Stop Shoplifting – 3 WC Blog 803
Sensormatic Tags- 3
It Takes Teamwork To Run A Store And Stop Shoplifting
Efforts to stop shoplifting in a store must involve more than just the store owner or manager. An effective strategy incorporates the input from department managers or whatever leadership hierarchy a store has in place. This has been something I have always been in favor of since my days as a Loss Prevention Manager. It came to me again recently when I was invited to be a part of a Veterans Committee at the college where I work. This was the second meeting of this particular group (I was not a member at the first meeting.) The Chairman of the committee outlined some of the goals from the first meeting. As discussions about everything the committee wanted to accomplish were laid out it appeared there was much the leader was taking upon himself. This group of military veterans and retired military leaders and college leadership started jumping in and giving suggestions and offering solutions to some big challenges. For example one of the goals of the committee is to send five members of the student veteran’s leadership team to a national conference. This includes finding sponsors, donors, arranging flights, hotels rooms, etc. The Committee Chairman was trying to do this and run his department on campus. My fellow committee members are men and women of action. They started volunteering to take on some of these tasks. What does this have to do with Loss Prevention? Theft prevention cannot be the responsibility of one person. Whether it is ensuring merchandise is being tagged with Sensormatic tags to daily testing of equipment to creating a shortage plan, it cannot fall on one person.
Store managers have to have a team of people who will assist them in putting together an effective shortage prevention strategy. The manager has to have a vision for what he/she wants but without the help of people who are willing to share the load that vision will not be fulfilled. The store owner or manager can make the initial purchase of a Sensormatic security system and have it installed but once that is complete there is more that goes into a Shortage Plan. Someone has to be responsible for the training of employees who will be responding to electronic article surveillance alarms when they activate the towers. Since turnover is going to occur from time to time this trainer has to be continually reviewing procedures with employees and training new employees. Properly responding to alarms is important and can determine if merchandise is recovered or how the person will respond who has caused the alarm. When executed in the right way, responders to electronic article surveillance alarms can stop shoplifting and recover merchandise without causing a scene. They can also keep a situation from escalating by the manner in which they interact with the customer who causes the alarm.
Not only does someone need to take responsibility for alarm response training someone has to be charged with the tagging and auditing of merchandise. The store management team should determine the items that they want to have protected with Sensormatic tags. At that point someone has to get the job done and make sure it is a continual process. It can be tedious (I know I have had to do it) but when the merchandise program is followed on a daily basis it is easy to keep up with. Lapses in tagging and auditing create headaches as employees have to backtrack to locate what is not tagged and get caught up. You can understand how hard it would be for a Store Manager to do this with the rest of his/her workload.
While it is not as labor intensive the system equipment must be checked for operational readiness on a regular basis. This may be daily or weekly but it is a test that should include the pedestals, deactivation pads, Sensormatic cameras or traffic counting devices if they are part of a system and accounting of detachment tools. Identifying issues quickly plays an important role in store efforts to stop shoplifting. Broken or damaged equipment can mean that thieves are not being detected as they leave the store. That results in an increase in unnecessary shrinkage.
Putting an anti-theft program in place and incorporating Sensormatic tags and towers into that plan is important. Having a team that gives their support and participates in the program is crucial. No matter how well-intentioned a store owner or manager may be they cannot carry that load by themselves. Getting team buy in and support is necessry in all aspects of a business and theft prevention and shortage reduction is no different. Teamwork makes running a store easier on everyone and a more productive environment overall.
For more information on Sensormatic tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Efforts to stop shoplifting in a store must involve more than just the store owner or manager. An effective strategy incorporates the input from department managers or whatever leadership hierarchy a store has in place. This has been something I have always been in favor of since my days as a Loss Prevention Manager. It came to me again recently when I was invited to be a part of a Veterans Committee at the college where I work. This was the second meeting of this particular group (I was not a member at the first meeting.) The Chairman of the committee outlined some of the goals from the first meeting. As discussions about everything the committee wanted to accomplish were laid out it appeared there was much the leader was taking upon himself. This group of military veterans and retired military leaders and college leadership started jumping in and giving suggestions and offering solutions to some big challenges. For example one of the goals of the committee is to send five members of the student veteran’s leadership team to a national conference. This includes finding sponsors, donors, arranging flights, hotels rooms, etc. The Committee Chairman was trying to do this and run his department on campus. My fellow committee members are men and women of action. They started volunteering to take on some of these tasks. What does this have to do with Loss Prevention? Theft prevention cannot be the responsibility of one person. Whether it is ensuring merchandise is being tagged with Sensormatic tags to daily testing of equipment to creating a shortage plan, it cannot fall on one person.
