Make Preparations For Your End Of The Year Wrap Up

November 29, 2017 by Leave a Comment

December is the month when retailers are focused on driving those end of the year sales. We push as much merchandise as possible out of the stockrooms to fill the floors. Empty salesfloor spaces should be “no-no’s” during this time of the year. We re-merchandise our fixtures to get gift ideas in front of our customers. We also take steps to increase impulse buys by filling check lanes with snacks, batteries, magazines, gift cards, etc. Managers should also be looking at last year sales information to plan schedules around peak times of the day in order to avoid long lines at the registers. While all of this is important it is just as important to start planning for your end of the year wrap up.

Much of December into January is the same as the rest of the year but there are some differences that need to be considered. It is the end of the year and that means you will have to consider inventory will be coming up in the next few months (depending on when you take inventory of course).  Even if you take your inventory later in the year you should still be thinking about it and starting to prepare now. As your team is pushing merchandise out of the stockroom it should be emptying out. It is the perfect time to look for merchandise that has fallen from hangers or dropped into a nook or cranny that is usually hard to see. Scouring the building for merchandise that has been hidden away is another step to be taken. Sometimes customers will hide merchandise intending to come back for it later or employees may do so to avoid re-stocking it. Merchandise may also be under base decks or fall behind registers and regardless of how it gets there, it will result in shortage if not accounted for at inventory time. 

You may have hired seasonal employees for the holidays. You will need to start making decisions on who you will release and who you may decide to keep on your staff. If you have other managers working for you seek their input. It is not uncommon for us to have a skewed view of what an employee’s work and productivity may be. You may see someone occasionally and think they are performing well. You then speak with their immediate supervisor and find out this employee is really a problem to their work center. Decisions must be made as to when cuts will be made and offers of permanent employment provided. Whether you like the employee or not it is only fair to give them time to start looking for other work or have the knowledge they won’t need to do so.

Review any vendor supplied items your store may carry. Are vendors maintaining their products and filling their allocated space? Conduct spot audits of vendor merchandise and make sure if there are products soon to expire they are on the front of the shelf. Be diligent that you are receiving the appropriate credits for merchandise the vendor is removing from your store. You or a delegated manager should look at vendor credits to be sure they are being given to you in a timely manner now and through the entire year.

The end of the year is also the time to look at building maintenance issues. Parking lot lighting, exterior lights, fire, and burglary alarm tests should have all been done at the start of the 4th quarter. Now is the time to look for facility problems, are restroom sinks and toilets operating correctly? Are there any roof leaks that have not been previously reported? Are fitting room doors opening, closing and locking? Some repairs may be a landlord’s responsibility to cover, be sure those are reported and taken care of.

Finally, as you wrap up your year take time to celebrate your wins with your team and also take a look at opportunities for improvement. Make it a group effort and give everyone a chance to comment on what they thought went well and what could have gone better. Getting everyone’s insight can be enlightening and provide ideas for making the coming year even better than this year and that is how businesses stay successful.

     

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Is New Technology The Answer to Stop Shoplifting?

November 21, 2017 by Leave a Comment

During this holiday season, shoplifting and organized retail crime are some of the major problems retail owners and managers face.  The incidents occurring every single day according to some experts are near the 500 mark every single minute in the United States. Holiday shoppers, inventory etc, are issues the retail industry know how to deal with during this time of year, but the increase of shoplifting is a problem they have to face every single day without a solution.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Is holiday retail still king? 4 ways to get smarter about holiday marketing

As more consumers shop outside the traditional holiday shopping period, how should marketers react? Columnist Kyle Henderick outlines four ways to help your brand stay ahead of the competition.

Get ready — the holiday season is upon us, and the retail landscape is changing yet again.

While the traditional holiday season has always been a cash cow for retailers, recent data shows that many consumers no longer limit their holiday shopping activities to the period from Black Fridayto Christmas Eve. With accessibility and shipping barriers lowered, consumers are evolving their spending habits to buy early. This gives retailers both a challenge and an opportunity this year.

Do changing consumer behaviors mean that you should reduce your investment in traditional holiday retail marketing activities? Or, in the new holiday retail environment, can you position your retail brand to benefit from the evolving behaviors of today’s consumers?

Holiday retail shopping behaviors vary by generation.

The New Tech Helping Business Owners Stop Shoplifters

Amazon is known as the biggest retailer online, but most people don’t know that Amazon has taken two big steps into physical retail. The better known is Amazon’s recent purchase of Whole Foods, but last December the tech giant quietly opened a small grocery and convenience store, Amazon Go, that works differently than any other.

