Retail Traffic Counting – 3 WC Blog 743
Customer Counting Systems -3
Using Customer Counting Systems To Improve Customer Service – Part 2
This series is about how retail traffic counting, customer service and theft prevention all relate to each other. It is also a discussion on how leadership impacts the environment in a business and can build success or damage morale. As my examples for this article I referenced visits I recently made to two different fast food restaurants. I used Part 1 to illustrate the poor example of service and how it appeared management had failed to plan for a particularly busy shift or a busy day based on my observations. Had that business been a retail store I have no doubt that customers would have abandoned shopping carts and shoplifters would have been able to steal to their hearts content. I also noted that employees were not friendly and it may well have been the result of the way the manager was reacting to the situation and barking orders and questioning employees.
In Part 2 I am sharing a much more positive experience at another restaurant and the lessons that can be applied to a retail store. It was another busy day and I will go out on a limb and say the second restaurant was even busier than the first had been. Cars were lined up completely around the building at the drive through and the parking lot was full. I parked and went in expecting to have to wait a considerable amount of time. That turned out not to be the case, I was able to go up to the counter and order my food. The cashier was pleasant and took my order then began to fill it. I stepped back and watched the team. The manager was giving directions but was also encouraging the team. He wasn’t stressed though he had every right to be based on the number of patrons. Every employee I could see was smiling and appeared to be in good spirits. There seemed to be an adequate number of workers to meet the needs of the day. I don’t know what the business used for staffing or planning but if they were a retail business I would have guessed they used customer counting systems to help plan for the day or the week. To top off this trip as I walked out to my car I saw that not only were cars going through the drive through, the manager had two employees going to those cars to take orders by hand and deliver them to the window to speed up service. I was impressed.
Using these two restaurants in comparison I would ask how your stores stack up in terms of leadership and customer service. If you were to use a retail traffic counting device you would be able to use hard numbers to know when traffic flow is taking place. Use that information to make effective schedules, having the right number of workers in place at the right time. That alone will go a long way in keeping your workers happy. It also makes life easier on managers who aren’t feeling under pressure to do the work rather than being able to take a step back and provide directions. Stressed managers stress the teams working for them.
How easy is it to set up customer counting systems? If you have a Sensormatic security system it may be just a matter of incorporating it in an existing security tower. If you don’t have a Sensormatic system to prevent shoplifting I can tell you that they are affordable even for the smallest of stores. Even better, if you were to purchase it through Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. you receive free anti-shoplifting training that will help you effectively reduce theft and learn how to respond to Sensormatic system alarms. If cost is a concern they also offer financing options. As someone who has been in retail for over 28 years I strongly recommend that you visit the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. website for more information on customer counting systems and anti-theft devices.
It should be noted that improving customer service by having an adequate number of people working affects more than just employee happiness. I will tell you that having enough workers available when your store is busy improves sales as more attention can be given to assisting shoppers on the salesfloor. It is also an effective means of combating shoplifting, especially when used with a Sensormatic security system. To staff properly don’t take a guess at how you should schedule. Use a retail traffic counting device and start to reap the benefits immediately. You can count on it!
Customer counting systems are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
This series is about how retail traffic counting, customer service and theft prevention all relate to each other. It is also a discussion on how leadership impacts the environment in a business and can build success or damage morale. As my examples for this article I referenced visits I recently made to two different fast food restaurants. I used Part 1 to illustrate the poor example of service and how it appeared management had failed to plan for a particularly busy shift or a busy day based on my observations. Had that business been a retail store I have no doubt that customers would have abandoned shopping carts and shoplifters would have been able to steal to their hearts content. I also noted that employees were not friendly and it may well have been the result of the way the manager was reacting to the situation and barking orders and questioning employees.
