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Crime is on the rise in small businesses, and many owners are finding that fraudsters are stealing from them. In order to protect your business and your personal assets, follow these five tips for retail theft prevention:
1) Employ security guards who know how to handle themselves physically
2) Use video surveillance equipment within eyesight of all employees so you can watch what’s going on around the store
3) Lock down registers with strong digital keys available only through an electronic keypad or biometric scanners at night or when no one is in the building (can be monitored remotely by management if necessary)
4) Utilize swipe card readers that emit a visible light during scanning/swiping – this will alert staff members over their mobile devices if someone has tried to use a fake card against it. 5) Install motion detectors inside stores as well as outside
Retail theft prevention is a problem that many small businesses face. The “retail theft prevention devices” are a way to deter shoplifters and prevent them from stealing your products.
While it is sad, stealing is an unavoidable element of owning and operating a retail establishment. Shoplifting is the leading source of inventory loss, with retail firms losing over $61 billion in 2019.
Here are five of the most effective ways to keep your company safe from theft and shoplifting:
1. Determine the source of your losses.
You must first establish the source of your losses before you can remedy them. Theft by Employees, client stealing, and clerical mistakes in inventory counts are the three categories of theft in the retail business, according to the National Retail Federation. While client larceny is the most prevalent cause of retail loss, staff theft and clerical mistakes are also widespread.
Theft by Employees, shoplifting, and clerical mistakes are three primary sources of loss and shrinkage.
Shoplifting by customers
In the United States, shoplifting accounts for around 37% of all retail losses. In dollars, that’s a loss of $22.8 billion every year. The most susceptible to stealing are health and beauty, clothes, and electronics businesses, which should consider integrating crime coverage in their insurance.
When it comes to preventing stealing in your business, you should be aware of the most typical methods that shoplifters steal:
- When criminals replace high-priced tags with lower-priced ones, this is known as tag swapping.
- When a burglar fills a bag or pocketbook with your belongings, this is known as bag stuffing.
- Clothing Concealment is when a thief hides a valuable item under their clothing.
- When criminals remove packaging and security tags to avoid setting off alarms, this is known as packing removal.
Shoplifters often stuff their bags with goods in order to get them out of the shop without being detected. (Image courtesy of Vector Security)
Theft by Employees
Theft by Employees is another major contributor to inventory shrink. Sometimes employees will outright take merchandise from their employers—because they are dissatisfied, feel underpaid, or simply want the extra cash. Theft by Employees can also look like offering discounts to friends or ringing things up incorrectly to save themselves or others money.
Errors in Clerical Work
Despite being the factor most within your control, Errors in Clerical Work still make up about 33.5% of all inventory shrinkage. Typically, these errors are due to purchasing and receiving counting errors, damaged or lost merchandise, accounting mistakes, and other errors in the inventory management process.
Tip: A POS system, such as Lightspeed, can automate many components of your inventory management process, giving you precise and real-time stock counts, sales statistics, and company insights. Not only will you save time, but you will also improve your accuracy and cut your losses.
2. Educate Your Workforce
Preparing your staff for theft and training them how to prevent it helps keep your shop secure even when you aren’t there. (Photo courtesy of NIS)
The easiest approach to keep your shop secure is to teach your employees on retail theft prevention strategies that they can put into practice in the store. Here, we’ll look at some of the most effective tactics that your employees may use to prevent stealing.
Customers should be engaged.
Thieves will feel less inclined to steal from under your nose if your employees are attentive and engaged. Tell your employees to welcome everyone as they enter, to do periodic fitting room checks, and to be sensitive to any requirements or queries that may occur. As an added plus, this degree of involvement will deter criminals and provide a great customer experience for all of your clients.
At my shop, for example, we never leave clients in their fitting rooms alone for lengthy periods of time. We’d knock on their door after a few minutes and ask if they needed anything or if we could move anything out of their way. This not only made our regular clients feel special and encouraged them to try on more items, but it also prevented fraudsters from getting too comfortable in their fitting rooms if they were committing fraud.
Identification of Theft
Another way that you can prepare your staff for theft is to teach them about the warning signs and Identification of Theft. While your staff should not put themselves in harm’s way and try to apprehend a thief, if they can spot signs of theft before anything has occurred, they can intervene with good customer service. Additionally, if your staff knows how to identify suspicious behaviors, they are more likely to see the act of stealing occur and be able to describe it to authorities.
Here are some indications your employees should watch out for that might indicate a thief:
- jittery behavior (rocking, looking around, and fast walking)
- Eye contact is avoided at all costs.
- Wandering around aimlessly without making a purchase
- Leaving and returning to your place of work several times in a short amount of time
- Staying in low-traffic zones
- Carrying huge handbags or bags
Stopping Theft by Employees
The final thing you should do when training your employees on theft is to let them know the measures you are taking to prevent Theft by Employees and shoplifting. If your staff knows that you are on the lookout and are taking steps against all theft, then they will be much less likely to engage in the behavior.