At Amazon Go, shoppers are tracked with a series of cameras and sensors the entire time they shop. You can just walk out the door without paying a cashier, they say it feels like shoplifting, and the items are automatically charged to your credit card. While this looks like a science fiction movie, the technology is in place today helping retail store managers thwart shoplifters.

500 Shoplifting Thefts Per Minute

Shoplifting may not seem like a big deal to regular customers who pay for the goods they take home, but it is a huge problem across the United States. In fact, there are about 500 shoplifting incidents per minute, performed by a combination of professional thieves and amateurs trying to sneak away with a freebie.

Dane County leaders encourage holiday shoppers to buy local

DANE COUNTY (WKOW) — There is a push by Dane County leaders to support local businesses this holiday season.

November marks the launch of Shift Your Shopping. The program encourages consumers to buy from local businesses ahead of the holidays. On Friday, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and other county leaders gathered to highlight how important it is to do so.

Studies show Americans spend a large portion of their annual retail shopping budget between November 1 and December 31. According to the National Retail Federation, retail sales in November and December generally increase 3.6% to roughly $650 billion.

When that money is shifted to locally owned, independent businesses, they generate more economic benefit in local communities than money spent at national chain outlets.

“Small business Saturday is more than just retail,” said Dane Buy Local Executive Director Colin Murray. “It also includes restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, flower shops, the list goes on and on. They’re all individual businesses that rely on the local economy to be successful.”

 

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Shoplifting and Preventable Measures

November 15, 2017 by Leave a Comment

As a manager of a retail shop, the layout of the store is probably out of your hands and there is nothing to do about it.  You have no control if the changing rooms are way in the back of the store where the opportunity to shoplift presents itself with regularity.

There are several tactics to prevent shoplifting in your store, and even though the layout of the store is out of your hands, other preventive measures can be taken to prevent and deter shoplifting.

According to experts, these preventive measures can help you manage your store better:

  1. Customer Service
  2. Lighting
  3. CCTV cameras
  4. Staff training
  5. Signage
  6. EAS and Security systems

Each and every one of these preventive measures cannot solve the problem of shoplifting.  But when a manager or owner of a store is vigilant and knows they need to use a combination of these measures to prevent shoplifting, then the results can be seen clearly.

Target has announced that as of October, they have increased the minimum hourly wage to $11.  With this increase, they hope there will be a decrease in turnover and sick days and an increase in productivity from their hourly employees.

Whether they believe employee theft will decrease with this increase in minimum wage is still unclear. And research has not found to be the case.

For more about this and other stories about employee theft and shoplifting, follow the links below.

Target’s Minimum Wage Increased. What Does That Mean for Theft?

To reduce loss from theft, retailers need employees to be more honest. Could Target’s minimum wage bump help?

Employee theft is a source of loss simply too costly to ignore, which is why loss prevention practitioners are always on the lookout for novel ways to prevent it. But what if the best theft-prevention tool wasn’t a security measure at all? What if you just paid your store associates a little more money? Would that make a difference? To what extent can wages act as a loss prevention tool?

On Sept. 25, Target announced its plan to boost staff pay. “This October, we’re raising our minimum hourly wage to $11—and we plan to increase the minimum hourly wage for all team members over the next few years to reach $15 by the end of 2020,” the company said in an announcement. According to the consensus of research, Target may experience a range of benefits for its investment, including an increase in worker productivity and decline in turnover and sick days.

Hampshire businesses targeted 35 times a day by shoplifters study shows

NEW research has found that across Hampshire more than 35 incidents of shoplifting take place every day.

A study by OnBuy.com revealed that Hampshire Constabulary reported 12,578 shoplifting offences throughout 2016/2017.

The figures showed that the force had the eighth highest rate for the crime in England and Wales.

Of the 43 police forces within that area, Metropolitan Police Service had the highest rate with 47,580 crimes reported, where as the City of London Police were bottom with just 729 incidents.

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Safety and Security For Your Retail Store

October 31, 2017 by Leave a Comment

As the biggest shopping season of the year seems inevitable close, retailers across the world prepare themselves to not only have a great holiday season but a profitable one.

Merchandise is not the only aspect retailers need to prepare themselves for this season. Hiring employees and making sure security is in place are as important as the merchandise they plan to sell.

Retail shoplifting cannot be solved by having a  simple solution only.  Management, owners, and employees play an incredibly important role to combat shoplifting in their stores among security systems and loss prevention personnel.

