Prevent Shoplifting

Take a Bite out of Shoplifting – Literally

May 29, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Shoplifters are great. Well, not great for business, but great for laughs sometimes. Most of the times, shoplifting incidents are pretty serious business. You’re confronting someone who has just committed a crime. You don’t know their state of mind and you definitely don’t know what they are capable of. I’ve personally been pepper sprayed by a shoplifter as they tried to escape, along with seeing countless managers suffer the same fate. Often suspects immediately want to become physical and more simply will flee the store. Every now and then karma and a little luck is on your side.

I was training a new LP agent last summer in a very active market. It was day four of our training and she had already thrown a half dozen folks in jail. So far, no problems, this particular agent was an attractive young female who didn’t take lip from ANYONE! It was amazing how many shoplifters hit on her… but we’ll save those stories for another time. The clock was ticking away and it was just about time to call it a night when one of our frequent flyers entered the store. I had busted this guy on no less than three previous thefts and he was definitely a runner. I had my new agent begin observation while I contacted the police. At the very least, I was going to charge him with trespassing.

About 15 minutes goes by and like always, the shoplifter starts loading his pants up with electronics. About this time, the police were arriving, so I went outside to inform them of the situation and wait for the thief and my agent to exit the store. Well, she didn’t disappoint. Our thief exits, but completely ignores the agent and takes off running. The next thing I know he’s gone. He’s hiding around the vehicles in the parking lot, but we can’t seem to find him. The officer gets on his loudspeaker and announces that he’s going to let the K-9 unit loose if he doesn’t turn himself in. No answer.

Standing a full 3.5 feet tall and weighing in at about 120 pounds, K-9 Officer Scout is ready for action. This is a game for the pooch and I can tell he’s ready to play. Within seconds of jumping out of the patrol car, he and his handler are on the scent. Like a scene from a movie, out of nowhere, the shoplifter emerges. Only… he doesn’t surrender. In true idiot fashion, he starts sprinting across the parking lot. I don’t care how fast you think you are; you will never outrun a German shepherd whose sole purpose in life is to take you down. And take him down he did. When the handler finally reached the scene the shoplifter had a knife he was trying to stab the K-9 officer with. Not only did this shoplifter go to jail with some pretty serious bite wounds, he also got to feel what 100,000 volts of electricity from a Taser felt like.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, internal Audit, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Training, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Shoplifting and the Law

May 18, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Some have called shoplifting the silent crime that is plaguing the US. Shoplifting for some people is considered their full time job, and retail organized crime is abundant in this country. Shoplifting affects small business owners tremendously and the retail industry as a whole lose millions of dollars yearly passing the loss to the consumer and therefore affecting you financially.

Shoplifting is a serious crime ,and some states are taking strong measures to make sure the penalties applied to the shoplifter are harsh. To read more follow the links below.

Retail merchants fear theft bill will increase crime

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) –

Retail Merchants of Hawaii president Sheri Sakamoto said a bill to raise the threshold for felony theft from $300 to $750 will encourage shoplifters to steal more.

“It will really affect retailers specifically. They now can steal up to $749.99 and have less consequences to their crime,” she said

Rep. Karl Rhoads is chairman of the House Judiciary committee. He said the bill targets agricultural theft, and shoplifting is considered separate but prosecutors do have leeway. “Even if the Governor signs this bill it’s still a crime to steal amounts between $300 and $750, it’s just the penalty is not as high,” he said.

Theft is a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Advocates for raising the dollar threshold say $300 is way too low, and it costs taxpayers about $49,000 a year to incarcerate an offender. “So when we’re talking about property crime that’s under $1,000 and we’re paying $134 a day, you’ve got to start looking at that and saying, That really doesn’t pencil out,” Community Alliance on Prisons advocate Kat Brady said.

Shoplifting gangs operating on ‘industrial scale’

PROSECUTORS have vowed to smash serious organised crime groups who are using “steal to order” shoplifting to fund their illegal activities.

