Alpha High Theft Solutions

Using Employee Engagement To Prevent Shoplifting

January 18, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

There is no question that employee happiness in the workplace can be an asset to your company. Happy employees that are valued can give a business the edge they need to make their business a success. Happy employees are less likely to steal from you, and are less likely to call off regularly. Having employees that feel appreciated can be an advantage to your retail business, and a tool to prevent shoplifting.

For more about shoplifting, follow the links below.

Retailers Experience Success Due to Employee Engagement

Expert advice on how retailers can craft customized services in order to strengthen financial performance through greater quality of management and employee engagement.

Management consultant Oliver “O. Lee” Mincey, who focuses on employee engagement and the attributes of great management, has nearly 25 years of training and leadership development experience. He has developed training and learning programs positively impacting well over 40,000 people for clients and previous employers including Six Flags, Disney, Universal Studios and House of Blues.

Founded in 2009, Oliver Mincey Co. designs strategies to help clients solve their most complex and interesting leadership and employee engagement challenges. Engagement helps reduce costs associated with poor employee retention, relations and morale. Its core values are: Do what is right, always; take ownership and get it done; inspire passion for people; focus on outcomes; fuel growth and innovation for both us and our clients; and embrace good cheer.

Mincey shared five tips for great management and his secrets of employee engagement. A great manager, he said:

Online crime system blitz on retail theft

A new cloud-based crime reporting system could prevent up to $2 million of retail thefts every day.

Police have teamed up with Auckland-based company Auror who developed software that streamlines crime reporting processes.

The software will be rolled out nationally after successful trials in Counties Manukau and Canterbury.

The software enables retailers to complete incident reports and provide relevant information to police about thefts including shoplifting and petrol drive-offs, and other incidents.

The information can be shared between retailers to prevent further offending.

A Police National Headquarters spokeswoman said all information shared through the Auror portal was automatically forwarded to the police crime reporting line.

SeeTec Cayuga BVI Retail Combines Article Surveillance With Video Analytics For Retail Security

If you believe recent surveys to be true, commercial damage in Germany caused by retail shrinkage accounts for about 3.8 billion Euro per year – this is one per cent of the total turnover of this industry. More than half of this is caused by shoplifting. Another 40 % of the total amount can be related in equal terms to employees and suppliers.

The retail industry’s answer to this enormous volume of damage is obvious: prevention and investigation by combining traditional article surveillance and intelligent video technology. Video-based systems do not only reduce retail shrinkage. They can also be used to better understand customers and their buying behaviorand to optimize the sales approach. SeeTec Cayuga BVI Retail provides solutions for both requirements.

Challenges Faced By Retail Business

Highstreet retail businesses don’t have an easy time: Online trading provides maximum price transparency and therefore puts enormous pressure on the margins through a plain cost structure and 24/7 opening hours.

Let’s Make 2016 a More Profitable Year

January 18, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Let’s make 2016 a more profitable year by stopping losses before they occur. Think of it, as a retailer you run your operation, purchase and then sell the products you offer and try to hold your expenses down. But when you have employees that cause inventory theft, cash theft or any other loss it comes right off your bottom line and out of your pocket. The key is to keep theft from occurring before it happens!

Do you really know who is working for you? It is inexpensive and easy to find out. You should screen EVERY person you hire. Even after 20 years of running pre-employment background checks on people for our clients we are still amazed and what we see. It is not unusual to see drunk driving, theft, assault, shoplifting and even some very violent criminal records. Do you really want people like that working for you? That is like pointing a gun at yourself and hoping it is not loaded. People who are not responsible in life are not going to become magically better because they work for you.

Most states allow a statewide criminal records check. If not then we look in the counties they have lived in.

Another check that should be run is a credit history. This can be done on people that will be handling your cash and other assets. My wife was once the Branch Manager for a large chain of banks. The banks policy was to look at the credit history of the people that they were considering for employment. Their thought process was “If you cannot handle your own money why would we want you to handle the banks or the customers?”

Another check should be to verify that they are not on a sex offender list. Imagine this. You hire someone. They sexually assault a customer or another employee. Even if it is simply alleged and then investigation shows they are on a list. Your liability just skyrocketed.

In the past we could simply say we did not know that they were a sexual predator, criminal, thief…. But that is not the case anymore. The courts have leaned towards the position that it is easy and inexpensive to screen someone so if you do not you may be left in a terrible position both criminally and civilly.