CCTV systems cannot by themselves offer the solution for the growing shoplifting problems that are pervasive in the retail industry. Customer service,  personnel training, or security systems cannot be the answer to this problem either if they are implemented by themselves.

A security system, excellent customer service, and trained personnel in the store can help you combat shoplifting if implemented together to offer a solution to the shoplifting in your store.

Having excellent customer service first and foremost has been found to help deter shoplifting in retail stores as well as any other security measure.  Trained personnel at checkouts can stop customers from lingering too long and walking out with merchandise they have not paid because the lines were too long and didn’t want to wait any longer.

Implementing security measures to follow in case of a shoplifting incident can save lives. Is the security personnel team in your store trained and know what to do when approaching a shoplifter?  Reviewing security measures with all your employees is paramount, but security personnel need to know what to do and when to do the approaching and apprehension of a shoplifter.

Keeping your employees and customers safe has to be your number one priority regardless of what the shoplifter is pocketing.  By following the guidelines of the store, employees and customers alike can feel safe and can count on the store to protect their safety. No amount of merchandise that a shoplifter is pocketing is worth the lives of your customers or employees.

Have a safe and profitable season this year!

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Preventing Shoplifting In Your Store

October 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment

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.

For more about this and other types of stories, follow the links below.

Retailers ‘tagging’ meat to prevent shoplifting

First it was clothes‚ then electronic goods and baby formula. Now it is meat.

Retailers waging a battle against grocery store shoplifting are adopting unorthodox crime prevention measures by placing electronic security tags on expensive cuts of meat.

The food tags work in the same way as on items such as clothes. Exit the shop without paying for the chunk of steak and an alarm goes off.

Sowetan observed a packer gingerly placing the strange tags on meat this week at one retail chain store west of Johannesburg.

The drastic measure is apparently a direct response to a rise in shoplifting of unconventional goods like meat in tough economic times. In the past‚ tagging was reserved for goods like CDs.

Last week Sowetan reported that a Kliptown policewoman was caught shoplifting meat worth R620 at a Pick n Pay store in Lenasia. She has been released on R500 bail.

Retailers offered top five tips to stop shoplifters

More than 360,000 shoplifting offences were reported in the UK in 2016-17 financial year, according new research.

The data from online marketplace OnBuy.com revealed that the Metropolitan Police had the highest number of shoplifting offences reported in the 12 month period at 47,580 – the equivalent of 130 incidents a day. The Met was closely followed by West Midlands Police, who had 19,741 incidences of shoplifting reported, followed by Greater Manchester Police with 18,002 shoplifting offences.

Meanwhile, City of London Police had the lowest number of shoplifting cases, with only 729 reported – the equivalent of two occurrences every day.

Cas Paton, managing director of OnBuy.com, said: “Shoplifting is more prevalent than we would like to think. Considering the amount of time and energy shops put into running various aspects of their operation daily, shoplifting is really an unfortunate occurrence for them.

Shoplifting: How to prevent ‘blind spots’ in the store layout

Though many types of theft deterrent equipment exist, one of the most effective and affordable approaches is preventing retail shoplifting is by avoiding “blind spots” in the store layout.

In this regard, one of the hardest places for supermarket or mass merchandise cashiers to control and easily view has been under the shopping basket, which is usually blocked by a basketful of other items above it. Failing to ring up items under the basket before customers leave the store can be extremely costly to retailers.

To prevent such losses, one nationally recognized mass-market retailer has already installed over 90,000 bottom-of-the basket (BOB) mirrors in an effort to limit this type of shrinkage in their business. The inventive mirrors are comprised of lightweight acrylic and the mirror mounts opposite the standing cashier to provide a clear, unobstructed view of the bottom of the cart without requiring the cashier to move or stoop, which also expedites checkout.

 

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Implementing Security Measures to Prevent Shoplifting

October 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment

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.

Having and implementing security measures before the holiday season starts can be beneficial to your bottom line.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Shoplifting: How to prevent ‘blind spots’ in the store layout

Though many types of theft deterrent equipment exist, one of the most effective and affordable approaches is preventing retail shoplifting is by avoiding “blind spots” in the store layout.

In this regard, one of the hardest places for supermarket or mass merchandise cashiers to control and easily view has been under the shopping basket, which is usually blocked by a basketful of other items above it. Failing to ring up items under the basket before customers leave the store can be extremely costly to retailers.