In Part 2 I am sharing a much more positive experience at another restaurant and the lessons that can be applied to a retail store. It was another busy day and I will go out on a limb and say the second restaurant was even busier than the first had been. Cars were lined up completely around the building at the drive through and the parking lot was full. I parked and went in expecting to have to wait a considerable amount of time. That turned out not to be the case, I was able to go up to the counter and order my food. The cashier was pleasant and took my order then began to fill it. I stepped back and watched the team. The manager was giving directions but was also encouraging the team. He wasn’t stressed though he had every right to be based on the number of patrons. Every employee I could see was smiling and appeared to be in good spirits. There seemed to be an adequate number of workers to meet the needs of the day. I don’t know what the business used for staffing or planning but if they were a retail business I would have guessed they used customer counting systems to help plan for the day or the week. To top off this trip as I walked out to my car I saw that not only were cars going through the drive through, the manager had two employees going to those cars to take orders by hand and deliver them to the window to speed up service. I was impressed.
Using these two restaurants in comparison I would ask how your stores stack up in terms of leadership and customer service. If you were to use a retail traffic counting device you would be able to use hard numbers to know when traffic flow is taking place. Use that information to make effective schedules, having the right number of workers in place at the right time. That alone will go a long way in keeping your workers happy. It also makes life easier on managers who aren’t feeling under pressure to do the work rather than being able to take a step back and provide directions. Stressed managers stress the teams working for them.
How easy is it to set up customer counting systems? If you have a Sensormatic security system it may be just a matter of incorporating it in an existing security tower. If you don’t have a Sensormatic system to prevent shoplifting I can tell you that they are affordable even for the smallest of stores. Even better, if you were to purchase it through Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. you receive free anti-shoplifting training that will help you effectively reduce theft and learn how to respond to Sensormatic system alarms. If cost is a concern they also offer financing options. As someone who has been in retail for over 28 years I strongly recommend that you visit the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. website for more information on customer counting systems and anti-theft devices.
It should be noted that improving customer service by having an adequate number of people working affects more than just employee happiness. I will tell you that having enough workers available when your store is busy improves sales as more attention can be given to assisting shoppers on the salesfloor. It is also an effective means of combating shoplifting, especially when used with a Sensormatic security system. To staff properly don’t take a guess at how you should schedule. Use a retail traffic counting device and start to reap the benefits immediately. You can count on it!
Customer counting systems are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Sensormatic Safers – 4 WC Blog 766
Prevent Shoplifting -3
Enjoy The Freedom That Comes With Sensormatic Safers
I enjoy customer service and helping customers but when I have to assist a customer because the items they want are locked-up instead of protected by Sensormatic Safers it is frustrating. In the store I work at we sell computer software and there are many items on display that are what I call ‘live’ products having the actual discs in them. As a precaution to prevent shoplifting there are also a lot of programs that we carry and we only display empty boxes for customers. The boxes are even labeled with a warning that these are empty display boxes. Now coming from a person who has been involved in Retail Loss Prevention, writing about it or managing a Loss Prevention department you would assume I would be in favor of this. That is simply not the case. While I hate theft I am not in favor of locking up most merchandise.
Locking up merchandise is a headache for a number of reasons. One concern I have is if merchandise is locked up and has to be retrieved from a secure stockroom an associate is often alone to retrieve that item. Now think about the temptation that may present to an associate. They are surrounded by “high-risk” merchandise in a secluded environment. It is an enticement to some people. I have caught employees stealing from secured stockrooms and often those are higher dollar cases than other employee theft incidents because of the merchandise involved. Locking display cases can present a similar problem because there is a notion that no one can see what is going on inside the case if they are trying to sneak merchandise out. The use of Sensormatic Safers puts merchandise out in the public view and makes employee theft more difficult.
Another irritation with locked up merchandise is that the customer has to wait for assistance to get the product. It may be that someone with keys has to come to a display case and show merchandise to the patron. Control over merchandise has to be maintained even when the shopper is looking at the product. Have you ever seen how fast some shoplifters can run during a snatch and run incident? I have and some of these folks could put an Olympic track star to shame (if only they would re-direct their running skills!). Then there are the skilled shoplifters who know how to confuse a salesperson and steal a piece of merchandise through deception and fast-talking. Finally with locking cases customers have the uncomfortable feeling of being watched when an item is taken out of a display case. The employee has no choice but to be observant and the customer feels rushed trying to look over the item. Using retail anti-theft devices like Sensormatic Safers relieve managers of blowing unnecessary payroll on the time workers are tied up retrieving merchandise from lock-up cases and stockrooms. They prevent shoplifting by scam artists and allow customers to pick up an item and walk around the store with it and take it to the register at their leisure.
