A particular case of theft was brought to my attention over the last several days. Two girls had gone into the college bookstore and attempted to steal several textbooks, presumably for the upcoming semester. As one of the security guards attempted to stop them they ran away. One of the girls dropped her bag containing her student ID.

The information was researched and taken to the dean. Even though we were not going to prosecute for the attempted theft, we needed to handle the situation from an honor code standpoint. The girl was brought in, and the situation was discussed thoroughly.

As it turned out, the girl was having financial hardship, which is why she was in the college bookstore to steal, rather than to pay for the books. The girl that was with her was not under financial duress, she simply did not want to pay for the expensive textbooks. She wanted to spend the money on going out to bars and parties instead.

The end result was that both girls were dropped from their academic programs and not allowed back on the campus. The college bookstore took this as a learning opportunity to discuss and find ways to reduce the shoplifting and theft that was going on. Clearly having a security guard was not enough of a deterrent as both girls admitted this was not the first time they had come to the college bookstore to steal their textbooks.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Bookstore Security and Library Theft Detection System devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop inventory losses.

For more information on Checkpoint Systems and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to stop inventory losses in your College Bookstores, School Bookstores, School Libraries, High School Library, or High School Bookstore call 1.770.426.0547 

You probably don’t think much of sending a trusted employee to the back door to check in a shipment, or to take the trash out when you’re busy. Have you ever stopped to think if anyone you’ve ever employed had stolen from you? Chance are, if your back door was wide open, you were most likely the victim of a dishonest employee. Taking a step as simple as controlling access to your back door, can help you to stop employee theft. 

Last back to school season I got a call from a manager from one of my stores. He stated that he was missing 25 cases of red school uniform shirts. He stated that he had personally received them into his store 3 weeks ago and when he went to set the display, he discovered that they were gone. He tore his store to pieces trying to find the product, but with no luck. He was pretty distraught over the loss, since each case had about $400 worth of shirts. I asked him to provide me some additional details and I started an investigation. After reviewing the camera footage, it didn’t take me long to see where the merchandise had gone to. 

I contacted the manager a few days later and asked what the procedure was in his store for taking trash out to the dumpster. He said that normally his maintenance employee would take all of the store’s trash out. I followed up by asking a question I already knew… Who lets the maintenance employee out of the back door? The manager said he would routinely give his keys to the employee because he trusted that employee. I felt bad telling this manager that his trusted employee had taken him for $10,000. This was no sophisticated theft scheme. There were not a lot of moving parts either. The associate just found merchandise that he wanted to steal and simply walked them out the back door since he had his own key. 

Think about your stores. Is this a common practice for you? How can you stop employee theft when you are giving your employee the tools and the means to steal profits from your own pockets? As managers, or store owners you should develop a store policy where only a manager, or supervisor (those already entrusted to a store key) opens your doors. There’s a reason we don’t give an hourly associate a key to the store. Most stores, no matter the size, will hurt when $10,000 dollars walks out of the store. Think of the hours you could provide to your honest employees, potential sales bonuses and not to mention the profits of that extra cash. You should be proactive, not reactive, in order to stop employee theft. 

Whether you want to believe it or not, chances are you’ve had an employee steal from your store. Whether it was something as small as a 20oz drink, or cases of merchandise, these dishonest employees hurt your bottom line. Don’t let your profits walk away. Have a program in place and stick to it. Just remember that any policy is only as strong as those who enforce it. 

For more information, contact us: Stop Employee Theft, or call 1.770.426.0547

Every store I visit, or manager I speak to always wants to know what they can do to prevent shoplifting. I will always be the first person to say that there is not one single method, or tool you can implement that will stop your losses. You have to take a multi-layered approached to combat shoplifting. I thought I would do something a little different and make a three part series on, what I believe are the most fundamental pillars to battle shoplifters. 

Unless you’re a major, multi-billion dollar a year corporation, chances are you don’t have a loss prevention team in your store. It’s more than likely up to you, and your store employees, to prevent losses from shoplifters. Most store managers want to simply deter a theft than having to go through the process of contacting the police and having someone arrested. It’s just as simple to scoot the shoplifter out the door and recover your merchandise. At the end of the day, you keep the money in your store, and that’s what our ultimate goal is anyway. 

Your store employees are one of the bigger investments you make as an employer. Why not use those employees to prevent shoplifting. Think of this… You can only be in one place at one time. Your employees are always around different areas of the store at all times. So how do you get your hourly staff excited about stopping theft? It’s not an easy question to answer. One of the first things you need to shore up is the level of customer service your customers are receiving. When a shopper walks into a department, are they greeted and offered assistance, or are they ignored as your employee trudges away at a task? I can tell you from years of experience that a shoplifter does not want to be noticed. They want to come into your store with their head down and not bring attention to themselves. If they know employees are aware of their presence, and will be monitoring them in case they need assistance, they will be less likely to steal from you. 

There’s two sides to this equation as well. As retailers, our main focus is to drive sales. If your employee is engaging your customer, think of the potential add on sales that can be made. So not only is your employee doing their part to prevent shoplifting, they are boosting your bottom line. The best part of this… you don’t have to spend a single penny. This is one of the simplest ways to get your team motivated to prevent theft all while driving sales and helping your store meet sales expectations. If your store is known for great service, your customers will tell their friends. I’ve had long term customers tell me that they drive an extra 25 minutes to come to my store because they appreciate the level of service they receive. 

Customer service is the most important of the three pillars of reducing losses from shoplifters. It’s a simple method for you to immediately implement and you will see a return on this investment on the very same day. Don’t let shoplifters take advantage of your store; provide them with exceptional service and you will be sure to see your losses decrease all while your sales go up!

For more information, contact us: Prevent Shoplifting, or call 1.770.426.0547