To prevent such losses, one nationally recognized mass-market retailer has already installed over 90,000 bottom-of-the basket (BOB) mirrors in an effort to limit this type of shrinkage in their business. The inventive mirrors are comprised of lightweight acrylic and the mirror mounts opposite the standing cashier to provide a clear, unobstructed view of the bottom of the cart without requiring the cashier to move or stoop, which also expedites checkout.

Tuesday Tip: How to Avoid Shrink

Retail theft affects a retailer’s bottom line and, ultimately, the cost of goods to the consumer. According to the 2017 National Retail Security Survey released in June by the National Retail Federation and the University of Florida, retail theft and other inventory shrink grew to $48.9 billion in 2016 from $45.2 billion in 2015. The thefts amounted to 1.44 percent of sales, up from 1.38 percent the prior year. So what are retailers to do to minimize shrink?

“Good customer service is the best deterrent to theft,” said Tom Konopacki, owner of Anastazia Treasures for the Home in Geneva, Ill. Introducing yourself and letting your customers know you’re there and willing to help them also lets them know that you’re aware of them and possibly watching.

Sorting It Out: Protecting the Supply Chain Against 4 Common Security Threats

Maintaining Security Awareness is Essential

Retailers in America lost billions of dollars in 2016, largely due to shoplifting, employee theft and other types of inventory “shrink, according to new data compiled by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the University of Florida. The survey shows that inventory shrink grew to $48.9 billion in 2016 from $45.2 billion the year prior. The increases in losses were found to be largely due to the result of flat or declining retail security budgets.

“While Retailers are proactive in combating criminal activity in their stores they acknowledge that they still have a lot of work left to do,” NRF Vice President of Loss Prevention Bob Moraca said. “The job is made much more difficult when loss prevention experts can’t get the money they need to beef up their staffs and resources. Retail executives need to realize that money spent on preventing losses is money that improves the bottom line.”

Nearly half (48.8 percent) of retailers surveyed said they saw an increase in inventory shrink, while nearly 17 percent said it remained flat.

 

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Who Is Your Shoplifter and What Do They steal?

October 3, 2017 by Leave a Comment

A Department of Corrections officer was arrested this week at a Walmart for shoplifting.  The perpetrator was a former Walmart employee who had left to become a corrections officer.  The incident was reported to the authorities, indicating the amount stolen was around $400 dollars during  45 visits at that particular Walmart.

The retail industry loses billions of dollars due to employee theft and shoplifting.  It is more difficult when former employees that were in charge of the loss prevention department or have worked there are arrested because of a shoplifting incident they are committing. This month a shoplifter; a corrections officer and former Walmart employee has been charged with 5 counts of shoplifting that happened at the Walmart he used to work for. What is the solution to this problem? How can the retail industry prepare itself for the many shoplifting incidents that occur every day at their stores?

Many industries experts agree that training is the logical solution. Training, constant vigilance, and state of the art technology that can help prevent, deter and even stop shoplifting while is happening.

For more news about shoplifting, follow the links below.

Walmart nabs former employee for shoplifting — in his corrections officer uniform

A onetime Walmart loss prevention officer was arrested Friday for shoplifting from his former employer.

George Smalling, 38, of Pasco, was booked in the Franklin County jail on five counts of shoplifting in what the Pasco Police Department described as an “interesting” case.

According to the police department, Smalling worked at the Pasco Walmart pursuing shoplifters until he left in 2015 to become a corrections officer with the Washington Department of Corrections prison system.

This summer, a current loss prevention officer was investigating a series of shoplifts. In connection with the investigation, the store determined that a particular man came in at least 45 times during that period. The suspect would use the self-checkout lane. He would scan one item but pass others over the reader. He would pay for the scanned item and then leave.

Shoplifter attempts to steal laundry detergent. Does not get away clean.

Police are asking for your help to find a shoplifter. If you have information about this crime, don’t try to take action on your own. Anonymous tips, including photos and videos, can be submitted by texting LEXPD plus the tip to CRIMES (274637). Information can also be sent anonymously through Bluegrass Crime Stoppers at 859-253-2020 or Bluegrasscrimestoppers.com.

Crime of the Week

This week’s Crime of the Week involves a shoplifter who struck the Kroger store on Bryan Station Road.

He tried to leave Walmart with steaks in his pants, police say

A 25-year-old man was arrested Monday in connection with shoplifting after police say he hid steaks in his pants and left without paying at a Myrtle Beach grocery store, according to a police report.