Store managers have to have a team of people who will assist them in putting together an effective shortage prevention strategy. The manager has to have a vision for what he/she wants but without the help of people who are willing to share the load that vision will not be fulfilled. The store owner or manager can make the initial purchase of a Sensormatic security system and have it installed but once that is complete there is more that goes into a Shortage Plan. Someone has to be responsible for the training of employees who will be responding to electronic article surveillance alarms when they activate the towers. Since turnover is going to occur from time to time this trainer has to be continually reviewing procedures with employees and training new employees. Properly responding to alarms is important and can determine if merchandise is recovered or how the person will respond who has caused the alarm. When executed in the right way, responders to electronic article surveillance alarms can stop shoplifting and recover merchandise without causing a scene. They can also keep a situation from escalating by the manner in which they interact with the customer who causes the alarm.
Not only does someone need to take responsibility for alarm response training someone has to be charged with the tagging and auditing of merchandise. The store management team should determine the items that they want to have protected with Sensormatic tags. At that point someone has to get the job done and make sure it is a continual process. It can be tedious (I know I have had to do it) but when the merchandise program is followed on a daily basis it is easy to keep up with. Lapses in tagging and auditing create headaches as employees have to backtrack to locate what is not tagged and get caught up. You can understand how hard it would be for a Store Manager to do this with the rest of his/her workload.
While it is not as labor intensive the system equipment must be checked for operational readiness on a regular basis. This may be daily or weekly but it is a test that should include the pedestals, deactivation pads, Sensormatic cameras or traffic counting devices if they are part of a system and accounting of detachment tools. Identifying issues quickly plays an important role in store efforts to stop shoplifting. Broken or damaged equipment can mean that thieves are not being detected as they leave the store. That results in an increase in unnecessary shrinkage.
Putting an anti-theft program in place and incorporating Sensormatic tags and towers into that plan is important. Having a team that gives their support and participates in the program is crucial. No matter how well-intentioned a store owner or manager may be they cannot carry that load by themselves. Getting team buy in and support is necessry in all aspects of a business and theft prevention and shortage reduction is no different. Teamwork makes running a store easier on everyone and a more productive environment overall.
For more information on Sensormatic tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Free ROI Calculator – 3 WC Blog 796
Loss Prevention Calculator- 3
Before Making The Wrong Decision Use The Free ROI Calculator
I crinkle my nose and furrow my brow thinking about how I wished there had been a Free ROI Calculator for some of the bad hiring decisions I have made in the past. I could have made better choices in more than a few instances. I cringe when I reflect on my first two hires. Now, I will own the fact that I hired them but to be fair I was a new Loss Prevention Manager and my District Manager strongly nudged me to pick them. I don’t know if you can have a negative Return On Investment for a hiring decision but I certainly did. One of the two claimed to have Loss Prevention experience and put it on her application but I don’t think our background check company did any kind of employment verification. If she did work for the other company it soon became clear why she jumped ship…she was probably on the verge of being fired! Despite my training this employee could not or would not get the hang of being an undercover floor detective. I came to work and she would be wearing the most outrageous, bright, clothing and wearing ridiculous hats. I coached her about how to walk back aisles and behind fixtures. Nope! She would walk with my other employee on the main aisles gabbing. I did eventually get rid of both of them but I lost credibility with my new store manager and had zero apprehensions to show for the investment. Yup, I was in the negative. That was one of my worst decisions but not THE worst. In light of this decision on my part I wonder if any store managers have made their own bad decisions when it comes to their efforts to stop shoplifting?
If you own a store, have you chosen not to purchase a Sensormatic security system? Maybe you decided to buy a knock-off system from an internet seller. Either way you have made your own bad decision that could be having a negative ROI for you. Owning a Sensormatic security system has been proven to be effective at stopping shoplifting and that adds value back into your store. The Loss Prevention Calculator shows you how much you can save by installing a system in your business. Even better than that, the calculator shows you how fast a Loss Prevention system can pay for itself.
I would guess that if you opted to purchase a second-hand or cut-rate anti-theft system you had a few nagging doubts. Just as I had concerns about the Loss Prevention Officers my boss was pushing me to hire you probably had doubts about your system but ignored your gut feeling. Don’t be too hard on yourself neither one of us had a Free ROI Calculator to guide us in our decision (and for me it is too late to go back for a re-do). On the other hand, you do have the option of accessing the Loss Prevention Calculator and learning now how you can still get a new Sensormatic system and get it at an affordable price! If you chose not to purchase one at all because you did not think you could pay for it Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) has financing available for customers who choose to purchase with them. They also toss in free training for stores which purchase a system from them (I sure could have used them to train my associates maybe they would have learned something). In case I forgot to mention it the Free ROI calculator is exactly that, FREE. You can use it without any obligation of purchase and no one is going to flood your email with pushy sales pitches. LPSI just wants you to see that an electronic article surveillance system can save you money, help improve your sales and is extremely affordable.