So attack loss in 2016 up front. Get your employees background checked, screen any new employees and then follow up with an annual check. It may just make your year more profitable and one with less headaches.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting systems, Perpetual Inventory, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

CHRISTMAS EVE CHALLENGE

January 18, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I thought I’d take a lighter note and share some post-holiday humor. It was quite an eventful end of December for me and my team. We definitely had our share of idiot shoplifters. A few stood out that really deserved to be on the highlight reel. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Every year, I make it a point to work extra hard to catch a thief on Christmas Eve. Some people call me cold, but why should I pay for gifts for someone that doesn’t want to work? They are, in fact, robbing me of my bonus! So I found myself working Christmas Eve with my top agent, at our highest shrink store. I was, in fact, stacking the deck. About noon-ish, I notice a guy practically running through the store with a shopping cart. Not too odd, given that most people are picking up last minute gifts. I watched as he loaded three motorized scooters into his cart and dashed over to the shoes. There, he asked an employee where this year’s hottest shoes were. Once shown, he threw 4 pairs in the buggy and headed to the apparel section. I stopped watching at this point and made my way around the store. As luck would have it, we intersected paths and my suspect raced down a secluded aisle. He emerged from the next aisle, as I was standing there. He rushed passed me and I noticed that his shoes were now concealed in shopping bags and he was headed to the doors. I called my agent and by the time he answered, my guy was out the door! I love a good push out.

We catch up to him under the patio and he ditches the basket and breaks out running through the parking lot. We break off and relay his direction of flight to local law enforcement. To my amazement he stops running and ducks into retailer next door. Police arrive and we both enter the store to identify him. It didn’t take long for us to find the guy, standing in the magazine section, pretending to read an upside down edition of the Times, sweating profusely, and practically wheezing. He then tried to run from the police. Seriously, I have no idea where he got the energy… On his second run, he was (un) lucky enough to knock an officer to the ground. That officer was in no mood to run; Hunter was, though. That Belgian Malinois broke out of the patrol car faster than American Pharoah at Belmont Stakes. It was awesome. I’m also 10/10 on throwing a thief in jail on Christmas Eve. In case you were keeping score.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Training, Periodic inventory, Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices, surveillance

FISCAL INVENTORIES FROM AN LP POINT OF VIEW

January 18, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

With January the last month fiscal month for plenty of retailers, we can all look forward to *drum roll* INVENTORIES!! Wait, am I the only one excited to count millions of pieces of merchandise in a single night? I’ve always been the odd-ball in my department I guess. Inventory is a great way to start a new fiscal year off. Clean inventory counts, accurate pricing and getting back in stock is the key to making sales in the 1^st quarter. Remember, customer service starts with being in stock!

I am responsible for nearly 30 stores, so it’s practically impossible for me to get out each store’s annual inventory, however I do manage to see a few. I’ve also built up quite a few pointers, from an LP perspective that is aimed at helping managers and making the counting process that much easier. As my Christmas gift to you, I’ll share my top 5 best practices.

Do you have basedecks?

Those are the bottom shelves of your gondolas. They make great hiding spots for employees to stash product. About one week prior to inventory night, it would be a wise idea to assign someone to go aisle by aisle, lifting up every single basedeck in the store. I normally find the equivalent to 5-7 shopping baskets of product hidden underneath. This equates to thousands of dollars that would have otherwise been written off as shrink.

What about warehouses, common areas and offices?

I find these ripe with stashed product and it drives me up the wall. Again, look in all areas that are common “hiding places” to pull all of that product out so it can either be sold… or counted.

You don’t have time to look for SKUs on inventory night!

This one is aimed at soft goods and apparel mainly. I’ve seen stores write off hundreds of apparel items because a sku could not be located 13 hours into the count. Go rack to rack, at least a few days prior and make sure everything is tagged with a scannable bar-code. Trust me, this will save you time, energy and money on inventory night.

Do you have storage containers?

You would not believe how many times I’ve seen stores post losses of $10k+ on inventory night, only to realize 3 days later that they failed to scan an entire storage trailer of product x. Don’t be this store. I find that pre-counting these areas is much more effective than counting on inventory night. Just don’t forget about them!

Don’t let just any associate scan/count!