With several sizes of Safers available to merchants there is a wide range of products a store can choose to protect against pilferage. The design of these anti-theft devices is such that there is little impact on the amount of space they require to stock on a peghook. This means you can continue stocking almost the same amount of merchandise you already put out and that helps sales. It also frees up stockroom space for other goods. Have you ever experienced running out of a hot selling item because you did not have enough of it on hand and you couldn’t store additional product for lack of space? More space in the stockroom can give you flexibility to have more of that type of stock on hand so you can replenish your floor faster than waiting on a new shipment.
There are two other problems associated with empty display boxes. First, customers tend to see the empty box and since the shelf isn’t empty they assume the store has more on hand. This is not necessarily true but it can cause a real issue with customers. The other problem is at inventory time and if your inventory counters don’t pay attention they may count an empty box and skew your results. It may look good for one year but you will pay for it the next year when the errors are found and corrected.
Prevent shoplifting by protecting merchandise with Sensormatic Safers and tags. Locking up merchandise wastes payroll, wastes employee time and annoys your customers which can lead to lost sales and lost patronage. Owners can experience freedom when using Sensormatic products.
Get more information on Sensormatic Safers contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I enjoy customer service and helping customers but when I have to assist a customer because the items they want are locked-up instead of protected by Sensormatic Safers it is frustrating. In the store I work at we sell computer software and there are many items on display that are what I call ‘live’ products having the actual discs in them. As a precaution to prevent shoplifting there are also a lot of programs that we carry and we only display empty boxes for customers. The boxes are even labeled with a warning that these are empty display boxes. Now coming from a person who has been involved in Retail Loss Prevention, writing about it or managing a Loss Prevention department you would assume I would be in favor of this. That is simply not the case. While I hate theft I am not in favor of locking up most merchandise.
Locking up merchandise is a headache for a number of reasons. One concern I have is if merchandise is locked up and has to be retrieved from a secure stockroom an associate is often alone to retrieve that item. Now think about the temptation that may present to an associate. They are surrounded by “high-risk” merchandise in a secluded environment. It is an enticement to some people. I have caught employees stealing from secured stockrooms and often those are higher dollar cases than other employee theft incidents because of the merchandise involved. Locking display cases can present a similar problem because there is a notion that no one can see what is going on inside the case if they are trying to sneak merchandise out. The use of Sensormatic Safers puts merchandise out in the public view and makes employee theft more difficult.
Another irritation with locked up merchandise is that the customer has to wait for assistance to get the product. It may be that someone with keys has to come to a display case and show merchandise to the patron. Control over merchandise has to be maintained even when the shopper is looking at the product. Have you ever seen how fast some shoplifters can run during a snatch and run incident? I have and some of these folks could put an Olympic track star to shame (if only they would re-direct their running skills!). Then there are the skilled shoplifters who know how to confuse a salesperson and steal a piece of merchandise through deception and fast-talking. Finally with locking cases customers have the uncomfortable feeling of being watched when an item is taken out of a display case. The employee has no choice but to be observant and the customer feels rushed trying to look over the item. Using retail anti-theft devices like Sensormatic Safers relieve managers of blowing unnecessary payroll on the time workers are tied up retrieving merchandise from lock-up cases and stockrooms. They prevent shoplifting by scam artists and allow customers to pick up an item and walk around the store with it and take it to the register at their leisure.