The Crown Office said shoplifting was happening on an “industrial scale”, with some groups travelling from overseas to target Scottish retailers.

More than 200 people have now been identified as being involved in what prosecutors called “professional shoplifting”.

The details emerged as the Crown Office published figures showing £8.6 million has been seized in 2014/15 under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca).

The money includes assets seized from the gangs, as well as from brothel keepers, money launderers, and drug dealers.

Solicitor General Lesley Thomson said specialist prosecutors had worked closely with a dedicated police inquiry team during the past year to dismantle shoplifting groups, who specialise in targeting expensive clothing and designer handbags.

Battling The $36 Billion U.S. Problem Of Retail Shrinkage Losses

The financial cost of retail shrinkage is huge. The latest Annual Shrink Report issued by Dr. Richard Hollinger and Dr. Read Hayes at the University of Florida puts the total at $36 billion annually.

Shrinkage has several causes: customers shoplifting , employee theft, supplier fraud and administrative errors.

Frequent inventories and accounting audits counts can catch administrative errors and supplier fraud. But stopping shrinkage caused by theft is a larger undertaking.

“There are two kinds of thieves,”says Keith Aubele, CPP, president and CEO of the Bentonville, Ark.-based Retail Loss Prevention Group. “First, there is the opportunistic non-pro. Second, there are professionals working in Organized Retail Crime Syndicates (ORCS) — vast organizations that buy stolen goods from professional thieves for pennies on the dollar and then repackage and resell the goods to mom-and-pop stores, back into the retail pipeline, internationally — through any of a number of markets for stolen goods.

“Employees are the front line of defense — as well as the most economical defense — against shrinkage losses.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Spider Wrap, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, surveillance

Change Your Plans to Prevent Shoplifting Loss

May 11, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I work for a small retail pharmacy and we inventory our locations on a yearly basis. After our results come back we look at our biggest categories for losses and we make a plan for what we are going to do to combat the problem areas in the coming year. In order to Prevent Shoplifting in those top three to five categories, we have to decide what items are the biggest targets for external theft, either from impulse thieves or professional boosters.

Allergy remedies and cosmetics are generally guaranteed to be one of the worst offenders for our stores. Facial care is usually high on the list too, with all those name brand wrinkle creams, and then there is oral hygiene, with all those expensive teeth whitening kits. We even have lists in every store that have the required items to tag with Checkpoint Labels or some variation of Alpha solutions because of the fact that they are targeted in most areas. Each store has it’s specific demographics and unique location challenges, however, that require the staff to tweak those plans to secure the items that they know are more likely to be stolen.

In our location, we have had our name brand razor cartridges stolen multiple times. It reminds me of that commercial that jokes about how hard it is to buy razors in stores these days. My staff doesn’t use a stun gun on people shopping and lingering in that aisle, but we do pay close attention to them. Our answer to Prevent Shoplifting in this section was to limit the number of cartridges we put on the shelf, and we also have those that are out there secured in Alpha Keepers. The customers can still choose which kind they want, and then they can bring that selection to the checkout.

Razors have been in stock for customers to come and buy, and the problem was solved. So in the spirit of keeping us on our toes, the shoplifters changed their target. I was walking the sales floor a couple weeks after we implemented that plan and noticed three very empty shelves in the deodorant section. Now this was a new one for our store. I checked the camera system, and could not find anything definite. The only answer was to talk to my staff and put together a new plan on how to Prevent Shoplifting in this new problem section. Now when these items come in our weekly delivery, we will put Checkpoint tags on these items. We have a few different types, but we went with the ones that have our store’s name and location printed on them. The idea is to make the items less desirable to boosters since they will now have to spend extra time cleaning off the labels. If there is another successful theft though, at least we have a better chance of the items being returned to us if they are caught.

Stores that are going to be successful with their methods to Prevent Shoplifting have to be willing to learn and change those plans when it is necessary. Use the tools that are available to you, like Checkpoint Labels and Alpha solutions, and you will improve your chances of deterring theft or making stops when an attempt is detected.

