The basics of Loss Prevention

Loss Prevention, traditionally, is a department or part of many retailers and businesses throughout the world. The responsibilities are generally the same; prevent losses.

Through a proactive approach, loss prevention can be a real asset to any company interested in protecting themselves from a number of different losses. Shoplifters, employee theft, receiving/delivery issues, vendor fraud and other administrative related concerns are the reality retailers and businesses face.

As an example, a local grocer I worked for some years ago faced a number of challenges. They were a smaller business, competing against the likes of Ralphs, Vons and other big name grocers. However, they had a niche, the community loved them. They were profitable and able to open to more local stores. As the business grew, so did the issues. More employees increased the likely hood of employee theft and dishonest employees. The operations department did not have the time or the experience on detecting and preventing such occurrences. They needed help, and fast. The company I worked for at the time was hired. The operators of the loss prevention organization came in with a fury. They quickly identified the issues and worked with the management on creating a plan to aggressively go after those causing the losses and rolled out a plan to help prevent them from occurring in the future. Initially, we launched several investigations into large dollar losses various departments were suffering. We uncovered everything from a local delivery company not delivering all the goods, and working with a dishonest employee to keep some of the company merchandise for his own little side business to big name, brand name vendors delivering only part of the merchandise ordered and fudging the numbers on invoices to reflect otherwise. Today, this grocer is thriving. They have about 21 locations and are looking forward to growth in the future.

Loss Prevention is an important and integral part of a business. A solid program delivering better than expected results should always be the outcome.

For more information visit us at loss prevention or call us at 1.770.426.0547