Did I ever get past that bad hiring decision? Yes, after I helped my employees decide that finding other opportunities for employment would be a good idea I did hire two very productive Loss Prevention Associates. There were other bad apples that got past me over my 13 plus years at that store as a Loss Prevention Manager but overall I was able to bring in some good workers. Poor decisions can be the result of being in a hurry, being pressured, being deceived and even due to a lack of information but they can be overcome. If you have made a poor decision in whether or not to invest in an anti-theft system or purchasing a budget system that does not meet expectations you can turn that around. Use the Loss Prevention Calculator to see how you can alter course and purchase a Sensormatic system.
Need information on the Loss Prevention Calculator? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I crinkle my nose and furrow my brow thinking about how I wished there had been a Free ROI Calculator for some of the bad hiring decisions I have made in the past. I could have made better choices in more than a few instances. I cringe when I reflect on my first two hires. Now, I will own the fact that I hired them but to be fair I was a new Loss Prevention Manager and my District Manager strongly nudged me to pick them. I don’t know if you can have a negative Return On Investment for a hiring decision but I certainly did. One of the two claimed to have Loss Prevention experience and put it on her application but I don’t think our background check company did any kind of employment verification. If she did work for the other company it soon became clear why she jumped ship…she was probably on the verge of being fired! Despite my training this employee could not or would not get the hang of being an undercover floor detective. I came to work and she would be wearing the most outrageous, bright, clothing and wearing ridiculous hats. I coached her about how to walk back aisles and behind fixtures. Nope! She would walk with my other employee on the main aisles gabbing. I did eventually get rid of both of them but I lost credibility with my new store manager and had zero apprehensions to show for the investment. Yup, I was in the negative. That was one of my worst decisions but not THE worst. In light of this decision on my part I wonder if any store managers have made their own bad decisions when it comes to their efforts to stop shoplifting?
If you own a store, have you chosen not to purchase a Sensormatic security system? Maybe you decided to buy a knock-off system from an internet seller. Either way you have made your own bad decision that could be having a negative ROI for you. Owning a Sensormatic security system has been proven to be effective at stopping shoplifting and that adds value back into your store. The Loss Prevention Calculator shows you how much you can save by installing a system in your business. Even better than that, the calculator shows you how fast a Loss Prevention system can pay for itself.
I would guess that if you opted to purchase a second-hand or cut-rate anti-theft system you had a few nagging doubts. Just as I had concerns about the Loss Prevention Officers my boss was pushing me to hire you probably had doubts about your system but ignored your gut feeling. Don’t be too hard on yourself neither one of us had a Free ROI Calculator to guide us in our decision (and for me it is too late to go back for a re-do). On the other hand, you do have the option of accessing the Loss Prevention Calculator and learning now how you can still get a new Sensormatic system and get it at an affordable price! If you chose not to purchase one at all because you did not think you could pay for it Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) has financing available for customers who choose to purchase with them. They also toss in free training for stores which purchase a system from them (I sure could have used them to train my associates maybe they would have learned something). In case I forgot to mention it the Free ROI calculator is exactly that, FREE. You can use it without any obligation of purchase and no one is going to flood your email with pushy sales pitches. LPSI just wants you to see that an electronic article surveillance system can save you money, help improve your sales and is extremely affordable.
Did I ever get past that bad hiring decision? Yes, after I helped my employees decide that finding other opportunities for employment would be a good idea I did hire two very productive Loss Prevention Associates. There were other bad apples that got past me over my 13 plus years at that store as a Loss Prevention Manager but overall I was able to bring in some good workers. Poor decisions can be the result of being in a hurry, being pressured, being deceived and even due to a lack of information but they can be overcome. If you have made a poor decision in whether or not to invest in an anti-theft system or purchasing a budget system that does not meet expectations you can turn that around. Use the Loss Prevention Calculator to see how you can alter course and purchase a Sensormatic system.
Need information on the Loss Prevention Calculator? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Sensormatic Labels – 3 WC Blog 787
Stop Shoplifting – 3
Utlra-Slim Sensormatic Labels – A Big Solution For Little Products
When I was a Loss Prevention Officer I hated trying to stop shoplifting when it involved small merchandise. If it could fit in the pocket of a shoplifter it was a risky decision to make if I chose to stop the crook. Small merchandise like cosmetics, bottles of medicine, batteries and even hand tools or accessories could be easily concealed in a pocket and just as easily removed from a pocket. Whether I was watching someone on closed circuit television cameras or doing a live floor observation I found it could be a pain in the neck to keep a close eye on the suspect’s hands. What compounded the problem was there was often no method of protecting these little objects from shoplifters. Sensormatic understands that these small products could present a big problem for retailers. There are now Sensormatic labels created specifically to address this concern.
