Prevent Shoplifting -You Can’t Do It All Yourself

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you were the only one that was passionate about their job duties, and completing all of their daily tasks?  Unfortunately, when working in the retail loss prevention field, sometimes this is a reality.  It’s something that you need to identify early, and move quickly to make changes.  The struggle to prevent shoplifting in your store will only be made worse by store employees that are not on board with what needs to be done. Having your whole team on the same page is the best way to ensure success. It’s extremely difficult to try to make an impact by yourself, so training your team on awareness, and tasks that can later be delegated to them is priceless.  
I worked in a store once that I was immediately met with disgust on my very first day.  This wasn’t because anything I did myself, because I just started working there.  After talking with several employees, I quickly got the reason for this dislike of the loss prevention department.  I was basically told in so many words that loss prevention was useless and didn’t do anything but sit in the office.  I was shocked at this to say the least, but I was starting to understand why they felt that way.  Apparently the manager of the department that came before me wasn’t the best guy, would sleep in the office, and did a lot of other things that I can’t write about in this article.
I definitely had my work cut out for me at this particular store, but I knew if I didn’t change the store team’s perceptions, we would never be successful in things we were trying to accomplish.  I started talking to the store associates one on one and asking them how they thought I could do a better job than the last guy.  Of course there was a long list, but eventually they saw that I cared about the position and store, and I was not that guy.  I also had to train many of the associates on why we use retail anti-theft devices and how to use them.  I didn’t just tell them what to do and throw down an Alpha Spider Wrap, saying put this on that box. I actively participated with them, explaining why we use them, how they are beneficial, and then demonstrated how to use them properly.  
To get them excited about calling in tips on shoplifters, I offered them $5 gift cards for ever tip they called in that led to a shoplifter apprehension or recovery.  This gave them incentive to help me out, even if they didn’t like me at first.  It took a while to get to the point where they were all on board to help me prevent shoplifting in the store, the satisfaction of getting them all to change their perceptions, and turn around to head in the right direction was all worth it in the end.  You can use all the retail anti-theft devices in the world to protect your merchandise, but if your own staff doesn’t care at all about preventing theft, you’ll be fighting a losing battle.  Employee awareness is one of the best ways to help you reduce loss in your store, so make sure you are properly training your team to help your store successfully prevent shoplifting.
For more information contact us: (prevent shoplifting) or call 1.770.426.0547

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you were the only one that was passionate about their job duties, and completing all of their daily tasks?  Unfortunately, when working in the retail loss prevention field, sometimes this is a reality.  It’s something that you need to identify early, and move quickly to make changes.  The struggle to prevent shoplifting in your store will only be made worse by store employees that are not on board with what needs to be done. Having your whole team on the same page is the best way to ensure success. It’s extremely difficult to try to make an impact by yourself, so training your team on awareness, and tasks that can later be delegated to them is priceless.  

I worked in a store once that I was immediately met with disgust on my very first day.  This wasn’t because anything I did myself, because I just started working there.  After talking with several employees, I quickly got the reason for this dislike of the loss prevention department.  I was basically told in so many words that loss prevention was useless and didn’t do anything but sit in the office.  I was shocked at this to say the least, but I was starting to understand why they felt that way.  Apparently the manager of the department that came before me wasn’t the best guy, he would sleep in the office, and did a lot of other things that I can’t write about in this article.

I definitely had my work cut out for me at this particular store, but I knew if I didn’t change the store team’s perceptions, we would never be successful in things we were trying to accomplish.  I started talking to the store associates one on one and asking them how they thought I could do a better job than the last guy.  Of course there was a long list, but eventually they saw that I cared about the position and store, and I was not that guy.  I also had to train many of the associates on why we use retail anti-theft devices and how to use them.  I didn’t just tell them what to do and throw down an Alpha Spider Wrap, saying put this on that box. I actively participated with them, explaining why we use them, how they are beneficial, and then demonstrated how to use them properly.  

To get them excited about calling in tips on shoplifters, I offered them $5 gift cards for ever tip they called in that led to a shoplifter apprehension or recovery.  This gave them incentive to help me out, even if they didn’t like me at first.  It took a while to get to the point where they were all on board to help me prevent shoplifting in the store, the satisfaction of getting them all to change their perceptions, and turn around to head in the right direction was all worth it in the end.  You can use all the retail anti-theft devices in the world to protect your merchandise, but if your own staff doesn’t care at all about preventing theft, you’ll be fighting a losing battle.  Employee awareness is one of the best ways to help you reduce loss in your store, so make sure you are properly training your team to help your store successfully prevent shoplifting.

For more information contact us: Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547