Customer Counting device – 4 WC Blog 788
people counting system – 3
Improve Store Efficiency And Sales With A Customer Counting Device – Part 1
Here I am in the library where I work and I glanced at the people counting system we use to track headcount and we are really low in patron numbers. What a great time to get some tasks done that we have on our agenda. I have the same number of employees working as I do any other day but some are basically twiddling their thumbs waiting to provide assistance at our circulation and help desk. We are on the last day of classes before the college students take a break so many people have already left campus. There just is not the same level of activity as a normal day would have. In fact at this point of the day we are at only about half our normal counts. Had I looked at our counts from last year I could have planned out activities for the employees better in order to get things done that we needed to do. Have you ever found yourself in this type of quandary in your store? You walk to the cashier stand and the cashier is standing around waiting for someone to make a purchase while your salesfloor employees are loitering around talking about who knows what? Payroll for student workers is not based on sales or productivity so the impact of having our staff here is not detrimental to what we do. Actually, not using allotted payroll hurts our department (and student workers) more than having excess students. Our customer counting device is more helpful in showing why we need more space and furniture. For retail owners having unnecessary or unproductive staff on the time clock when they are not needed is costly.
If a store owner is interested in getting more bang for the buck from their payroll dollars a people counting system is exactly what the doctor ordered. Consider for a moment the advantages you would have if you could look at prior year customer headcounts and know for a specific week what days and times your store was busy. I’m not talking about sales data right now I am specifically talking about customer foot traffic. Maybe you want to plan a training day for your managers with Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) on “Employee Theft Reduction Training”. How convenient would it be to review prior year people counting system information and be able to select a date that will offer few interruptions because it just won’t be all that busy? Maybe you want to plan an employee appreciation day for the hard work your employees have put in this past year. Use your customer counting device records to pick your day. Store bounce-backs or cleaning days can be rough to do if you get the wrong day. Even if your employees are happy to help customers it just feels awkward when they are dusty and dirty and dressed down and trying to render that assistance. Busy days are just not the right time for these task-oriented work days.
A customer counting device does not have to be relegated to finding the best days for activities either. I want you to think about your store’s conversion rate. If you don’t know how many people have walked through your doors you have no idea how many left without making a purchase. You start tracking how many people are entering and leaving and compare that number to your daily sales transactions and the result may make you cringe. What could you have done differently to get more merchandise into the hands of customers? That brings us back to the point about proper staffing.
In Part 2 we will continue to explore how a customer counting device can improve your staffing model. We will also look at how it can be used as a tool to help increase sales. I will tell you that if you are interested in learning more about the advantages a store has when keeping track of patron headcounts or just improving your sales through shortage reduction, LPSI is a great resource for retailers.
Need information on a customer counting device? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Here I am in the library where I work and I glanced at the people counting system we use to track headcount and we are really low in patron numbers. What a great time to get some tasks done that we have on our agenda. I have the same number of employees working as I do any other day but some are basically twiddling their thumbs waiting to provide assistance at our circulation and help desk. We are on the last day of classes before the college students take a break so many people have already left campus. There just is not the same level of activity as a normal day would have. In fact at this point of the day we are at only about half our normal counts. Had I looked at our counts from last year I could have planned out activities for the employees better in order to get things done that we needed to do. Have you ever found yourself in this type of quandary in your store? You walk to the cashier stand and the cashier is standing around waiting for someone to make a purchase while your salesfloor employees are loitering around talking about who knows what? Payroll for student workers is not based on sales or productivity so the impact of having our staff here is not detrimental to what we do. Actually, not using allotted payroll hurts our department (and student workers) more than having excess students. Our customer counting device is more helpful in showing why we need more space and furniture. For retail owners having unnecessary or unproductive staff on the time clock when they are not needed is costly.
If a store owner is interested in getting more bang for the buck from their payroll dollars a people counting system is exactly what the doctor ordered. Consider for a moment the advantages you would have if you could look at prior year customer headcounts and know for a specific week what days and times your store was busy. I’m not talking about sales data right now I am specifically talking about customer foot traffic. Maybe you want to plan a training day for your managers with Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) on “Employee Theft Reduction Training”. How convenient would it be to review prior year people counting system information and be able to select a date that will offer few interruptions because it just won’t be all that busy? Maybe you want to plan an employee appreciation day for the hard work your employees have put in this past year. Use your customer counting device records to pick your day. Store bounce-backs or cleaning days can be rough to do if you get the wrong day. Even if your employees are happy to help customers it just feels awkward when they are dusty and dirty and dressed down and trying to render that assistance. Busy days are just not the right time for these task-oriented work days.