Sensormatic ultra-slim EAS (electronic article surveillance) acousto-magnetic labels are small enough to fit on most of the merchandise that shoplifters tend to pocket. This is especially true for cosmetics some of which can be as slim as a pencil. When I was actively involved in Loss Prevention we did not have any tags or labels that could be used to stop shoplifting in our cosmetics department. We were forced to depend on closed circuit television and public view monitors as well as customer service to deter thieves in this area. That was just in our cosmetics department and did not include the other departments where merchandise was small enough to pocket but hard to protect as I mentioned earlier.
Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) recognizes the problem pocketable merchandise poses and the difficulty in finding adequate anti-theft devices for those items. When they learned that Sensormatic labels came in the ultra-slim size they made it a point to ensure sure their clients were made aware of it. They know the risks a Loss Prevention Officer or even a Store Manager takes when they try to stop someone they suspect of shoplifting small merchandise. Even if concealment is observed the items are so small that a suspect can discretely dump the item without being seen. Stop that person and they don’t have merchandise on their person and you open a HUGE can of worms. In fact the risk of making a bad stop on small merchandise is so great that when I was a Loss Prevention Manager our Regional Loss Prevention Manager directed that apprehensions could not be made if the suspected theft only involved cosmetics. Bad stops had become a regular issue and it was determined that the losses were not worth the time in court and the expenses involved in settling those bad cases. I should make one clarification, if a suspect was grabbing and pocketing a large quantity of cosmetics we were permitted to stop shoplifting in those situations.
While we are talking about preventing the theft of any small item I am focusing on cosmetics for two reasons. First, I have had my own share of close calls when it comes to nearly making a bad stop when I suspected someone had stolen cosmetics. Fortunately I usually thought better of it or I found dropped merchandise when I briefly lost sight of the suspect. Second, according to the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer within health and beauty departments makeup products ranked second in most stolen items (fragrances came in first) (pg. 55).
There is no reason to rack up losses in small merchandise any longer. Sensormatic labels can take care of a big chunk of the theft you may be experiencing. I am not minimizing the importance of customer service in deterring criminals from shoplifting but your employees can’t be everywhere at once. Sensormatic ultra-slim EAS labels will give you the advantage you need to make an impulse shoplifter think twice before pocketing that beauty product. Don’t let little things continue to be a big problem let LPSI help you with a Sensormatic system and labels.
For more information on Sensormatic labels contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
When I was a Loss Prevention Officer I hated trying to stop shoplifting when it involved small merchandise. If it could fit in the pocket of a shoplifter it was a risky decision to make if I chose to stop the crook. Small merchandise like cosmetics, bottles of medicine, batteries and even hand tools or accessories could be easily concealed in a pocket and just as easily removed from a pocket. Whether I was watching someone on closed circuit television cameras or doing a live floor observation I found it could be a pain in the neck to keep a close eye on the suspect’s hands. What compounded the problem was there was often no method of protecting these little objects from shoplifters. Sensormatic understands that these small products could present a big problem for retailers. There are now Sensormatic labels created specifically to address this concern.
Sensormatic ultra-slim EAS (electronic article surveillance) acousto-magnetic labels are small enough to fit on most of the merchandise that shoplifters tend to pocket. This is especially true for cosmetics some of which can be as slim as a pencil. When I was actively involved in Loss Prevention we did not have any tags or labels that could be used to stop shoplifting in our cosmetics department. We were forced to depend on closed circuit television and public view monitors as well as customer service to deter thieves in this area. That was just in our cosmetics department and did not include the other departments where merchandise was small enough to pocket but hard to protect as I mentioned earlier.
Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) recognizes the problem pocketable merchandise poses and the difficulty in finding adequate anti-theft devices for those items. When they learned that Sensormatic labels came in the ultra-slim size they made it a point to ensure sure their clients were made aware of it. They know the risks a Loss Prevention Officer or even a Store Manager takes when they try to stop someone they suspect of shoplifting small merchandise. Even if concealment is observed the items are so small that a suspect can discretely dump the item without being seen. Stop that person and they don’t have merchandise on their person and you open a HUGE can of worms. In fact the risk of making a bad stop on small merchandise is so great that when I was a Loss Prevention Manager our Regional Loss Prevention Manager directed that apprehensions could not be made if the suspected theft only involved cosmetics. Bad stops had become a regular issue and it was determined that the losses were not worth the time in court and the expenses involved in settling those bad cases. I should make one clarification, if a suspect was grabbing and pocketing a large quantity of cosmetics we were permitted to stop shoplifting in those situations.
While we are talking about preventing the theft of any small item I am focusing on cosmetics for two reasons. First, I have had my own share of close calls when it comes to nearly making a bad stop when I suspected someone had stolen cosmetics. Fortunately I usually thought better of it or I found dropped merchandise when I briefly lost sight of the suspect. Second, according to the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer within health and beauty departments makeup products ranked second in most stolen items (fragrances came in first) (pg. 55).