With several sizes of Safers available to merchants there is a wide range of products a store can choose to protect against pilferage. The design of these anti-theft devices is such that there is little impact on the amount of space they require to stock on a peghook. This means you can continue stocking almost the same amount of merchandise you already put out and that helps sales. It also frees up stockroom space for other goods. Have you ever experienced running out of a hot selling item because you did not have enough of it on hand and you couldn’t store additional product for lack of space? More space in the stockroom can give you flexibility to have more of that type of stock on hand so you can replenish your floor faster than waiting on a new shipment.
There are two other problems associated with empty display boxes. First, customers tend to see the empty box and since the shelf isn’t empty they assume the store has more on hand. This is not necessarily true but it can cause a real issue with customers. The other problem is at inventory time and if your inventory counters don’t pay attention they may count an empty box and skew your results. It may look good for one year but you will pay for it the next year when the errors are found and corrected.
Prevent shoplifting by protecting merchandise with Sensormatic Safers and tags. Locking up merchandise wastes payroll, wastes employee time and annoys your customers which can lead to lost sales and lost patronage. Owners can experience freedom when using Sensormatic products.
Get more information on Sensormatic Safers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
How do we balance clothing security and keeping our associates and ourselves safe from harm. We know that if we do nothing to combat shoplifting that we will soon be out of business. Shoplifters are like anyone else, they talk. And talk they do, to other shoplifters. They compare stories, techniques and where the best places to steal are. We have to combat shoplifters or your store will end up on the shoplifters’ short list. Clothing security and the security of any other type of merchandise is really quite simple. That is the easy part! If you want help with that reach out to us. We can fix it.
But when is enough, enough? There are shoplifters out there that are ready to take it to the next level and hurt someone in order to get away. The reasons are many, i.e. drugs, desperation, greed, debt or just that they “want it”. When I conduct my live Stop Shoplifting seminars either in person or via webinar I always tell a story. Many years ago a shoplifter stole an item from a store in a mall. That was not in dispute. The item was not just petty it was around $500+, a felony. He was seen by store management and ran. This was a store in a mall on the second level. As he was running to escape, he collided with a woman holding an infant. The infant flew out of her arms and went over the railing and was killed on impact on the planter below.
The shoplifter was caught and prosecuted for not only felony theft but for the infant’s death. That was on the criminal court side. He stole the merchandise, ran, and caused the death of the infant. We do not even need to go into the civil suits that were filed. You can imagine who was sued, everyone including the retailer and employees.
But now put yourself into the place of the manager who chased him. How would you feel? You might say to yourself that you were simply pursuing a thief that caused the death. It’s not my fault. Or, is it? If you did not chase the shoplifter to begin with, it would have never happened. These are the things that you will have to wrestle with, for the rest of your life. I have been a Law Enforcement Officer in both the civilian and military worlds. I have faced more life and death situations, both my life and others, than I care to remember. There have been many thousands of times that I have asked myself if I could have done something different.
So, all of this happened due of $500. It was simply NOT WORTH IT! In fact I want you to look at your shoplifting problem from a completely different angle. If you have an incident where you have to chase a shoplifter occurs and your training to stop shoplifting and procedures broke down or failed. In that case you need to go back and refine your program to stop shoplifting, not be chasing shoplifters through the parking lot. When reading this in the comfortable environment you are in right now it may sound like good justice that the shoplifter himself runs out into traffic and gets hit by a car. But the potential for innocent casualties from that could be too horrible to consider.
When a loss occurs reverse engineer it. Where were the break downs? Was your staff paying attention? Were they even trained in what to look for? Do you have adequate Sensormatic Security Systems in place? Are those Sensormatic Security Systems working correctly? Do you have the correct Sensormatic clothing security tags? Are those clothing security tags placed correctly? Are the clothing security tags using the correct pin? Does your staff (and you) know how to PROPERLY react to a Sensormatic Security System alarm? Is your store’s merchandise arranged and displayed correctly or is it customer AND shoplifter friendly? Are small, high dollar, popular items on an end cap in the back of the store? Are you relying on a CCTV system to discourage shoplifters? Shoplifters do not care if you have cameras or not.