Let your employees aware about all of your retail theft prevention strategies, such as how you manage inventory and source loss issues, conduct audits, and have a video camera installed. Additionally, if you’re utilizing a POS system, consider setting individual log-ins for each employee so you can keep track of who rang up which transactions.
3. Make Your Space More Organized
You should prepare your physical location in addition to having your personnel ready to discourage theft. By opening up your sightlines and making it more visible when anything goes missing, an ordered storefront with no clutter or disorder makes it more difficult for burglars to steal.
Keeping your place tidy is an excellent strategy to prevent theft and make it more shoppable. (Image courtesy of the International Housewares Association)
Determine which items and areas are at high risk.
When it comes to structuring your business, start by selecting your most vulnerable things. These are usually smaller or more costly goods that thieves find handy or useful. You should do all you can to keep these items near the register or in a high-traffic location.
For example, at my business, we kept all of our jewelry on the cash register. We were well aware that our little and high-value jewelry items were the most likely to be targeted by burglars. We could keep an eye on our valuables at all times and catch any shoplifters if we put our most “stealable” items near the checkout.
Following that, you should determine which parts of your shop are most vulnerable to theft. Thieves like hidden spots or places where you store a lot of easy-to-grab stuff. Move shelves, open up regions with bad sightlines, and store smaller products in open areas as you arrange your space.
Place valuables in locked cabinets.
Using secured glass containers to protect your most valuable objects is a terrific method to keep them safe. (Photo credit: Pinterest)
Another technique to keep your products organized to minimize stealing is to keep your most valuable things in a secured case in the middle of your store. This will keep your items safe and enable you to monitor them from anywhere in your shop.
This method is often used in jewelry shops, where all of the item is displayed in cases behind which employees work. On a smaller scale, though, the same method may be used in a variety of situations. Take, for example, the picture above. To construct a safe and elegant display case for its most valuable items, this fashionable shop did not have to lose its brand or store flow.
4. Use signs and mirrors to draw attention to your business.
(Image courtesy of Amazon)
(Photo courtesy of My Security Sign)
Allowing burglars to know they are being monitored is one of the most effective strategies to dissuade them from stealing your stuff. If you have security cameras, post signs warning customers that they are being recorded or posters stating that you take stealing seriously and are on the lookout for offenders. These characteristics will not bother ordinary consumers, but they will make burglars nervous and deter them from committing a crime.
(Photo courtesy of Bullseye Protection)
(Image courtesy of Amazon)
Mirrors may also be used to improve visibility throughout your shop.
Mirrors, such as the ones seen above, are another security feature you may add to your business. A convex mirror is seen on the left, which is ideal for installation in corners with poor sightlines owing to the form of your room or the placement of your furniture items. Another option on the right is the dome mirror. In big venues, they are ideal for providing a 360-degree fisheye vision.
Thieves are well aware of the value of mirrors in increasing visibility. You may utilize mirrors to guarantee that no part of your shop is hidden from view, preventing burglars from committing their crimes.
Mirrors and signage are both low-cost security measures that may be obtained on Amazon and ULINE.
5. Experiment with Security Technology
Although training, signage, and mirrors are usually sufficient to decrease retail theft for small company owners, adding security technology like as cameras and RFID tags is the next step up in protection.
Surveillance by video
The most obvious security technology option is a Surveillance by video system. Video security cameras not only allow you to check on your customers and employees but also will provide an obvious visual deterrent to would-be shoplifters. Further, cameras will capture any criminal activities on tape, giving you photographic proof should you ever need to prosecute a shoplifter.
SimpliSafe is our #1 business security system suggestion. It has a sleek appearance and a simple installation procedure, and it provides economical and effective security options. Find out more about SimpliSafe right now.
Discreet cameras aren’t always the best option. You want your surveillance system to be noticeable, and large, clear cameras that are linked with a monitor in a public spot where people can see themselves on film are extremely effective.
RFID Tags
RFID tags track and monitor the things to which they are connected automatically. (Image courtesy of immago)
RFID tags, or Radio Frequency Identification tags, are little stickers that go on the back of product tags and transmit radio signals to a small receiver. RFID tags will be deactivated by an RFID scanner at checkout, and if someone attempts to leave your business with an RFID-tagged goods before it is deactivated, an alert will ring.
Tip: When used in conjunction with a point-of-sale (POS) system, RFID tags may help with inventory management. They can provide you with reliable and real-time information on your orders and receiving, as well as current stock levels, shrinkage, and other issues.
While tags are a good deterrent and may be quite effective, criminals often remove them. You should also run nightly tag checks to see if there is any proof that a shoplifter removed an RFID tag and stole your item to notice any missing inventors from your business. Another alternative is RFID tags, which are connected by an ink-loaded plastic piece that must be manually removed at checkout using a specific instrument.
Security tags that release ink are a very efficient approach to prevent theft. (Image courtesy of Hello Lidy)
Conclusion
Theft is an undesirable facet of the retail sector that, if not addressed properly, may result in significant losses for your company. You will be able to take actions to avoid theft in your company using the resources provided in this article. You may endeavor to dissuade and ideally halt theft whether you utilize a high-tech solution or depend on alert workers.
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