A customer counting device does not have to be relegated to finding the best days for activities either. I want you to think about your store’s conversion rate. If you don’t know how many people have walked through your doors you have no idea how many left without making a purchase. You start tracking how many people are entering and leaving and compare that number to your daily sales transactions and the result may make you cringe. What could you have done differently to get more merchandise into the hands of customers? That brings us back to the point about proper staffing.
In Part 2 we will continue to explore how a customer counting device can improve your staffing model. We will also look at how it can be used as a tool to help increase sales. I will tell you that if you are interested in learning more about the advantages a store has when keeping track of patron headcounts or just improving your sales through shortage reduction, LPSI is a great resource for retailers.
Need information on a customer counting device? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
#10 WAB
Is A Sensormatic System The Cure To All My Shoplifting Woes?
The short answer is NO a Sensormatic System is not the total solution. By itself, your Sensormatic System is not going to stop all your shoplifting problems. However, it will be a VERY important part of the puzzle. As the former Director of Loss Prevention for several major companies, I have more than just a little experience with this topic. I started my loss prevention career at the store level, apprehending shoplifters. As I moved closer to the Board Room, eventually as the Chairman of the Board for the Georgia Retail Association, I saw what it took for companies large and small to fix the shoplifting problem.
For medium to small retailers there are two solutions to shoplifting. The first part is an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system such as a Sensormatic System. The second part to the solution is an alert and WELL trained staff. I outline most of that in my book which is available online at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. So let’s explore that in a bit more depth.
Sensormatic systems although simple in scope utilize very complex commercial grade equipment. This equipment is pretty straight forward to the retailer and their staff. It consists of pedestals at the customer doors that detect specialized Sensormatic labels and tags that are placed by staff on merchandise. These labels and tags are either deactivated (labels) or removed (tags) at checkout.
A legitimate customer that makes a purchase walks out the door with their merchandise and goes on their way. A shoplifter that attempts to steal merchandise triggers the pedestals visual and audible alarm, alerting staff. Merchandise is protected 24/7. Labels are disposable and after deactivation go out the door with the merchandise packaging. Tags or more correctly “hard tags” are removed by staff to be reused over and over.
Sensormatic Systems are very cost effective, even more so when you consider what the real cost of a stolen piece of merchandise is. If you lose a $50 piece of merchandise take that number and divide it by your after expenses profit margin (the average is about 2%). So $50/0.02 = $2500.00. That is what you will have to sell to break even on the $50 loss!
The second and as important side to keeping shoplifters at bay is keeping your staff trained. We can help you with this. Our philosophy is that if you are profitable then so are we. Just installing a Sensormatic System without training will not work. At first, you would see some benefit but your losses will begin to creep back up. The same is also true in reverse. Training without a system will not deliver long-term, sustained benefits.
So what kind of training do you and your staff need? Of course, we want you to know how to use the system. How it functions, what problems can arise and how to use Sensormatic tags and labels to their maximum benefit. However, you have to go further. What do you do when you encounter a situation when a customer triggers and alarm? You must have a consistent, customer service approach to an alarm.
In addition we also teach you how to spot and deter shoplifters. The Sensormatic System is your backup. We want to deter the shoplifter the moment they come into the store. It is actually quite easy to spot a shoplifter, if you know what to look for. Once you suspect that someone is trying or may steal from you then you need to approach that situation with certain customer service skills that will deter the shoplifter but delight the good customer. Our method may even lead to add-on sales from your good customers. You see shoplifters hate attention. We help you to exploit that.
So a Sensormatic System and support by Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. together will help you to cure your shoplifting woes. Contact us today about a Sensormatic System for your store and learn more about our great training program that you get FREE of charge with your system. Call 1-770-426-0547 today.
The short answer is NO a Sensormatic System is not the total solution. By itself, your Sensormatic System is not going to stop all your shoplifting problems. However, it will be a VERY important part of the puzzle. As the former Director of Loss Prevention for several major companies, I have more than just a little experience with this topic. I started my loss prevention career at the store level, apprehending shoplifters. As I moved closer to the Board Room, eventually as the Chairman of the Board for the Georgia Retail Association, I saw what it took for companies large and small to fix the shoplifting problem.