Look at it this way. After thirty-five years in Loss Prevention I have found that there are only two ways to prevent shoplifting and they both must be done together. Staff training to PREVENT or stop shoplifting and a Sensormatic Security System. Other brands are fine also but retail theft prevention with Sensormatic systems tend to protect the widest range of products. Retail theft prevention needs to be a constant, consistent effort on your part. And retail theft prevention must involve your trained staff. Without them you can have the best Sensormatic systems installed and you will still have shoplifting problems. Loss Prevention Systems will train you and your staff on how to avoid confrontations and discourage shoplifters while delighting your good customers.
So if you are ready to stop shoplifting once and for all, contact us or call us toll free at 1-770-426-0547 and let us attack your shoplifting problems together.
11 WAB Blog
Retail A Dangerous Place To Work? Balancing Clothing Security and Safety
How do we balance clothing security and keeping our associates and ourselves safe from harm. We know that if we do nothing to combat shoplifting that we will soon be out of business. Shoplifters are like anyone else, they talk. And talk they do, to other shoplifters. They compare stories, techniques and where the best places to steal are. We have to combat shoplifters or your store will end up on the shoplifters’ short list. Clothing security and the security of any other type of merchandise is really quite simple. That is the easy part! If you want help with that reach out to us. We can fix it.
But when is enough, enough? There are shoplifters out there that are ready to take it to the next level and hurt someone in order to get away. The reasons are many, i.e. drugs, desperation, greed, debt or just that they “want it”. When I conduct my live Stop Shoplifting seminars either in person or via webinar I always tell a story. Many years ago a shoplifter stole an item from a store in a mall. That was not in dispute. The item was not just petty it was around $500+, a felony. He was seen by store management and ran. This was a store in a mall on the second level. As he was running to escape, he collided with a woman holding an infant. The infant flew out of her arms and went over the railing and was killed on impact on the planter below.
The shoplifter was caught and prosecuted for not only felony theft but for the infant’s death. That was on the criminal court side. He stole the merchandise, ran, and caused the death of the infant. We do not even need to go into the civil suits that were filed. You can imagine who was sued, everyone including the retailer and employees.
But now put yourself into the place of the manager who chased him. How would you feel? You might say to yourself that you were simply pursuing a thief that caused the death. It’s not my fault. Or, is it? If you did not chase the shoplifter to begin with, it would have never happened. These are the things that you will have to wrestle with, for the rest of your life. I have been a Law Enforcement Officer in both the civilian and military worlds. I have faced more life and death situations, both my life and others, than I care to remember. There have been many thousands of times that I have asked myself if I could have done something different.
So, all of this happened due of $500. It was simply NOT WORTH IT! In fact I want you to look at your shoplifting problem from a completely different angle. If you have an incident where you have to chase a shoplifter occurs and your training to stop shoplifting and procedures broke down or failed. In that case you need to go back and refine your program to stop shoplifting, not be chasing shoplifters through the parking lot. When reading this in the comfortable environment you are in right now it may sound like good justice that the shoplifter himself runs out into traffic and gets hit by a car. But the potential for innocent casualties from that could be too horrible to consider.
When a loss occurs reverse engineer it. Where were the break downs? Was your staff paying attention? Were they even trained in what to look for? Do you have adequate Sensormatic Security Systems in place? Are those Sensormatic Security Systems working correctly? Do you have the correct Sensormatic clothing security tags? Are those clothing security tags placed correctly? Are the clothing security tags using the correct pin? Does your staff (and you) know how to PROPERLY react to a Sensormatic Security System alarm? Is your store’s merchandise arranged and displayed correctly or is it customer AND shoplifter friendly? Are small, high dollar, popular items on an end cap in the back of the store? Are you relying on a CCTV system to discourage shoplifters? Shoplifters do not care if you have cameras or not.