This is for you retailers out there that scan your own inventory and who don’t rely on an outside agency. I see it year, after year. Managers try to get as many people scheduled to work that night, and now your trusting some of your worst employees with your greatest financial investment (your inventory). Choose quality over quantity. Please, believe me when I say this; 1 person can completely ruin an inventory. One lazy employee who is 1 tardy away from being terminated does not care one bit about your shrink and how it affects the store’s bottom line, or your pockets. I beg you, please only let those that have a vested interest in your store conduct your inventory. I’ve seen cases where one employee had single-handedly scanned an entire stock of baseball bats as one single sku. This mistake wasn’t caught until replenishment on every single bat started hitting the stores. It was a complete disaster. Don’t let this happen to you!

I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable New Years. I hope 2016 is profitable, prosperous and full of (good) surprises. I hope your 2015 inventory is just the same.

Filed Under: Featured 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, EAS Devices, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

COMBATTING RETURN FRAUD WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE

January 18, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I’m seeing a huge spike in return fraud, so I’m betting you are too. For my particular stores, it is a huge problem. I will venture to say that it is the biggest and most financially impactful fraud scheme that is affecting my stores; and it’s only getting bigger. I’m fortunate enough to have a small team within our LP department that do nothing but review returns data. When they see something that is indicative of fraud, we actually cancel the store credits unless proof of purchase can be verified. We are poised to break 5 million dollars in suspended store credits this year. Insane.

My company only operates a little over two hundred stores, so that number is quite high. That is 5 million dollars in external theft that we recovered. I have my own theories on why this is a growing problem and a few solutions that any retailer can adopt to help limit your exposure to this madness. Would you believe me if I told you that most return fraud can be prevented with a simple “hello”?

Customer service is the most proven and effective way at deterring criminal activity in your store. A simple greeting, acknowledgment and/or engaged employees can, and will stop most would-be thieves. If your employees are engaging with all of your customers, this will prevent the theft from ever happening. If there is no theft of product, then there can be no refund of stolen goods. See where I’m going with this?

Every store that I visit and audit that I conduct, it seems as if I’m noting some challenges in the customer service department. Do you really think that your product is that great and your prices that low, that the customer absolutely must purchase their item at your store? If you think this, then I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you’re wrong. Customer’s come to your stores for more than just an item; they want to feel as if they are appreciated. It’s your job to make that happen. Likewise, by providing exceptional service, you are not only increasing your sales, you are reducing shrink.

Here’s a case study to help drive home my point:

Susie G is a thief. She’s only hooked on heroin and needs a daily fix. She’s unemployed so she resorts to stealing to fuel her drug addiction. She’s learned from some of her buddies that “Store X” doesn’t have strong controls and it’s super easy to steal from them. Even better, you can come back later and return the stolen merchandise and they’ll give you a gift card. (How nice!) She learns that she can easily sell that gift card for quick cash in the parking lot, or at a local pawn shop. Thus, a small criminal enterprise is born. Susie then tells all of her heroin addicted brethren and before long, groups of 5 and 6 are targeting your store and committing return fraud on a daily basis.

Why did Susie and her friends find it so easy to steal from you and not the store down the road?

I’m not going to put an answer here. I want you, managers and owners to stop for 10 minutes and really think about this question. What can you do to prevent this in your store? Can you up your customer service game? The answers may surprise you.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Security, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Retail Burnout Matters

January 15, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

The holidays are over and all over the country retail personnel are saying, “I can’t do that again. I’ve got to get out of retail.” Some of them are, understandably, experiencing a momentary stress or anxiety reaction. After they’ve had some time to de-stress they’ll bounce back and want to stay in the field.

Others, however, may be experiencing burnout, which is a more serious condition. Instead of being a temporary reaction to a specific situation (the demands the holidays make on retail staffs) burnout is a state of chronic stress. People won’t “just get over it” now that the holiday have passed, because it’s more than “having a couple of bad months”.

Over time constant stress can alter a person’s mental, emotional and physical well being. Some of the symptoms include: a lack of or loss of enthusiasm for the job and personal interests, physical and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization of others, cynicism, detachment from surroundings and people, feelings of ineffectiveness and a low sense of personal accomplishment.

On a professional level this affects their day to day work performance, as well as their relationships with co-workers and customers. By the time people become burnt-out they usually have developed new – and escalated already existing – undesirable attitudes and behaviors.

