy BOTH Sales And LP

November 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Do you want to know one of the fastest ways to make a Loss Prevention Manager cringe? Place high dollar merchandise within a few feet of your entrance/exit doors. Another great idea is to stack out a pallet of 32 inch LCD televisions for that Black Friday door buster with no protective devices on them because you know how fast they are going to go out the door (the L.P. Manager knows how fast too but from a different perspective). Frequently store managers want to put merchandise on display near the front of the store where customers are certain to see the items and entice them with an impulse buy. The downside to the strategy is that it creates a major opportunity for crooks to sneak merchandise out quickly without being noticed. They wait for a group of people to enter or leave, pick up the merchandise and blend in with the crowd then exit with the goods. I’ve seen it happen.

     On the other side of the fence you have Loss Prevention Managers out there who want to lock up everything. They aren’t thinking about what drives sales or impacts the shopping habits of customers. Their concern is that the merchandise is placed in such a way that it can’t be stolen. I’ve been one of those managers and I thought I had the best interests of the store in mind as I sought to keep valuable new displays on a tight leash. Keep the merchandise in the store and out of the hands of criminals and you save stock shortage. Doesn’t THAT drive sales for the store? Customers can’t purchase what has been stolen. Keep those goods in the store and sales will soar because paying customers can get their hands on it.

     There has to be a happy place where security and availability can meet. Merchants and Loss Prevention can find a common ground but they need to work together to do it. Having learned my own lessons over time I would like to share some ideas that can be beneficial to store sales objectives without creating a security risk to merchandise.

  • Coming from many years in Loss Prevention I want to first say to the Loss Prevention department; remember that the number one priority of the store is to SELL merchandise. Your job is to help do that and this means being a partner and understanding WHY a manager may want to place a product in a particular place. You should take a look at what the manager wants to do and offer constructive suggestions that can decrease the chances of merchandise theft without being an obstacle to the decision.
  • Before any new planograms are set or merchandise displays are placed, managers meet with L.P. and discuss what you are planning. L.P. may have suggestions to help make merchandise secure without compromising the desire to put merchandise in the hands of the consumers. There may be electronic article surveillance tags or labels that can be applied to merchandise.
  • If the merchandise is to be located close to the front of the store put it in a location near a cash register. Keeping products within the line of sight of employees is one way to deter theft.
  • Keep track of product quantities. This means several times a day taking a count of the pieces of merchandise on a display and tracking sales of those items. If you start to identify a theft trend then re-evaluate your merchandise protection strategy.
  • Don’t use locking display cases! Unless the item has a very high dollar price point there are alternatives available to stores to secure merchandise. There are security boxes and cases on the market that allow shoppers to pick up and handle goods without being able to actually touch the item.  These cases (such as a Sensormatic flexible safer for example) prevent shoplifting while allowing a customer to select an item and continue shopping (customers don’t like to wait for help at a display case).
  • If your store has closed circuit television then consider placing a camera and a monitor as a public view set-up. It discourages theft when people see that they are on camera.

New product displays attract customer attention and increase sales. When Loss Prevention and Store Management work together on these projects sales will be successful. Let’s not forget that shortage due to theft will also be minimized if not eliminated and THAT makes EVERYONE happy!

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Tips That I Wish I Had Learned Before Entering Loss Prevention      

November 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Loss Prevention is a wonderful career choice that can lead to other positions in retail. There are, however tips I wish I had known before I began the job that would have prepared me for the adventure I was about to embark on. I started out in a Loss Prevention Associate position after spending four years as a U.S. Air Force Law Enforcement Specialist and another 2 ½ years earning a Bachelor’s Degree.  I was offered the position and to be honest I went into it with the mindset that this was a Law Enforcement position in civilian clothing. There was nothing that really dissuaded me from the notion as I was taught to catch shoplifters, use closed circuit television cameras and electronic article surveillance equipment. I assisted with employee theft cases but these were few and far between. It was not until later when I had been a Loss Prevention Manager for several years before I started to understand the real role of Loss Prevention in a store. With this is mind there are some things that I would like share with those entering the profession that can be eye opening and prepare them for the job ahead.

  • You are not the retail police – Unfortunately it is easy to fall into the trap of believing you are an arm of the police department. You aren’t. You can and should build strong partnerships with police but you are not protecting the community. Your job is to make your store profitable. You need to learn about stock shortage and all of the ways it happens. Yes, you need to learn to identify, prevent and maybe catch shoplifters. You also need to add to that knowledge how employee theft occurs, how to identify it and investigate it. You also need to understand vendor processes, how to read invoices and credits. You should spend time learning and stocking freight and where operational shortage takes place. Become intimately familiar with cashiering procedures and cash office functions. Each of these areas of responsibility impact store profits and the more you know the better you become at multiple areas of the store.
  • Hiring and Supervision – You may only be starting as a Loss Prevention Associate but if you are smart you will partner with the hiring manager. Ask to be part of the store application review process. Learn to look for the red flags on a candidate’s application or resume that could spell trouble if that person is hired. You can be a valuable partner in helping in the hiring process. As a Loss Prevention Manager you will review applications, resumes and conduct the interviews. You will need to know your company’s hiring process and whether it includes a drug test or background check. While we are discussing it lets also talk about who you decide to hire. Hire people with skill sets that are different from yours. While I would not discourage you from hiring someone with Loss Prevention experience be mindful that that candidate may be more difficult to train. They will bring along training from other retailers that may not be in keeping with your store best practices.
  • Trainer and Leader – Get ready to train others and not just Loss Prevention personnel. You will be training store associates on electronic article surveillance alarm response. You will train cashiers on till tap and short change artist prevention. You will train employees on robbery procedures. You may work with the stock team on how to identify mis-shipped merchandise. Show them how improper stocking affects shortage and inaccurate merchandise reordering. You could be required to conduct new hire orientations. You will also instill in the whole team the importance of customer service as a means of reducing theft but also how it drives sales. As a leader you will request appointments to meet with other managers and discuss operational matters. The more informed you are in how things work the better prepared you can be to help improve operational procedures.

Clearly there is much more that a Loss Prevention professional can add to the store than just being a person who catches shoplifters.

     The core roles and responsibilities of the Loss Prevention team entail the reduction of retail shrinkage and even maintaining a safe shopping environment. You may not be a first responder but you could be the first person called to an accident inside or outside the store. Frequently it is the Loss Prevention personnel who are first called to find a lost car, lost child or stolen purse. You will be the one who has to calm an irate customer. Learn from these tips I am sharing. You aren’t going to be a police officer, you are going to be a Retail Loss Prevention Professional and that is a quite a job! 

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