For more information contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Preventshopliftingloss.net

I work for a small retail pharmacy and we inventory our locations on a yearly basis. After our results come back we look at our biggest categories for losses and we make a plan for what we are going to do to combat the problem areas in the coming year. In order to Prevent Shoplifting Loss in those top three to five categories, we have to decide what items are the biggest targets for external theft, either from impulse thieves or professional boosters.

Allergy remedies and cosmetics are generally guaranteed to be one of the worst offenders for our stores. Facial care is usually high on the list too, with all those name brand wrinkle creams, and then there is oral hygiene, with all those expensive teeth whitening kits. We even have lists in every store that have the required items to tag with Checkpoint Labels or some variation of Alpha Solutions because of the fact that they are targeted in most areas. Each store has it’s specific demographics and unique location challenges, however, that require the staff to tweak those plans to secure the items that they know are more likely to be stolen.

In our location, we have had our name brand razor cartridges stolen multiple times. It reminds me of that commercial that jokes about how hard it is to buy razors in stores these days. My staff doesn’t use a stun gun on people shopping and lingering in that aisle, but we do pay close attention to them. Our answer to Prevent Shoplifting Loss in this section was to limit the number of cartridges we put on the shelf, and we also have those that are out there secured in Alpha Keepers. The customers can still choose which kind they want, and then they can bring that selection to the checkout.

Razors have been in stock for customers to come and buy, and the problem was solved. So in the spirit of keeping us on our toes, the shoplifters changed their target. I was walking the sales floor a couple weeks after we implemented that plan and noticed three very empty shelves in the deodorant section. Now this was a new one for our store. I checked the camera system, and could not find anything definite. The only answer was to talk to my staff and put together a new plan on how to Prevent Shoplifting Loss in this new problem section. Now when these items come in our weekly delivery, we will put Checkpoint Labels on these items. We have a few different types, but we went with the ones that have our store’s name and location printed on them. The idea is to make the items less desirable to boosters since they will now have to spend extra time cleaning off the labels. If there is another successful theft though, at least we have a better chance of the items being returned to us if they are caught.

Stores that are going to be successful with their methods to Prevent Shoplifting Loss have to be willing to learn and change those plans when it is necessary. Use the tools that are available to you, like Checkpoint Labels and Alpha Solutions, and you will improve your chances of deterring theft or making stops when an attempt is detected.

For more information contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Preventshopliftingloss.net

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Prevent Shoplifting

Employee Theft and How to Prevent it

May 7, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Now, research has shown the retail loses more from employee theft every year without knowing how to stop it, than at any other time. Employee theft, shoplifting, credit card fraud, and many other fraudulent practices are plaguing the retail industry without a clear solution to the problem. Local police in many communities across the US are implementing programs to help reduce criminal activities around their communities. To read more about this topic follow the links below.

4 Ways to Protect Your Business Against Employee Fraud and Theft

Q: Which internal accounting controls can help prevent fraud?

A: This is a vast topic covered by countless books and consultants, so let’s narrow it down to employee fraud and theft. Aside from the obvious—conducting regular inventory checks and book audits, reconciling cash daily, and personally reviewing financial statements each month—there are several actions you can take to protect yourself and your business.

1. Establish a code of conduct.

Did you know that Walmart employees are not allowed to accept a bottle of water or cup of coffee from a vendor at a meeting without paying for it? That’s what I mean by a code of conduct. It’s a statement that you will not tolerate unethical or illegal behavior toward anyone—customers, suppliers, employees or the company itself.

While you may not be as strict as Walmart, you should write and post a code of conduct that clearly spells out the rules for employees and the repercussions for not following them. Give the code to everyone upon hire, and periodically thereafter, and require written acknowledgement that they have read, understand and agree to comply with it.

Police: Employee admits to stealing $14,500 from Kohl’s

A Sun Prairie woman admitted to stealing $14,500 from the Madison department store at which she worked, according to a release from Madison police.