Look at it this way. After thirty-five years in Loss Prevention I have found that there are only two ways to prevent shoplifting and they both must be done together. Staff training to PREVENT or stop shoplifting and a Sensormatic Security System. Other brands are fine also but retail theft prevention with Sensormatic systems tend to protect the widest range of products. Retail theft prevention needs to be a constant, consistent effort on your part. And retail theft prevention must involve your trained staff. Without them you can have the best Sensormatic systems installed and you will still have shoplifting problems. Loss Prevention Systems will train you and your staff on how to avoid confrontations and discourage shoplifters while delighting your good customers.
So if you are ready to stop shoplifting once and for all, contact us or call us toll free at 1-770-426-0547 and let us attack your shoplifting problems together.
How do we balance clothing security and keeping our associates and ourselves safe from harm. We know that if we do nothing to combat shoplifting that we will soon be out of business. Shoplifters are like anyone else, they talk. And talk they do, to other shoplifters. They compare stories, techniques and where the best places to steal are. We have to combat shoplifters or your store will end up on the shoplifters’ short list. Clothing security and the security of any other type of merchandise is really quite simple. That is the easy part! If you want help with that reach out to us. We can fix it.
But when is enough, enough? There are shoplifters out there that are ready to take it to the next level and hurt someone in order to get away. The reasons are many, i.e. drugs, desperation, greed, debt or just that they “want it”. When I conduct my live Stop Shoplifting seminars either in person or via webinar I always tell a story. Many years ago a shoplifter stole an item from a store in a mall. That was not in dispute. The item was not just petty it was around $500+, a felony. He was seen by store management and ran. This was a store in a mall on the second level. As he was running to escape, he collided with a woman holding an infant. The infant flew out of her arms and went over the railing and was killed on impact on the planter below.
The shoplifter was caught and prosecuted for not only felony theft but for the infant’s death. That was on the criminal court side. He stole the merchandise, ran, and caused the death of the infant. We do not even need to go into the civil suits that were filed. You can imagine who was sued, everyone including the retailer and employees.
But now put yourself into the place of the manager who chased him. How would you feel? You might say to yourself that you were simply pursuing a thief that caused the death. It’s not my fault. Or, is it? If you did not chase the shoplifter to begin with, it would have never happened. These are the things that you will have to wrestle with, for the rest of your life. I have been a Law Enforcement Officer in both the civilian and military worlds. I have faced more life and death situations, both my life and others, than I care to remember. There have been many thousands of times that I have asked myself if I could have done something different.
So, all of this happened due of $500. It was simply NOT WORTH IT! In fact I want you to look at your shoplifting problem from a completely different angle. If you have an incident where you have to chase a shoplifter occurs and your training to stop shoplifting and procedures broke down or failed. In that case you need to go back and refine your program to stop shoplifting, not be chasing shoplifters through the parking lot. When reading this in the comfortable environment you are in right now it may sound like good justice that the shoplifter himself runs out into traffic and gets hit by a car. But the potential for innocent casualties from that could be too horrible to consider.
When a loss occurs reverse engineer it. Where were the break downs? Was your staff paying attention? Were they even trained in what to look for? Do you have adequate Sensormatic Security Systems in place? Are those Sensormatic Security Systems working correctly? Do you have the correct Sensormatic clothing security tags? Are those clothing security tags placed correctly? Are the clothing security tags using the correct pin? Does your staff (and you) know how to PROPERLY react to a Sensormatic Security System alarm? Is your store’s merchandise arranged and displayed correctly or is it customer AND shoplifter friendly? Are small, high dollar, popular items on an end cap in the back of the store? Are you relying on a CCTV system to discourage shoplifters? Shoplifters do not care if you have cameras or not.
Look at it this way. After thirty-five years in Loss Prevention I have found that there are only two ways to prevent shoplifting and they both must be done together. Staff training to PREVENT or stop shoplifting and a Sensormatic Security System. Other brands are fine also but retail theft prevention with Sensormatic systems tend to protect the widest range of products. Retail theft prevention needs to be a constant, consistent effort on your part. And retail theft prevention must involve your trained staff. Without them you can have the best Sensormatic systems installed and you will still have shoplifting problems. Loss Prevention Systems will train you and your staff on how to avoid confrontations and discourage shoplifters while delighting your good customers.
