Large corporate retailers faced with theft and other shrinkage problems can turn to their own loss prevention staff to alleviate their problems, whether it’s shoplifting, employee theft, vendor fraud, or plain old carelessness in the operation of the business.

But the smaller guys are faced with the same problems, and without on staff investigators.  They often attempt to act as their own experts in loss prevention; however, this method frequently brings less than optimum results leaving them open to similar problems in the future.

So how do these smaller retailers prevent shoplifting loss?  Most turn to a contractor who specializes in preventing shoplifting loss, and other losses, to design a strategy specific to their needs that they can manage partly or entirely on their own.

And with the slim net margin average of 2%, a retailer that implements a plan to prevent shoplifting loss can see dramatic net margin increases immediately.  a $100 loss at a 2% net requires $5,000 in sales to recover.  Prevent 1% of annual loss and the difference is a 50% net margin increase!

For more info go here.

The 2008 University of Florida study on retail security states that inventory shrinkage or “shrink” is significantly higher at 1.51% from the all time low of 1.44% in 2007. Keep in mind this is 2008. So it is reasonable to assume that 2009 will be worse because of the economy (coming soon). Sources of inventory shrink nationally are as follows: 42.7% Employee Theft, 35.6% Shoplifting, 15.4% Administrative, 3.7%Vendor Fraud and 3.9% unknown.

As is the usual trend, employee theft hits the top of the list. We have found in our work that this holds true for non-retailers also.

What does this mean to you? Retailers and business of all types are subject to the effects of employee theft. Do not wait to get your policy and procedures in line and enforced. Chances are you are losing money right now.

Some areas that you should look carefully at include:

Accounting and Bookkeeping-Are there enough 2 party controls in place? Is an audit or review of critical functions such as AP and AR being conducted? We have found employees stealing money from these areas by processsing charge card credits to their personal accounts, creating phony invoices and then voiding them upon receipt of payment.

Refund and Void Controls-Are two employees required as the return is being processed while the customer is still there? Do you have key or password control on the refund and void function?

Receiving Controls-Who is doing this? Is there some check and balance? A manager should “audit” every shipment by spot checking a few items. Let’s keep the employee and vendor honest.

More info here: stop employee theft

Retail loss can originate in many different areas.  The obvious sources are employee theft of merchandise and shoplifting losses.  Other sources of retail loss are employee fraud and  refund fraud.  Often overlooked sources of retail loss are administrative or accounting errors and vendor theft or fraud.

The key is (no big secret here) being aware of the potential sources and putting procedures in place to monitor those areas.  Deter theft by installing cameras, security systems and electronic article security system (EAS) such as a Checkpoint security system.

If you do not have internal loss prevention staff, you may want to consult with a professional loss prevention company to evaluate your business and identify a plan for you to get your losses under control.

For more info go here: stop retail loss

It happens every day,  shoplifters steal clothing from retail stores. How do you stop it? The solution can be very simple. Clothing security can be achieved by using a Checkpoint security system.

A clothing security tag is attached to the garment to be protected. This tag can only be removed by store personnel at the cash wrap and the customer proceeds on their way. Achieving clothing security doesn’t get much easier or unobtrusive than that.

There are several shapes, sizes, colors and types of clothing security tags available to meet any type of merchandise.  Some are even custom printable.

For more info go here: Clothing Security

Loss prevention security can consist of  one of or a combination of many solutions.

A camera system can record events for use in the event a loss situation is identified.  Camera systems, or CCTV, may deter some theives but most are aware that you can not be watching all cameras all the time.

A burglar alarm system will also deter thieves from attempting to steal from you and is considered one of “the basic necessities”.

An electronic article surveillance system (EAS) such as a Checkpoint Security System cane be used as a more “active” solution.  Antennas are installed at entry/ exit points and pick up “tags” on merchandise when they approach the door.  These tags can only be removed by store personnel…otherwise removal will likely damage the merchandise.

And of course, loss prevention staff can be added to the payroll to keep an eye on store activity.

The key is to identify your issue(s) and take the appropriate action… not all solutions work on all issues.

For more info go here.