Police said Rebecca A. Onstad, 27, said she stole merchandise and faked returns for store credit to support her family during some tough times in the past year.

Onstad worked at Kohl’s at 2602 East Springs Drive.

She was arrested Monday on suspicion of felony theft.

What Smaller Retailers can Learn About Loss Prevention

One of the biggest challenges the UK retail industry currently has to face is shrinkage. While sales are steadily growing – they increased by 3.9 per cent year-on-year in January, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – stores are still facing losses from the old enemy of theft.

A recent infographic commissioned by SECOM Plc shows shoplifting and more serious retail theft is becoming more and more of a problem. While the number of incidents is falling, their cost to businesses is rising as more valuable items are targeted. In 2014, the cost of crime to the UK retail sector was £603 million, a rise of 18 per cent compared to the year before.

However, this figure does not take into account a number of other factors that have a much greater impact on smaller retailers. Each theft is not equal; stealing an item from one store can cause significant issues, while another might be able to absorb the loss easily.

Many small retailers only employ a handful of people and operate relatively informally, meaning they don’t have many policies in place regarding things like pricing, inventory and employee conduct. It may seem like these things are fairly low priority, but in actual fact having policies like these in place can significantly reduce shrinkage.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices, security devices

What You Need To Know About Background Checks

April 29, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Many small businesses think twice about hiring a new employee, especially if that business is going through a rough time. The actual cost of hiring a new employee is expensive, and not only because of the salary they will be paying. Recruiting and training alone will be costly, not to mention the time spend for interviewing the possible candidates. Hiring the right candidate can become quite an ordeal, but by doing background checks on an employee before hiring them can save you time and money in the long run.

Class Action: Amazon Violates Federal Law With Employee Background Checks

Amazon.com Inc. and a staffing company that aids the online retailer in its hiring are facing a class action lawsuit, alleging that they have violated federal law because they did not disclose the information found in a background check that was used to deny employment.

Plaintiff Gregory Williams claims in his class action lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Washington state federal court that Amazon and Staff Management Solutions, which is also called SMX, violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Williams claims that he applied for a job with Amazon as a “puller” at one of the online retailer’s distribution centers in November 2013. SMX helps Amazon with hiring at its fulfillment centers primarily in anticipation of seasonal hiring.

As part of the application process, Williams also filled out a form giving SMX the authority “to obtain his consumer report for employment purposes.” That form stated that if anything is found in the background check that could affect his employment that he would be given a copy as well as an explanation of his rights under the FCRA. It also stated that the information can be disputed if the applicant deems that it is inaccurate.

Georgia Background Checks: What you need to know

There are a number of ways for employers to gather information on the background of an applicant for employment. Employers may simply call an applicant’s former employer to confirm the applicant’s dates of employment and title and to try to obtain a more detailed reference from a supervisor. However, more and more frequently, employers are hiring third parties to conduct background checks on applicants who have been offered employment. In addition, depending on the nature of the position, employers are requesting reports about an applicant’s driving record, criminal record, and/or credit history. There are often legal limits on employers obtaining and using this type of information. When employers hire a third party to conduct a background check or obtain reports from outside agencies, such reports are subject to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state laws. In Georgia, employers must comply with laws concerning criminal background checks and driver’s record information.

Background Check Industry at a Crossroads: Raising Uptime Standards

Why does uptime matter?

In today’s lightning-paced business climate, companies and organizations in virtually every industry are paying more attention than ever to the speed, efficiency and dependability of the systems, software and other support tools that enable them to serve and retain customers and thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy. It’s an era of Google, Amazon and smartphone-enabled instant gratification, and we expect immediate answers to all of our questions and same-day shipment of every conceivable consumer product. And companies’ system availability, or uptime,makes this all possible.

Companies are also under heightened scrutiny from regulators, and from their own internal auditors, to meet stricter accounting and reporting guidelines, to prepare for every possible disaster scenario that could disrupt their business or their customers’ business, and to operate more efficiently in everything they do. Uptime is at the very core of all these concerns.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, employee background checks, Employee Theft, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, surveillance

How Are You Preventing Shoplifting?