So if you are ready to stop shoplifting once and for all, contact us or call us toll free at 1-770-426-0547 and let us attack your shoplifting problems together.
How do we balance clothing security and keeping our associates and ourselves safe from harm. We know that if we do nothing to combat shoplifting that we will soon be out of business. Shoplifters are like anyone else, they talk. And talk they do, to other shoplifters. They compare stories, techniques and where the best places to steal are. We have to combat shoplifters or your store will end up on the shoplifters’ short list. Clothing security and the security of any other type of merchandise is really quite simple. That is the easy part! If you want help with that reach out to us. We can fix it.
But when is enough, enough? There are shoplifters out there that are ready to take it to the next level and hurt someone in order to get away. The reasons are many, i.e. drugs, desperation, greed, debt or just that they “want it”. When I conduct my live Stop Shoplifting seminars either in person or via webinar I always tell a story. Many years ago a shoplifter stole an item from a store in a mall. That was not in dispute. The item was not just petty it was around $500+, a felony. He was seen by store management and ran. This was a store in a mall on the second level. As he was running to escape, he collided with a woman holding an infant. The infant flew out of her arms and went over the railing and was killed on impact on the planter below.
The shoplifter was caught and prosecuted for not only felony theft but for the infant’s death. That was on the criminal court side. He stole the merchandise, ran, and caused the death of the infant. We do not even need to go into the civil suits that were filed. You can imagine who was sued, everyone including the retailer and employees.
But now put yourself into the place of the manager who chased him. How would you feel? You might say to yourself that you were simply pursuing a thief that caused the death. It’s not my fault. Or, is it? If you did not chase the shoplifter to begin with, it would have never happened. These are the things that you will have to wrestle with, for the rest of your life. I have been a Law Enforcement Officer in both the civilian and military worlds. I have faced more life and death situations, both my life and others, than I care to remember. There have been many thousands of times that I have asked myself if I could have done something different.
So, all of this happened due of $500. It was simply NOT WORTH IT! In fact I want you to look at your shoplifting problem from a completely different angle. If you have an incident where you have to chase a shoplifter occurs and your training to stop shoplifting and procedures broke down or failed. In that case you need to go back and refine your program to stop shoplifting, not be chasing shoplifters through the parking lot. When reading this in the comfortable environment you are in right now it may sound like good justice that the shoplifter himself runs out into traffic and gets hit by a car. But the potential for innocent casualties from that could be too horrible to consider.
When a loss occurs reverse engineer it. Where were the break downs? Was your staff paying attention? Were they even trained in what to look for? Do you have adequate Sensormatic Security Systems in place? Are those Sensormatic Security Systems working correctly? Do you have the correct Sensormatic clothing security tags? Are those clothing security tags placed correctly? Are the clothing security tags using the correct pin? Does your staff (and you) know how to PROPERLY react to a Sensormatic Security System alarm? Is your store’s merchandise arranged and displayed correctly or is it customer AND shoplifter friendly? Are small, high dollar, popular items on an end cap in the back of the store? Are you relying on a CCTV system to discourage shoplifters? Shoplifters do not care if you have cameras or not.
Look at it this way. After thirty-five years in Loss Prevention I have found that there are only two ways to prevent shoplifting and they both must be done together. Staff training to PREVENT or stop shoplifting and a Sensormatic Security System. Other brands are fine also but retail theft prevention with Sensormatic systems tend to protect the widest range of products. Retail theft prevention needs to be a constant, consistent effort on your part. And retail theft prevention must involve your trained staff. Without them you can have the best Sensormatic systems installed and you will still have shoplifting problems. Loss Prevention Systems will train you and your staff on how to avoid confrontations and discourage shoplifters while delighting your good customers.
So if you are ready to stop shoplifting once and for all, contact us or call us toll free at 1-770-426-0547 and let us attack your shoplifting problems together.