There is no reason to rack up losses in small merchandise any longer. Sensormatic labels can take care of a big chunk of the theft you may be experiencing. I am not minimizing the importance of customer service in deterring criminals from shoplifting but your employees can’t be everywhere at once. Sensormatic ultra-slim EAS labels will give you the advantage you need to make an impulse shoplifter think twice before pocketing that beauty product. Don’t let little things continue to be a big problem let LPSI help you with a Sensormatic system and labels.
For more information on Sensormatic labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Customer counting device – 3 WC Blog 789
People counting system-4
Improve Store Efficiency And Sales With A Customer Counting Device-Part 2
If you read the first article in this two-part series you know that I began by discussing the poor planning of tasks and assignments for the student workers we had on duty considering the lack of patron traffic in our library on a given day. It was the last day of classes for the college students and our library was very slow yet we had not planned out things we could have used our student workers to do. For a college library it was not a big problem but having been in retail management I was very aware of the negative impact this could have had if we were in a store environment. A customer counting device for a retailer would have provided a picture of what prior year shopper traffic was like and a store manager could use that information to plan for a training day, cleaning projects, etc. I then started to get into some of the other benefits a store would get by using a people counting system one of which is the ability to improve customer conversion rates.
Daily sales reads from your point of sales system only tell you a total number of transactions and sales dollars. You can even get the average dollars per transaction from your register totals. What you don’t get is data on how many people actually walked into the store and walked out without buying anything. That is a store’s conversion rate and many large chains have been measuring this for years. If you haven’t been tracking your patron headcounts you can start to do so with a customer counting device from Sensormatic. If you already have a Sensormatic electronic article surveillance system they can frequently be integrated into the towers. If you are not using an electronic article surveillance system to deter shoplifting and help increase sales Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. is the go to place to get started. They can set you up with the towers and tags that will best suit your store. They have Sensormatic certified technicians to install the equipment and they offer free Loss Prevention Training for their clients who do purchase a Sensormatic system through them. I might add that if you are afraid a system would be outside your price range, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can help you with getting financing for a new system. I will offer one more caveat if affordability is a concern check out the Free ROI Calculator on their website…you might be surprised to learn how fast a new system can pay for itself.
I don’t want to seem like I am digressing I just get very excited about the myriad of services offered by Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. Going back to my point however, you want to know if customers are making purchases. If you can identify the times of day and days of the week most shoppers are frequenting your store you can add more payroll to those days and times. Customers will leave a store for all kinds of reasons without making a purchase. There may not be a sales person to help them, lines at the registers are too long, employees are snippy because the store is understaffed and they don’t have enough support. A people counting system can aid a store manager in ensuring adequate coverage is in the store at these peak times. More employees means more opportunities to suggestive sell or keep cash register lines moving so people don’t abandon shopping baskets and walk out empty handed.
If conversion rates are low it could also be an indicator of other problems such as a lack of merchandise on the floor. If you start using a customer counting device and find a gross imbalance between the people entering and leaving and the number of transactions it is possible you have bare shelves of high demand items. If you sell medicine and people are not finding what they need the customer won’t necessarily say anything. You may start digging and find you have theft issues, stocking problems or replenishment problems from a distributor. A people counting system won’t tell you the problem but it can help identify a problem that if corrected can improve your sales.
Not being aware of what is impacting your sales growth potential is harmful in the long-term. Allowing Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. to help you install a people counting system and understand how it works to enhance your sales should be obvious by now. Count on Sensormatic and Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. to help your business grow.
A people counting system is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
If you read the first article in this two-part series you know that I began by discussing the poor planning of tasks and assignments for the student workers we had on duty considering the lack of patron traffic in our library on a given day. It was the last day of classes for the college students and our library was very slow yet we had not planned out things we could have used our student workers to do. For a college library it was not a big problem but having been in retail management I was very aware of the negative impact this could have had if we were in a store environment. A customer counting device for a retailer would have provided a picture of what prior year shopper traffic was like and a store manager could use that information to plan for a training day, cleaning projects, etc. I then started to get into some of the other benefits a store would get by using a people counting system one of which is the ability to improve customer conversion rates.
Daily sales reads from your point of sales system only tell you a total number of transactions and sales dollars. You can even get the average dollars per transaction from your register totals. What you don’t get is data on how many people actually walked into the store and walked out without buying anything. That is a store’s conversion rate and many large chains have been measuring this for years. If you haven’t been tracking your patron headcounts you can start to do so with a customer counting device from Sensormatic. If you already have a Sensormatic electronic article surveillance system they can frequently be integrated into the towers. If you are not using an electronic article surveillance system to deter shoplifting and help increase sales Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. is the go to place to get started. They can set you up with the towers and tags that will best suit your store. They have Sensormatic certified technicians to install the equipment and they offer free Loss Prevention Training for their clients who purchase a Sensormatic system through them. I might add that if you are afraid a system would be outside your price range, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can help you with getting financing for a new system. I will offer one more caveat if affordability is a concern check out the Free ROI Calculator on their website…you might be surprised to learn how fast a new system can pay for itself.