In many cases their work ethic and moral compass slips. This directly affects the store’s bottom line, as they no longer function effectively. This results in: theft of time, money, product and supplies, sloppy paperwork, inattention to security issues and procedures, indifferent or rude customer service, poor inventory control and no vendor oversight.

In addition to the financial consequences, they often create a problematic work atmosphere. Burned out people are dissatisfied people, and those with limited awareness of their condition will blame other people, places and circumstances for their difficulties. They become the complainers, pot stirrers and nay-sayers.

Their changes in behavior and attitude can be difficult to see at first because burnout “sneaks up”. People don’t all of a sudden wake up one morning and have burnout, nor does it abruptly go away. It’s developed over time and will only get better if it’s acknowledged and dealt with. The sooner co-workers and supervisors confront their actions the better for all concerned.

Nicole Abbott is a professional writer who’s had over 100 articles published. She’s a business consultant and former psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in mental health, business and addiction. She’s a coach, lecturer, trainer and facilitator. She has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, seminars and college classes.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Shoplifting Prevention

January 12, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

shoplifting4 The holidays are over and looking at your sales, revenue, expenses, profits and inventory, you are probably realizing you had a good year, or a year where inventory has disappeared and don’t know where it went. If the strategy to prevent shrinkage in your store hasn’t workout, have you looked into the reason why? Is employee theft a problem you have overlooked? Looking at your data carefully, you can analyze and probably pin point a few problem areas that are not being addressed, and then you can probably find a solution to the problem or at the least address the problem before it gets out of hand.

For more about this topic follow these links below.

Are Retailers Selling Shoplifting Tools?

Boosters are savvy in their methodology of offending. They often find creative ways in which to conceal property when shoplifting—in their clothing, via a special “booster bag,” etc. However, occasionally they capitalize on resources provided by the very location they intend to victimize.

While shopping in a nationally known chain drug store, I found an inexpensive, insulated six-can cooler bag, which appeared to have an aluminum lining, sitting on an aisle shelf out of view of the customer service area. When I saw this, I found it to be an aluminum-lined potential booster bag, the use of which is a felony in many states. This sparked my interest; is it possible that retail locations unknowingly stock booster supplies?

I purchased the cooler bag and went to one of my corporate retail colleagues to test the bag with two different types of electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags; the classic hard tags and UPC-style sticker tags. After a series of tests, I noted the following results:

• Effective in disrupting the UPC-style EAS stickers. I would have to hold the bag flush against the tower for the alarm system to activate.

Police holiday operations see some success

INCREASED PATROLS, SPECIAL DETAILS CURB CRIME

Local police efforts to deter holiday crime saw some positive results.

The Lemoore Police Department conducted a number of special details to prevent holiday crimes and educate citizens to defend themselves.

Cmdr. Maggie Ochoa said police set up informational booths where officers and civilian staff answered questions from citizens and distributed educational handouts about drugs and gangs.

Officers also conducted 39 random checks on registered sex offenders in the Lemoore city limits.

Eight of those offenders were found to be out of compliance or in violation of their registration requirements.

Ochoa said plain-clothed police officers also patrolled areas where there had been reports of thefts, suspected drug use and gang activity.

Common shoplifting techniques

Hiding the Merchandise

Favorite Shoplifter Devices

A large open bag is a common shoplifter tool. It is placed at the thief’s feet, and objects are casually dropped into it. Be on the lookout for the “bad bag” — a paper bag that is dirty and wrinkled. Also keep an eye out for shopping bags that are not from local stores. Preventing this is why many stores staple bags shut. Other stores require customers to leave their bags by the front door when they come in.

Women sometimes use purses to hide stolen items. There is little you can do to stop women from carrying purses and handbags. The best prevention in these cases is to watch the customers very carefully.

The baby carriage or stroller is a great tool for shoplifters. There are always blankets, toys, and other things in strollers (including the baby) that merchandise can be hidden under. Some thieves have even built false bottoms in baby carriages.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices, security devices, Shoplifting Prevention, surveillance

Merchandise Return Fraud

December 30, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Shoplifting during the holidays is a big problem for retailers in the United States. The holiday season brings more customers into their stores, but shoplifters know this and they take advantage of this fact to go into the stores and walk out with hundreds of dollars in stolen merchandise. But after the holidays, you are dealing with another kind of fraud. Merchandise return fraud has seen an increase over the previous year, and retailers now have to deal with this problem after the holidays are over.