For medium to small retailers there are two solutions to shoplifting. The first part is an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system such as a Sensormatic System. The second part to the solution is an alert and WELL trained staff. I outline most of that in my book which is available online at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. So let’s explore that in a bit more depth.
Sensormatic systems although simple in scope utilize very complex commercial grade equipment. This equipment is pretty straight forward to the retailer and their staff. It consists of pedestals at the customer doors that detect specialized Sensormatic labels and tags that are placed by staff on merchandise. These labels and tags are either deactivated (labels) or removed (tags) at checkout.
A legitimate customer that makes a purchase walks out the door with their merchandise and goes on their way. A shoplifter that attempts to steal merchandise triggers the pedestals visual and audible alarm, alerting staff. Merchandise is protected 24/7. Labels are disposable and after deactivation go out the door with the merchandise packaging. Tags or more correctly “hard tags” are removed by staff to be reused over and over.
Sensormatic Systems are very cost effective, even more so when you consider what the real cost of a stolen piece of merchandise is. If you lose a $50 piece of merchandise take that number and divide it by your after expenses profit margin (the average is about 2%). So $50/0.02 = $2500.00. That is what you will have to sell to break even on the $50 loss!
The second and as important side to keeping shoplifters at bay is keeping your staff trained. We can help you with this. Our philosophy is that if you are profitable then so are we. Just installing a Sensormatic System without training will not work. At first, you would see some benefit but your losses will begin to creep back up. The same is also true in reverse. Training without a system will not deliver long-term, sustained benefits.
So what kind of training do you and your staff need? Of course, we want you to know how to use the system. How it functions, what problems can arise and how to use Sensormatic hard tags and labels to their maximum benefit. However, you have to go further. What do you do when you encounter a situation when a customer triggers and alarm? You must have a consistent, customer service approach to an alarm.
In addition we also teach you how to spot and deter shoplifters. The Sensormatic System is your backup. We want to deter the shoplifter the moment they come into the store. It is actually quite easy to spot a shoplifter, if you know what to look for. Once you suspect that someone is trying or may steal from you then you need to approach that situation with certain customer service skills that will deter the shoplifter but delight the good customer. Our method may even lead to add-on sales from your good customers. You see shoplifters hate attention. We help you to exploit that.
So a Sensormatic System and support by Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. together will help you to cure your shoplifting woes. Contact us today about a Sensormatic System for your store and learn more about our great training program that you get FREE of charge with your system. Call 1-770-426-0547 today.
WC Blog 783
Training to reduce employee theft – 4
Employee Theft -4
How Much Do You Know About Preventing Employee Theft? – Part 2
In part 1 of this series I quizzed readers in order to introduce the topic of training to reduce employee theft. My goal is to caution employers not to assume they are readily equipped or knowledgeable about dishonest workers on their teams. I also want to let store managers and owners know that they are not helpless in the hiring of dishonest candidates. There is an arsenal of tools available to managers to minimize losses attributable to employees who are stealing from them. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. has that toolbox and has been helping store owners reduce shortage due to employee theft since 1983.
In all probability the most important tool for store owners is training to reduce employee theft. When you know how dishonest people are hired, how they steal once they are hired and signals that dishonest employees give that indicate they are stealing you can then take steps to stop that activity. In the quiz I presented several questions that had to do with identifying activity or behaviors that could indicate an employee is stealing. I want managers to recognize that dishonest workers are not going to necessarily be easy to pick out. One example I want to expand on is the overly friendly employee. Now there are people of course who are just naturally warm and outgoing. Then there are the employees who can seem to be friendly but if you can keep from being charmed you realize they fully focus their conversations on YOU. They complement you on your clothes or car or how your hair looks. You should have a big red warning light flashing in your head about these people. There is a good chance they are dazzling you in order to not look suspicious as they are really engaging in employee theft behind your back. I have worked in Retail Loss Prevention long enough that I have dealt with these characters and they are annoying.
Another thing that can make employee thieves more detrimental than shoplifters is that they will often work with others to steal. I have caught employees who recruited other employees to steal with them or pass merchandise to each other (the act of not ringing up merchandise but looking like they are and then bagging the items). I have caught employees having their friends come through their checkout lane and after taking money from the friend as payment, they gave back too much change…in the amount of tens and twenties, clearly not an accident. Without the training and skills to identify this type of employee theft it can take place over a long period of time and lead to hundreds of dollars in losses.