April 23, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

There is always so much debate about how to fight shoplifting in the retail industry. There are loss prevention teams in all the major retail stores, and the management team at any other store is, if not trained at least aware of what to do when facing a shoplifting accident. Millions of dollars are lost due to shoplifting, and the matter seems to get bigger every day. New government policies are making sure shoplifting is punishable accordingly, and retail stores are spending millions of dollars in security and personnel to fight this crime, but why is that not enough? Follow the links to read more about this and other stories.

Shoplifting & Loss Prevention: Do We Need A Fresh Look?

Traditional Loss Prevention is not working. If it was working, the retail world would not still be suffering $35 million or more a day in losses. If it was working, retail owners and store directors would not be going through security and loss prevention officers or the security companies they represent like the free samples they often hand out to customers. Security experts and loss prevention companies would not be constantly scrambling for new accounts, or be in conflict with the accounts they service.

Shoplifting is one of the least detected and most unreported crimes. Stock control in many stores is so deficient that few retailers know how many goods they are losing to shoplifters or their own staff. Statistically, so long as shrinkage does not exceed 2-3% of goods sold, retailers pay little attention to shoplifting. There are also financial incentives for managers to increase the bottom line profits. The bonuses they receive are often based on profit margins, and paying for security services can be a drag on profits. Managers are under constant pressure to justify expenses in a corporate world driven by profit.

Shoplifting Prevention: Top 5 Tips

Shoplifting is of major concern to vendors, so much so that it’s considered normal to budget 10-15% in losses due to store theft. This means each honest customer is paying 10-15% more due to the sins of his fellow shoppers. This budget figure can be reduced by one of your company’s most important assets: Your employees. Real, live, people. While we recommend security cameras, computerized security tagging, door security guards, and even undercover security personnel, this article will address how your employees – often the most involved people with your customers – can also be involved in shoplifting prevention. Here is a Top 5 list of suspicious behavior often exhibited by shoplifters, all of which are easily spotted by employees.

Baggy or oversized clothing. There’s reason it’s called “baggy” – shoplifters are using their clothes as veritable bags, stuffing their stolen ware on their person as if it’s part of their wardrobe.
Hands in pockets, or hidden otherwise. A regular shopper has nothing to hide. In contrast, a shoplifter has everything to hide.
Teaming Up. Shoplifters might hang together when planning or passing along stolen items. If you see two or more people in a group speaking in low tones, looking over their shoulders, diverting their eyes, or of course, stuffing their or others’ pockets, it’s a sound suspicion of illicit activity. Regular shoppers, on the other hand, will likely happily chat away at full volume, and keep their non-purchased items in full view.

Japanese organization considers shared biometric database to combat shoplifting

The National Shoplifting Prevention Organization (NSPO), a nonprofit organization of major Japanese retail businesses, is considering developing a biometric database to share facial recognition data in order to combat shoplifting across Japan, according to a report by The Japan News.

The NSPO said it would consider allowing retail stores to share the facial data with other stores in the same industry or other establishments in the region.

The organization proposes to set up a shared biometric database, and store managers can enter the facial data of shoplifting suspects into said database to continually monitor the suspects as he or she visits other stores.

Many retail stores have been using biometric technology in the past five years, however, the majority establishments that use facial recognition do so without publicly notifying any of their customers.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, security devices

Employee Theft

April 16, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Employee theft according to the research done by many independent companies, is the number one reason stores across the country lose profits. A loss prevention team can help you address the issue and solve it, but most often than not, the theft that is happening in your store can go undetected for many months, or even years before your or your loss prevention team is aware of it. Training and educating your loss prevention team could save you thousand of dollars every year by making sure they attend workshops or seminars that keep them aware of the happenings of loss prevention every year.

Follow the links below to read more about this topic.

U.S. retail workers are No. 1…in employee theft

Light-fingered employees cost American stores (and consumers) more than shoplifters do.