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

Post-Holiday Merchandise Return Fraud

Retail theft statistics show that the vast majority of returns are legitimate and part of doing business as a retailer.

Returns and return fraud are a big issue—and getting bigger. In 2014, $284 billion worth of retail merchandise was returned in the United States,according to the Retail Equation. That represented a 6.2% increase over the prior year, and 2015’s numbers are expected to grow even higher. Brick-and-mortar stores report returns in the 5-10 percent range. E-commerce retailers report numbers averaging 10-15 percent, with returns of apparel running as high as 20-30 percent. The research firm IHL Group estimates that, overall, returns cost retailers 4.4 percent in revenue that is lost on items that can’t be resold or must be discarded.

Within the retail loss prevention community, when returns are mentioned, most focus on return fraud. To be sure, it is a huge issue with volume estimated at $9.1 billion, again according to The Retail Equation. When return abuse is added in, that number jumps to an estimated $15.9 billion. But, as large as these numbers are, it is estimated that return fraud and abuse only make up about 6.1 percent of returns. So 94 percent of all return transactions (equating to $245 billion) are legitimate.

Retailers Estimate Holiday Return Fraud Will Cost Them $3.8 Billion, According to NRF Survey

WASHINGTON, December 19, 2014 – Techniques and processes put in place to thwart criminal activity around retailers’ return policies continue to be put to the test, and with steadily improving retail sales, even more is on the line when it comes to losses from return fraud.

According to the National Retail Federation’s 2014 Return Fraud Survey* completed by loss prevention executives at 60 retail companies representing grocery, department, discount, specialty and small retailers, the industry will lose an estimated $10.9 billion to return fraud this year. Additionally, of those surveyed, retailers estimate $3.8 billion will be lost to return fraud this holiday season alone, up slightly from last year’s $3.4 billion. Overall, retailers polled estimate 5.5 percent of holiday returns are fraudulent, similar to last year’s 5.8 percent.

“Today’s sophisticated technology does well keeping criminals at arm’s length but often isn’t enough to completely stop the unethical practices of organized and individual retail fraud occurrences,” said NRF Vice President of Loss Prevention Bob Moraca. “Return fraud has become an unfortunate trend in retail thanks to thieves taking advantage of retailers’ return policies to benefit from the cash or store credit they don’t deserve. Additionally, many of these return fraud instances are a direct result of larger, more experienced crime rings that continue to pose serious threats to retailers’ operations and their bottom lines.”

Reflects on How a Shoplifting Charge Changed Her Life

Shoplifting consequences that ended a 35-year career in journalism.

On February 11, 2012, officers of the Tucson Police Department cited former Tucson KVOA news anchor Martha Vazquez on a shoplifting charge. According to the report that was filed, Vazquez was cited for shoplifting at the Dillard’s in the Tucson Mall after a loss prevention officer observed her conceal an Eileen Fisher jacket value at $338.00. After she was detained, a search of her belongings also yielded a pair of Kenneth Cole sunglasses valued at $30 that had also been shoplifted.

Vazquez said that after the shoplifting charges ended her 35-year career in broadcast journalism, her life hit “rock bottom.” She resigned her prominent position, sank into a deep depression and left Tucson for Washington State. Now, Vazquez says the time that she spent out of the public eye in Washington after her incident in 2012, was “a healing journey.” She is now back in Tucson; is being treated for depression and says that she wants to help others.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Nano Gate, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, Background checks, employee background checks, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Shoplifting Prevention and Tips

December 22, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

The security of your store during the holiday season is often tested to the limits by the quantity of customers and employees that enter your store daily. Preventing employee theft and shoplifting during this time of year is not something you expect to accomplish 100% of the time, but if you have preventive measures and procedures in place, you can minimize your loses and keep your employees and customers safe. If you need more tips or information about this topic, follow the links below to read more.

Business Owner’s Rights for Shoplifters

Shoplifting is a major expense for many businesses. A retailer suffers a loss from the unpaid merchandise, and it has the added expense of surveillance equipment and personnel. Each state enacts its own shoplifting laws that should be read by the prudent business owner. While an employee may be justifiably angry when he witnesses a crime in progress, he must follow the store policy or face the possibility of the thief suing him and the store for a violation of his civil rights.