In part 1 I also mentioned briefly theft that is not commonly identified as theft but it does cost an employer a lot of money. Time clock fraud is an excellent example of this. The employee engaged in this activity may have a friend clock in for them when they are not at work. It can also be the worker who clocks in and then takes their time putting their things in a locker, using the restroom to comb their hair or put on makeup and even change into work clothes. It may only seem like 5 or 10 minutes here or there but think about the lost productivity you are paying for over the course of a year. Then there is the employee who steals store property and takes it home. I have seen employees take maintenance tools from the store. In their training to reduce employee theft, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. covers all of these issues.
Finally there are the employees who have been in good standing for many, many years. These men and women have been trustworthy and dependable but then something happens in their life that dramatically alters their personal situation. These are good people but rather than seek any assistance to deal with their problems they think they can steal some money or merchandise and take care of the problem. They may even have the intention to pay back what they take. There are signs that can give these people away but you have to be in tune to what they say or do that is out of their normal character. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. covers this in the trainings they offer to employers and managers.
Training to reduce employee theft is not a cure all for every situation but it can help prevent a lot of the losses you would otherwise encounter. Employee background checks and pre-employment drug screening also reduces the likelihood of employee theft. And remember, when all else fails, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can also help you with theft investigations and get your store back on the right track.
Employee theft is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
In part 1 of this series I quizzed readers in order to introduce the topic of training to reduce employee theft. My goal is to caution employers not to assume they are readily equipped or knowledgeable about dishonest workers on their teams. I also want to let store managers and owners know that they are not helpless in the hiring of dishonest candidates. There is an arsenal of tools available to managers to minimize losses attributable to employees who are stealing from them. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. has that toolbox and has been helping store owners reduce shortage due to employee theft since 1983.
In all probability the most important tool for store owners is training to reduce employee theft. When you know how dishonest people are hired, how they steal once they are hired and signals that dishonest employees give that indicate they are stealing you can then take steps to stop that activity. In the quiz I presented several questions that had to do with identifying activity or behaviors that could indicate an employee is stealing. I want managers to recognize that dishonest workers are not going to necessarily be easy to pick out. One example I want to expand on is the overly friendly employee. Now there are people of course who are just naturally warm and outgoing. Then there are the employees who can seem to be friendly but if you can keep from being charmed you realize they fully focus their conversations on YOU. They complement you on your clothes or car or how your hair looks. You should have a big red warning light flashing in your head about these people. There is a good chance they are dazzling you in order to not look suspicious as they are really engaging in employee theft behind your back. I have worked in Retail Loss Prevention long enough that I have dealt with these characters and they are annoying.
Another thing that can make employee thieves more detrimental than shoplifters is that they will often work with others to steal. I have caught employees who recruited other employees to steal with them or pass merchandise to each other (the act of not ringing up merchandise but looking like they are and then bagging the items). I have caught employees having their friends come through their checkout lane and after taking money from the friend as payment, they gave back too much change…in the amount of tens and twenties, clearly not an accident. Without the training and skills to identify this type of employee theft it can take place over a long period of time and lead to hundreds of dollars in losses.
In part 1 I also mentioned briefly theft that is not commonly identified as theft but it does cost an employer a lot of money. Time clock fraud is an excellent example of this. The employee engaged in this activity may have a friend clock in for them when they are not at work. It can also be the worker who clocks in and then takes their time putting their things in a locker, using the restroom to comb their hair or put on makeup and even change into work clothes. It may only seem like 5 or 10 minutes here or there but think about the lost productivity you are paying for over the course of a year. Then there is the employee who steals store property and takes it home. I have seen employees take maintenance tools from the store. In their training to reduce employee theft, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. covers all of these issues.
Finally there are the employees who have been in good standing for many, many years. These men and women have been trustworthy and dependable but then something happens in their life that dramatically alters their personal situation. These are good people but rather than seek any assistance to deal with their problems they think they can steal some money or merchandise and take care of the problem. They may even have the intention to pay back what they take. There are signs that can give these people away but you have to be in tune to what they say or do that is out of their normal character. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. covers this in the trainings they offer to employers and managers.
Training to reduce employee theft is not a cure all for every situation but it can help prevent a lot of the losses you would otherwise encounter. Employee background checks and pre-employment drug screening also reduces the likelihood of employee theft. And remember, when all else fails, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can also help you with theft investigations and get your store back on the right track.
Employee theft is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