Payton Christian Abbott, 25, was cited in connection with shoplifting, online jail records show.

Myrtle Beach officers were called about 11:30 a.m. to the Walmart Neighborhood Market at 3915 N. Kings Hwy. in regards to an alleged shoplifting incident.

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Do You Know Who Is Stealing From You?

September 11, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Do you know who is stealing from you? It could be anyone.  Shoplifting rings across the United States are now a common practice.  Millions of dollars are stolen every day due to shoplifting, and many millions more are because of employee theft. 

The shoplifter can be anyone; from a grandma, a city employee, or a government official, shoplifters come in all shapes and form.  Police officers have been known to be apprehended when shoplifting, and  juveniles are notorious for stealing merchandise when they visit a store.  Training and awareness from you as a store manager, and from the employees at your supervision, can limit the amount these shoplifters take from your store.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Feds Break Up $20M Shoplifting Ring That Stole Clothing From Coast To Coast

Federal authorities say they’ve arrested more than a dozen people and broken up a massive shoplifting network that trafficked in some $20 million in apparel and other items stolen from stores all over the country and then sold in Mexico.

According to a grand jury indictment [PDF] unsealed this week, the San Diego-based defendants allegedly assembled “crews” of shoplifters who would steal items from a variety of stores — Victoria’s Secret, Hollister, American Eagle, Banana Republic — at malls both local and thousands of miles away.

Prosecutors say that this ring pilfered items at stores as far-flung as Washington state, Illinois, and Maryland, all with the intention of transporting the stolen goods back to the San Diego area, and then on to a fence in Mexico.

The indictment details the various roles given to the shoplifters involved in any given theft. There were “team leaders” who selected stores and targeted items within the store, while doing advance scouting for the presence of police or loss-prevention staff. When it came time to shoplift, the team leader would relocate the items targeted for shoplifting, putting them in spots within a store that made it easier for others to steal them.

Former school district employee charged with felony theft

Former St. Cloud school district buildings and grounds supervisor Bryan Brown was charged Friday with felony theft for using public funds for personal purchases, according to a complaint filed in Stearns County District Court.

Brown resigned April 3 after 27 years with the district. He began working for the district as a custodian in 1990. In 2011, he became the buildings and grounds supervisor.

Brown’s supervisor, former executive director of business services Kevin Januszewski, resigned April 6.

After the resignations, the district asked St. Cloud Police Department to investigate the possible theft of public funds at the school district, according to the complaint. That investigation was launched April 7.

Employee theft cost US businesses an average of $1.13 million in losses, according to 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study™

NEW YORK, NY, Aug. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hiscox, the international specialist insurer, today released the 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study™, an examination of employee theft in the US. The findings reveal that US businesses impacted by employee theft lost an average of $1.13 million last year. Small and mid-sized companies (fewer than 500 employees) continue to be disproportionally victimized by employee theft, representing approximately 68 percent of cases.

This is the third annual Hiscox Embezzlement Study, which examines employee theft cases that were active in the US federal court system in 2016.

“There is a necessary level of trust between employees and their employer that is required of successful businesses,” said Doug Karpp, Crime & Fidelity Product Head at Hiscox. “When there is a breach in that trust because an employee or executive steals, it can have a significant impact on the entire organization both financially and emotionally. Business owners and executives need to make the shift from blind trust to intelligent trust to ensure they are able to spot and prevent employee theft.”

 

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Employee Retention Is Made Easier When You Conduct Speedy, Accurate Background Checks

August 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Turnover for many businesses can be a real headache. You take the time to post job ads, review job applications, set up interviews and then conduct the interviews. Your new hire starts and within a couple of weeks they quit. It happens far too many times and it is a pain. Why did the person quit? Did they have a propensity for job hopping already and you missed it on the job application? Did they start stealing from you and got enough money or merchandise and quit before you caught on to their schemes? Perhaps it was a young employee on their first job and they wanted more weekends and night shifts off so they could “hang out” with their friends. All of these are reasons for high turnover in retail stores especially. Lose too many people at once and it can cripple your business, stretch the staff you currently have and it may potentially lead to more employees quitting.

On the other end of the spectrum there are the businesses that are very careful, almost to the extreme. They go through the same hiring procedures, posting the ad, contacting applicants and conducting interviews but they add an additional step. They conduct a background check before making a job offer. Sounds good right? Making sure you aren’t hiring someone who will steal from you or threaten others in the workplace. Here’s the catch, hire the wrong background check company and you may be losing great employees because pre-employment screening is taking too long to conduct. Thoroughly vetting a prospective new hire is fine, but if that candidate has to wait too long for results they may decide to go somewhere else.