I don’t want to seem like I am digressing I just get very excited about the myriad of services offered by Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. Going back to my point however, you want to know if customers are making purchases. If you can identify the times of day and days of the week most shoppers are frequenting your store you can add more payroll to those days and times. Customers will leave a store for all kinds of reasons without making a purchase. There may not be a sales person to help them, lines at the registers are too long, employees are snippy because the store is understaffed and they don’t have enough support. A people counting system can aid a store manager in ensuring adequate coverage is in the store at these peak times. More employees means more opportunities to suggestive sell or keep cash register lines moving so people don’t abandon shopping baskets and walk out empty handed.
If conversion rates are low it could also be an indicator of other problems such as a lack of merchandise on the floor. If you start using a customer counting device and find a gross imbalance between the people entering and leaving and the number of transactions it is possible you have bare shelves of high demand items. If you sell medicine and people are not finding what they need the customer won’t necessarily say anything. You may start digging and find you have theft issues, stocking problems or replenishment problems from a distributor. A people counting system won’t tell you the problem but it can help identify a problem that if corrected can improve your sales.
Not being aware of what is impacting your sales growth potential is harmful in the long-term. Allowing Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. to help you install a people counting system and understand how it works to enhance your sales should be obvious by now. Count on Sensormatic and Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. to help your business grow.
A people counting system is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Stop Shoplifting –3 WC blog 812
Sensormatic System – 3
Use Caution When Responding To A Sensormatic System Alert
I believe it only makes sense for a store owner to try to stop shoplifting from happening in their store. The use of closed circuit television, public view monitors and a Sensormatic security system are the proper tools to do this. What does not make sense is asking employees to respond to electronic article surveillance (EAS) alarms and not train them first in how to do so properly. I make this observation after having just watched a video from a news story (wgno.com “How Many Times Can Shoplifters Target The Same Store In Just Two Weeks”, April 12, 2019) that showed employees trying to stop people attempting to exit their store with laundry detergent they did not pay for. The crooks can be seen walking through EAS towers at the front doors but at least in one instance an associate locked the doors so they could not exit. The lights in the tower flashed indicating the merchandise was tagged. The thieves are approached by store personnel but the approach and interaction made me nervous for the employees. As a former Loss Prevention Manager it looked ugly and it could have gotten uglier. Three different suspects all attempted to walk out with detergent. One suspect was approached by an employee who did not seem to do so safely. The video showed the employee was trying to talk the suspect into putting the detergent down but he also got into close proximity with the perpetrator and even followed him out of the store after the suspect put the merchandise down. There are times when an employee is better off calling police than putting themselves (or others) into a precarious position.
A Sensormatic system is going to deter the vast majority of your would-be shoplifters. These people come in and as soon as they see the detection towers they conclude that trying to steal from the store would be risky. Unfortunately there are other shoplifters, aggressive and potentially dangerous who steal as part of an organized crime ring or as part of a gang. It is very difficult to stop shoplifting by these criminals. In a normal situation anti-theft towers and tags deter theft and any trained employee can respond to an alarm and tactfully recover merchandise. The same is not the case with the aggressive shoplifter. It is not always clear who is going to be cooperative and who is going to become belligerent. As I watched the video clips I decided to give some quick tips on handling Sensormatic system alarms based on my training and experiences.
• When an alarm tower sounds the responding employee should approach the customer in a calm manner. Don’t look aggressive. Offering an explanation such as something must not have been deactivated helps to relax the offender.
• Never take a bag from the person. The employee should ask if they can look in the bag for something that may be causing the alarm. If the shopper does not have a shopping bag from your store or only has a purse, take the pressure off of the “customer” by suggesting they could have something from another store that was not deactivated by their employees. If merchandise belonging to your store is found offer to ring it up for them. Let them “change” their mind if they so desire and just turn over merchandise.
• As your employee interacts with the patron they should try to maintain an arm length in distance until they can determine if the person is going to be cooperative. Even if they are cooperative the employee must stay alert to the off-chance the suspect gets irritated or aggressive. If this happens disengage.
• Your workers should never block a suspect’s exit from the store or follow-them out. Yes, you want to stop shoplifting but this places the employee in a dangerous position. They never know if the suspect will push past them or knock them down to get out. Your employee also does not know who may be outside waiting for the suspect.
Make sure your staff is trained on the proper methods of EAS tower alarm response. Most times your system will deter thieves and when they choose to try anyways you can be sure that Sensormatic system tags will set off the pedestals. Done properly employees can recover tagged product without incident. It is your responsibility to keep your team safe from harm so make sure they are trained to know when it is time to leave someone alone and call the police.