It’s almost Groundhog Day, but for retailers, the holiday season is finally winding down.

“The four months from October through January are when stores see not just their biggest sales volume of the year, but also the most returns and exchanges,” says Ernie Deyle, a 30-year veteran of the retail loss-prevention wars who leads the business consulting practice at London-based data analytics firm Sysrepublic. “Unfortunately, the same four months account for about half of all annual shrinkage.”

That shrinkage, made up of missing goods from shoplifting and other causes, costs U.S. retailers about $42 billion a year, according to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, an annual industry study led by Deyle and inventory management firm Checkpoint Systems.

What Wal-Mart U.S. Executives Learned By ‘Walking The Store’

I began my career in the grocery business as a bagger. During that time I observed that my boss, and sometimes his boss and some other senior executives, would “walk the store”. These walks provided the opportunity to perform visual inspections to see what was going right and wrong with the store. We all understood that we needed to be on our toes in case someone from headquarters decided to pull a surprise visit. This is exactly what the senior management of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) U.S. recently did.

Eight months ago Greg Foran took over the U.S division of Wal-Mart, which has struggled with hit and miss same store sales ranging from -1.5% to positive 2.4% over the past five years. He and his team decided they were going to make it their top priority to understand the business under their charge and that included store visitations. On Apr. 1, they gave investors a strategic update indicating that Wal-Mart U. S. may be losing its grip in executing some basic common sense retailing principles. Let’s examine.

Empty shelves

One of my bosses in the grocery industry had a saying, “we sell groceries not real estate” in reference to empty shelves, with the underlying implication that shelves need to be full of merchandise so that customers can buy it. Customers aren’t interested in the air above empty shelves. Greg Foran noted some occurrences of empty shelves and full backrooms in some of the stores he visited:

Group steals bags of cash from D.M. stores, police say

A group of thieves distracted employees at four grocery stores over the weekend and stole bags of cash, including $10,000 from one business, police say.

Three females and a male would enter a store and pretend to buy items while distracting employees to another part of the business, security video shows. One of them would then steal from behind the counter or an office.

They robbed La Cruz 3 and El Palomino on East 14th Street and La Favorita on East Grand Avenue on Saturday. Saigon Market on Euclid Avenue was robbed Sunday morning, according to police reports.

“They seem to be targeting mom-and-pop type places. Businesses like QuikTrip and Kum & Go have rules about dropping off cash once they get to a certain amount,” said Sgt. Jason Halifax of Des Moines Police Department. “It may suggest the suspects had prior knowledge of how the businesses handle cash.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Workshop, Periodic inventory, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, security devices

Signs Sell, But Do Not Truly Deter Theft – Prevent Shoplifting Loss

April 13, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

How does your store Prevent Shoplifting? There are several things you and your staff can incorporate into your daily tasks and routines to help deter theft. Offering excellent personal customer service, making eye contact, speaking to everyone, and making it known to the person that you are aware of their presence in the store are some free and easy ways to keep theft from occurring. Another option is to post signs throughout the store with various warnings. One of the best choices your business can make, however, is to add a Checkpoint System.

In this age where thieves are so creative and when there are websites devoted to educating people on how to steal without getting caught, your business needs a real plan to Prevent Shoplifting.

I was in a small shopping mall today, and the spectrum of protection methods that varied from store to store was eye opening. There is a lot of foot traffic here because it is a tourist destination plus it is a well known college town, and all of these stores line the street behind the campus. In one store they sell a lot of rock and roll memorabilia. There are t-shirts, huge posters, and a lot of collectibles. The merchandise is fairly high retail. For the tourist, there are items here that they will not find close to home and for the college student there are a lot of desirable pieces to decorate their dorm rooms. Posted throughout this store are handwritten signs of various sizes. Some simply warn of the intention of prosecution for shoplifting while others tell you to “smile, you are on camera”. None are particularly threatening or even convincing. Considering the mint condition and value of some of the collectibles in this store, I was really surprised at how little they have in regards to how they Prevent Shoplifting. Other than the perception that there are cameras in the store, the two people on duty did nothing more than stand behind the counter and chat with one another.