I know of one retailer that conducts pre-employment screenings but in some of their stores they have a problem with retention rates. In one instance the management team was reduced to the store manager and an assistant. The assistant left the company and only the manager and a skeleton crew were running the building. The store manager was trying to get new managers on board as soon as he could. He was working 7 days a week and personnel from other stores were going up and helping to fill in as managers on duty so the store manager could get a break.

Reportedly the store manager had a department manager candidate to hire and attempted to get the background check expedited to give him some help. The request was denied and it took several additional weeks for the positions to begin to be filled. I heard through a third party that the manager was close to quitting due to the staffing problems at this store and the failure to get critical jobs filled. Several weeks later the person the manager wanted to fast track was cleared and hired for the store. While this was an extreme situation, consider how close the manager came to leaving the company.

What about the chance the district level manager or higher took with the candidate. The position was not an extremely high paying job and there are plenty of other opportunities with similar or even better pay. It would have been easy for the candidate to just find another place to work with the length of time the background check was taking.

Not having a pre-employment screening on candidates is foolish. You are gambling with your business and profitability if you bring on the wrong person for your staff. Hire the wrong Background Check Company that doesn’t recognize the value of timeliness when conducting your checks for you and you risk the loss of potentially very strong candidates. It is important to find a company that understands the challenges retail owners and managers face every day. From taking steps to grow profits, combating theft and fraud, to retaining the best people to work in their stores it can be overwhelming. Give Loss Prevention Systems a call to discuss background check options with people who understand the challenges of the retail industry. Proper hiring and operating profitable stores go hand in hand.

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Can Your Shelving Prevent Shoplifting? Oh Yeah!!!

August 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Retail shelving along with store design has a huge impact on shoplifting losses. Typically a shoplifter likes and needs privacy even if only for a moment. So why not keep that in mind when designing or remodeling your store. Your shelving and isles can work for you by simply considering several factors.

Shelving height can be critical. It may be tempting to have shelves go all the way to the ceiling. However, this creates cover for shoplifters. They feel more secure when they cannot be seen. Shelving that allows your staff to see over and keep track of customers make a shoplifter uncomfortable.

Do not create dead sports. Shoplifters will pick up your merchandise and head for “dark areas” of your store. Areas when they can remove packaging, pricing… and have time to conceal it.

Speaking of lighting. Make sure that you align lighting with your isles. Not only will that encourage sales but again, adequate lighting will not allow shoplifters to get comfortable.

You should also put some thought into your end cap displays. Move small or high value merchandise to end caps that are easily seen by your staff. Likewise place merchandise that is larger and lesser value on end caps that face away from staff.

When designing your stores’ layout consider the foot traffic of staff, customers and shoplifters. We want retail staff and even back office personnel to routinely visit all areas of the store. It may be tempting to have a single direct path but that could leave a number of areas rarely visited by staff throughout the day. That is a gold mine for shoplifters. They watch staff traffic and will naturally migrate to areas less traveled.

Likewise you want your good customers to assist you with shoplifting prevention. They can do this in two ways. If your store is laid out in such a way that keeps legitimate customers spread out and in all areas of the store not just focused in one or two places, then they help you with removing privacy from the shoplifter.

Another technique to shut off shoplifters is to make your legitimate customers into your store security, without the customer even knowing it. You can use a PA system or even radios that can be heard by the public (not on a headset) for this.

To do this make a “ghost call”. If you suspect that shoplifters are in the store then on the PA system say “security to section 3…,” then watch what happens! Legitimate customers will not care, they are not in the mindset to steal. They are focused on what they are looking at. At most they may look up and around, then simply go back to what they were doing. Shoplifters on the other hand will react differently. By calling security to an “area” that is not marked or corresponds to anything such as isle number… the shoplifter does not know what is going on. And that legitimate customer that then happens to come into the isle or area they are in now becomes an undercover store detective regardless of age, gender…. You can even assign ghost calls to staff as a responsibility to be made randomly every hour or so.

All of this because of a little forethought on your part and shelving design help.

Bill Bregar is a 30+ year loss prevention expert. Bill was the Director of Loss Prevention for several major retailers and is now the President of Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. LPSI specializes in Checkpoint Systems anti-shoplifting equipment. He has personally apprehended many shoplifters and over 2300 employees stealing from their employers. Bill can be reached at: [email protected] or at 770-426-0547

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