A Sensormatic system is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
I believe it only makes sense for a store owner to try to stop shoplifting from happening in their store. The use of closed circuit television, public view monitors and a Sensormatic security system are the proper tools to do this. What does not make sense is asking employees to respond to electronic article surveillance (EAS) alarms and not train them first in how to do so properly. I make this observation after having just watched a video from a news story (wgno.com “How Many Times Can Shoplifters Target The Same Store In Just Two Weeks”, April 12, 2019) that showed employees trying to stop people attempting to exit their store with laundry detergent they did not pay for. The crooks can be seen walking through EAS towers at the front doors but at least in one instance an associate locked the doors so they could not exit. The lights in the tower flashed indicating the merchandise was tagged. The thieves are approached by store personnel but the approach and interaction made me nervous for the employees. As a former Loss Prevention Manager it looked ugly and it could have gotten uglier. Three different suspects all attempted to walk out with detergent. One suspect was approached by an employee who did not seem to do so safely. The video showed the employee was trying to talk the suspect into putting the detergent down but he also got into close proximity with the perpetrator and even followed him out of the store after the suspect put the merchandise down. There are times when an employee is better off calling police than putting themselves (or others) into a precarious position.
A Sensormatic system is going to deter the vast majority of your would-be shoplifters. These people come in and as soon as they see the detection towers they conclude that trying to steal from the store would be risky. Unfortunately there are other shoplifters, aggressive and potentially dangerous who steal as part of an organized crime ring or as part of a gang. It is very difficult to stop shoplifting by these criminals. In a normal situation anti-theft towers and tags deter theft and any trained employee can respond to an alarm and tactfully recover merchandise. The same is not the case with the aggressive shoplifter. It is not always clear who is going to be cooperative and who is going to become belligerent. As I watched the video clips I decided to give some quick tips on handling Sensormatic system alarms based on my training and experiences.
• When an alarm tower sounds the responding employee should approach the customer in a calm manner. Don’t look aggressive. Offering an explanation such as something must not have been deactivated helps to relax the offender.
• Never take a bag from the person. The employee should ask if they can look in the bag for something that may be causing the alarm. If the shopper does not have a shopping bag from your store or only has a purse, take the pressure off of the “customer” by suggesting they could have something from another store that was not deactivated by their employees. If merchandise belonging to your store is found offer to ring it up for them. Let them “change” their mind if they so desire and just turn over merchandise.
• As your employee interacts with the patron they should try to maintain an arm length in distance until they can determine if the person is going to be cooperative. Even if they are cooperative the employee must stay alert to the off-chance the suspect gets irritated or aggressive. If this happens disengage.
• Your workers should never block a suspect’s exit from the store or follow-them out. Yes, you want to stop shoplifting but this places the employee in a dangerous position. They never know if the suspect will push past them or knock them down to get out. Your employee also does not know who may be outside waiting for the suspect.
Make sure your staff is trained on the proper methods of EAS tower alarm response. Most times your system will deter thieves and when they choose to try anyways you can be sure that Sensormatic system tags will set off the pedestals. Done properly employees can recover tagged product without incident. It is your responsibility to keep your team safe from harm so make sure they are trained to know when it is time to leave someone alone and call the police.
A Sensormatic system is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Employee Theft Reduction Training – 3 WC Blog 784
Stop shoplifting – 5
Basic Training On How To Stop Shoplifting And Employee Theft
As I prepared to write this article about training to stop shoplifting and employee theft I thought back to my days in U.S. Air Force Basic Training. When I went in at age 18, I thought I could dress myself, make my bed, clean a bathroom and even stand up straight but boy was I in for a surprise! My T.I. (Training Instructor) Sgt. Ulmer made it very clear to us from the day we arrived that we were hmmmm, how do I say this in less colorful prose than he used? We were less than adequate and really had no business even being on his base. I learned over the course of 6 weeks how to walk and talk and even sit properly. Many of the things we learned were demonstrated to us then Sgt. Ulmer would explain it to us step by step and then we would perform the task ourselves such as making the bed (my mother never taught me how important hospital corners would be later in life). For those who could not learn things properly or made egregious errors over the course of the 6 weeks, there would be a “wash back” where they had the ability to go back to the starting point and begin their training over again. The military was very helpful in making sure we understood how things were to be done and gave plenty of opportunity to get remedial training when needed. After 6 weeks and assuming one did not have to repeat their training, we were prepared enough to be sent on to our technical training schools because we had learned to walk, talk, eat, make our beds and properly clean bathrooms in addition to all of the other things we had to learn. I know you are wondering how this can possibly relate to employee theft reduction training and how to stop shoplifting.