Surveillance

Most consumers realize that the majority of stores have security cameras installed inside and outside the building. In addition, loss prevention specialists walk the aisles looking for suspicious activity and responding to alerts from the monitors. What people may not realize is that the insides of dressing rooms are under surveillance in at least one major department store. On July 21, 2011 Channel 10 News in Tampa Bay, Florida, reported that Macy’s flips the doors to dressing rooms so the slats face downward. This allows anyone — or any camera — outside the room to see in, although that’s not obvious to the customer inside the room trying on clothes.

SHOPLIFTERS STEAL AN AVERAGE OF $134 EACH TIME

November and December are peak months for shoplifting. Not really a surprise. Shoplifting increases 10 percent or more during the holidays, according to security companies.

Retailers are getting better at preventing shoplifting and recovering some of their merchandise, but the losses are still staggering. The average value of items stolen per case is $134.

Over $10 billion in merchandise is lost annually, according to University of Florida research of the nation’s largest retailers, and just $159 million in stolen merchandise was recovered in 2014. Another $82 million was recovered when the shoplifter got away.

Nearly 1.2 million shoplifters were caught in 2014, an increase in apprehensions of 7.4 percent over the previous year, according to the annual retail theft survey by Jack Hayes International, a loss prevention consulting firm. The survey included 25 large retailers with over $700 billion in sales and 23,250 stores.

10 Tips to Prevent Shoplifting

Shrinkage, or retail theft, can have a serious impact on your bottom line. The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention says more than $35 million worth of goods are stolen from retailers every day. And while all businesses are susceptible to shoplifting, some — like clothing, book and jewelry sellers — are more so.

While teaching your staff to spot and handle shoplifters properly is a crucial deterrent, you can also implement store design tactics to help prevent stealing. Here are 10 of the best ways your retail small business can deter shoplifters today:

Maximize Visibility: Keeping an eye on merchandise is the first step in loss prevention. Place shorter displays close to the register and taller displays near the perimeter of the store so all merchandise is completely visible from your perch. Use mirrors to eliminate any blind spots, and be sure to keep your store neat and tidy, so employees can tell at a glance if something is missing or out of place.

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-thefts devices, EAS Devices, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Employee Theft

December 16, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Shoplifting costs the retail industry million of dollars daily. The harm done to the businesses and the economy in general is socially and economically harmful, but employee theft hurts the company’s culture, damages trust between owners and employees, and financially are responsible for billions of dollars that companies lose due to this horrible crime. For more about this topic follow the links below.

A New Employee Theft Study

An Analysis of Employee Theft at a Specialty Retailer.

When I was a doctoral graduate student at the University of Minnesota during the late 1970s, I began conducting research on employee theft. At the time this was an area of criminology that was virtually unexplored. I found that it was very hard to study this subject then, since few retailers were willing to let a social scientist have full access to the records on this subject. Over forty years later, the scholarly literature on dishonesty in the workplace is still understudied and poorly understood despite the best efforts of a handful of researchers.

As such, I am always on the lookout for new and cutting-edge research on this topic. This month I wish to share the results of a quality employee theft study that was recently published as a doctoral dissertation. The author is Dana N. Baxter. She completed her research while studying under Dr. Dennis Giever at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She finished her dissertation this past spring and graduated in May. She is presently an assistant professor at Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia.

A Snapshot of Employee Theft in the US

The majority of employee thefts are occurring in organizations with 500 employees or less. The sizes and types of thefts vary by industry, but smaller organizations across the spectrum exhibited high incidences of embezzlement overall.

The unfortunate reality of employee theft is every organization is at risk.

When we looked at the totality of federal actions involving employee theft over the calendar year, nearly 72% involved organizations with fewer than 500 employees. Within that data set, we found that four of every five victim organizations had fewer than 100 employees; more than half had fewer than 25 employees. Is there a connection between the size of an organization and the size of the loss? Our research suggests that there may be. While some of the largest losses occurred in organizations with fewer than 50 employees, in the aggregate, we note the following:

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.

Shoppers pay the price for such theft. The cost of mysteriously vanishing merchandise comes to $403 annually per U.S. household.

Of course, retailers everywhere deal with shrinkage, but there is one big difference between the U.S. and the rest of the world: Globally, dishonest employees are behind about 28% of inventory losses, while shoplifters account for a markedly higher 39%. Not so stateside, the study says, where employee theft accounts for 43% of lost revenue. That’s about $18 billion, or $2.3 billion more than the cost of five-finger discounts taken by customers.

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