Now if you exit this store and walk down the hall to the next shop door, you walk past Checkpoint System pedestals when you come inside. This is a shop that sells vintage and retro clothing, incense, knitted hats, and other hippie stuff. It was adorable. There were visible hard tags on items that were most likely targets to be picked up and concealed, like the hats and headbands. Plus the dresses and other items to be tried on in the dressing room were all tagged. The clerk spoke as we entered, offered her assistance, and payed attention to those present in her store.

If you really want to Prevent Shoplifting in your business, you have to take it seriously and put forth the effort to protect your inventory and your profits. Investing in a Checkpoint System can pay you back many times by deterring theft from your store, and in some cases, nabbing those that do decide to try it. The pedestals and accompanying tags come in different shapes,sizes, colors, and capabilities, depending on what you need to secure.

For more information contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Preventshopliftingloss.net

In this age where thieves are so creative and when there are websites devoted to educating people on how to steal without getting caught, your business needs a real plan to Prevent Shoplifting. I was in a small shopping mall today, and the spectrum of protection methods that varied from store to store was eye opening. There is a lot of foot traffic here because it is a tourist destination plus it is a well known college town, and all of these stores line the street behind the campus. In one store they sell a lot of rock and roll memorabilia. There are t-shirts, huge posters, and a lot of collectibles. The merchandise is fairly high retail. For the tourist, there are items here that they will not find close to home and for the college student there are a lot of desirable pieces to decorate their dorm rooms.

Posted throughout this store are handwritten signs of various sizes. Some simply warn of the intention of prosecution for shoplifting while others tell you to “smile, you are on camera”. None are particularly threatening or even convincing. Considering the mint condition and value of some of the collectibles in this store, I was really surprised at how little they have in regards to how they Prevent Shoplifting. Other than the perception that there are cameras in the store, the two people on duty did nothing more than stand behind the counter and chat with one another.

For more information contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Preventshopliftingloss.net

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Prevent Shoplifting

The Costs of “Wardrobing”

March 31, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

According to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey, it is estimated the industry loses approximately $9.1 billion yearly in return fraud. This includes refunds on merchandising that has been stolen and a practice like “wardrobing” that is costing retailers this incredible amount. Those incidents are done by employees as well as shoppers and shoplifters. To read more about this topic follow the links below for more information.

NOT-SO-HAPPY RETURNS: RETAIL FEDERATION HIGHLIGHTS “WARDROBING” COSTS

In a new survey, the National Retail Federation says that holiday-return fraud could end up costing stores billions this year. The worst part? This scam is more organized than ever.

The holidays are over, but stores big and small will be dealing with more than the memories.

That’s according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), which reported late last month that during the holiday season alone, retailers could face as much as $3.8 billion in lost revenue from fraudulent returns, an increase from $3.4 billion in 2013 and a big chunk of the estimated $10.9 billion in return fraud in 2014 as a whole.

The organization’s 2014 Return Fraud Survey [PDF], which gathered responses from loss-prevention executives at 60 retailers, shows that retailers suspect that 5.5 percent of holiday returns are fraudulent. And while technology has helped curb illegitimate returns, NRF said, there’s only so much companies can do about retail fraud, which is often suspected to be the work of crime rings.

Eliminate the Practice of Wardrobing in Your Store

Well here’s a new one to me. The art of wardrobing. It’s a term coined for shoppers who buy merchandise with the full intent of using it, then returning it for a full refund. Take a read of the article as the insight is fascinating.

I was astounded to learn that “nearly two-thirds of merchants had items wardrobed in 2007, up from 56 percent the year before, the first year the National Retail Federation (NRF) started tracking the trend,” according to the article.

The term wardrobing was chosen (I’m guessing) because it stems from clothing that’s been purchased, worn and then returned. But the article points out that wardrobing has taken on a broader meaning and is now applied to any merchandise that’s been used and then returned.