I talk jokingly about having to learn to do things I thought I already knew but the fact of the matter is I did have to learn to do those things again. I did not know how the U.S. Air Force would want me to do them. Thinking you know the proper way to do something or believing you have more knowledge on a subject than you actually do have can lead to big problems in some areas, such as how to stop shoplifting or prevent dishonest employee activity. The same applies to store owners and managers who need to address stock shortage and theft that costs thousands and tens of thousands of dollars every year. You may think you know how to protect your merchandise but there are things you probably do not know based on my experience with retail managers. Only a company with trainers who have actual Retail Loss Prevention experience can provide reliable and proven employee theft reduction training and training to stop shoplifting. Let me give you a couple examples of theft related information that might come as a surprise. Concealment of merchandise by a customer may in most instances be enough to prove intent to shoplift. Other states may have wording in their law that would make it better for the retailer to allow the suspect to exit the store or pass the last point of sale before stopping them. That begs the question, if the last point of sale is a return desk located near the front door should is that the last point of sale? Did you know that many Retail Loss Prevention departments discourage apprehending a person who sets off an electronic article surveillance alarm even if unpaid merchandise is recovered? Were you aware that an employee can be charged with breach of trust in many instances rather than theft for such things as price manipulation or conducting fake refunds? These are cases in which the employee is deliberately manipulating store data in order to falsely obtain money or goods below value to personally profit from the manipulation.
There are many other things you probably do not know about when it comes theft. Employee theft reduction training from Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. prepares you so you and your team know how to stop shoplifting before it happens. They can also teach you how you can take steps in the pre-hiring phase to reduce your exposure of hiring a bad apple. Their training is top notch and if you don’t check into it you are doing your business a disservice. You will be surprised at how much you don’t know and you don’t have to attend Basic Training to do so.
For more information on employee theft reduction training contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
As I prepared to write this article about training to stop shoplifting and employee theft I thought back to my days in U.S. Air Force Basic Training. When I went in at age 18, I thought I could dress myself, make my bed, clean a bathroom and even stand up straight but boy was I in for a surprise! My T.I. (Training Instructor) Sgt. Ulmer made it very clear to us from the day we arrived that we were hmmmm, how do I say this in less colorful prose than he used? We were less than adequate and really had no business even being on his base. I learned over the course of 6 weeks how to walk and talk and even sit properly. Many of the things we learned were demonstrated to us then Sgt. Ulmer would explain it to us step by step and then we would perform the task ourselves such as making the bed (my mother never taught me how important hospital corners would be later in life). For those who could not learn things properly or made egregious errors over the course of the 6 weeks, there would be a “wash back” where they had the ability to go back to the starting point and begin their training over again. The military was very helpful in making sure we understood how things were to be done and gave plenty of opportunity to get remedial training when needed. After 6 weeks and assuming one did not have to repeat their training, we were prepared enough to be sent on to our technical training schools because we had learned to walk, talk, eat, make our beds and properly clean bathrooms in addition to all of the other things we had to learn. I know you are wondering how this can possibly relate to employee theft reduction training and how to stop shoplifting.
I talk jokingly about having to learn to do things I thought I already knew but the fact of the matter is I did have to learn to do those things again. I did not know how the U.S. Air Force would want me to do them. Thinking you know the proper way to do something or believing you have more knowledge on a subject than you actually do have can lead to big problems in some areas, such as how to stop shoplifting or prevent dishonest employee activity. The same applies to store owners and managers who need to address stock shortage and theft that costs thousands and tens of thousands of dollars every year. You may think you know how to protect your merchandise but there are things you probably do not know based on my experience with retail managers. Only a company with trainers who have actual Retail Loss Prevention experience can provide reliable and proven employee theft reduction training and training to stop shoplifting. Let me give you a couple examples of theft related information that might come as a surprise. Concealment of merchandise by a customer may in most instances be enough to prove intent to shoplift. Other states may have wording in their law that would make it better for the retailer to allow the suspect to exit the store or pass the last point of sale before stopping them. That begs the question, if the last point of sale is a return desk located near the front door should is that the last point of sale? Did you know that many Retail Loss Prevention departments discourage apprehending a person who sets off an electronic article surveillance alarm even if unpaid merchandise is recovered? Were you aware that an employee can be charged with breach of trust in many instances rather than theft for such things as price manipulation or conducting fake refunds? These are cases in which the employee is deliberately manipulating store data in order to falsely obtain money or goods below value to personally profit from the manipulation.
There are many other things you probably do not know about when it comes theft. Employee theft reduction training from Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. prepares you so you and your team know how to stop shoplifting before it happens. They can also teach you how you can take steps in the pre-hiring phase to reduce your exposure of hiring a bad apple. Their training is top notch and if you don’t check into it you are doing your business a disservice. You will be surprised at how much you don’t know and you don’t have to attend Basic Training to do so.
For more information on employee theft reduction training, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