So how big is wardrobing? The article points out that “Wardrobers want to rent the things they want or need for free, which amounts to fraud, said Richard Hollinger, a criminology professor at the University of Florida who specializes in retail theft. He said return fraud, which includes wardrobing, fake receipts, and other practices, cost retailers an estimated $10.8 billion last year, up from $9.6 billion in 2006.”

RETURN FRAUD COST 9.1 BILLION IN 2013

Criminals trying to get refunds on stolen merchandise and customers engaged in practices like “wardrobing” cost retailers an estimated $9.1 billion in return fraud last year, according to NRF’s annual survey.

“While coverage of this issue paints return fraud as one of the less severe retail crimes, the fact of the matter is that returning used or stolen merchandise — or even using false tender to purchase items — is fraud, period,” NRF vice president for loss prevention Rich Mellor said in a release accompanying the survey. “Efforts to combat fraudulent activity are slowly starting to work, but criminals are becoming more savvy and technologically advanced in their methods.”

The dollar amount of fraud was up 2.8 percent from 2012, but the proportion of returns believed to be fraudulent (3.4 percent) remained the same. During the just-finished holiday season, fraud totaled an estimated $3.4 billion.

Fraud was experienced by virtually all retailers, with stolen merchandise involved in 95 percent of cases. Employee fraud accounted for 93 percent of incidents; 69 percent were returns of items purchased with fraudulent payment like stolen or counterfeit gift cards. Wardrobing — where customers typically purchase a dress for a party or a big-screen television for the Super Bowl and return the item after it has been used — accounted for 62 percent.

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Organized Retail Crime and the Effects on Small Business

March 30, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Organized Retail Crime, or ORC is something you have probably heard very little about. ORC is, by definition, the organized and planned stealing of merchandise with the expressed intent to resell in order to make a profit. Plainly, it is a group of shoplifters whose full time job is to steal from you in order to make a profit for themselves. If you think that your small business isn’t a target, or hasn’t been targeted by an ORC group, you are wrong. These are not your average shoplifter stealing for personal use. These are well organized, well trained and equipped individuals who can take a single store for thousands of dollars in mere minutes.

I recently worked an ORC case dealing with the theft of a certain product. Over a two month period of time, I had a group of 5 individuals steal this product, then immediately sell them to a pawn shop. This handful of people were able to cause a $20k loss in a very short amount of time. They had a plan, stuck to a routine and committed the theft with near surgical precision. It was well organized, and it took months to uncover. $20k might not be a big deal for a national retailer, but if this were my own store, it very well may have put me out of business. This is the case for small businesses across the country. These groups often target the smaller stores as they feel they are a softer target.

Smaller stores may not have the security measures larger retailers do. Something as simple as CCTV may not even be installed. The store may not have security devices on commonly shoplifted items. More importantly, those smaller stores most likely do not have a Loss Prevention team, and the owners may be unwillingly to prosecute individuals caught shoplifting. This all makes the small retailer a prime target for ORC.

The first step you should take to prevent your store from being a target is to minimize your exposure to the risk of shoplifting. CCTV systems are not big, bulky and expensive pieces of equipment anymore. You can most definitely find a solution for your store under a few hundred bucks. Next, you should be familiar with product security. While you may not have the capital for the newest trends in EAS, a simple checkpoint system will discourage ORC, especially if you are using tags that have your store’s name, or logo on them.

Organized retail crime has gotten the attention of the law enforcement community. In fact, several states now have ORC laws on the books, which carry heavier penalties for individuals convicted of this type of theft. The only way these individuals can be brought to justice is if they are held accountable for their actions. That starts with you and is why it’s always important to prosecute a shoplifter. That guy you just caught stealing all of your razor blades could be the tipping point for a much larger operation. Just because you have a small store, doesn’t mean you can’t lose big from these groups.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: anti-theft devices, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Loss Prevention Training, Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, Shoplifting Prevention