Do You Have A Good Retail
Theft Prevention Game Plan?

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If you're like most store owners and managers, you have some type of a retail theft prevention game plan and you are aware of the typical shoplifter. You know a lot their methods and try to to prevent theft as best as you can - but like with anything, there's still ideas and information to learn. Besides the shoplifter, you also have to consider the fact that one or more of your employees might be guilty of theft (My large library of employee theft videos that I collected as a Loss Prevention Manager showed that employee theft can be very devastating to a retail business. I soon found out that you should never forget employees in your retail theft prevention plan). If employees and customers know that you are serious about the theft in your store (you actually prosecute shoplifters and employees that steal), you will prevent additional theft from occurring.

"Is any of these things happening to you?"

- Your cash register is coming-up short.

- Your cash registers balance, you believe that you have a good control of any shoplifting problem, but you still show high waste numbers.

What do you do? Well first of all, the obvious answer would be to install a security camera a the "spot of the crime". After that, it may take hours of tedious video watching to actually see something suspicious. (Trust me, I think my eyes are still burning from all of the hours I spent watching video on my last internal (employee) theft case!). If you don't know where the "spot of the crime" is, you need to investigate.

The following examples of real-life retail theft prevention situations might be enough to spark an idea for you to use at your store in your retail theft prevention game plan.

Retail Theft Prevention Example #1 - "Bait and Hook"

What can you do? Well here is a little secret that I used to nab a large number of shoplifters: YOU DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO STEAL! You might be thinking "Are you crazy? I don't want them to steal anywhere". In a perfect world that would be great but thieves are going to do what they do - STEAL!

I've already established earlier on in this website that criminals are stupid so - I use their stupidity to catch them. You have got to bait them to a spot in your store that is comfortable for them to steal. Here is how you can do it:

1.) Install dummy cameras (camera domes), mirrors and great lighting in the isle that you want to drive the shoplifter out of.

2.) Less light, no mirrors and no dummy cameras in the isle that you actually want the shoplifter to steal in. This is the spot that you actually install one or more inexpensive pinhole cameras in the ceiling!

Believe me this works! If you have a area of your store that you continue to find empty packages (maybe in a three isle area typically in the corner of the store), this is what you can do:

Install the dummy cameras (camera domes), mirrors and great lighting in the back isle (isle #1) and do the same for (isle #3). Now it is isle #2 (the middle isle) that you make attractive to the shoplifters with the less light, no mirrors and no dummy cameras. This is where all your surveillance actually is with one or more pinhole cameras!

This method has worked great for me. If your goal not just retail theft prevention but is retail theft apprehension & prosecution, you will want to try my "bait and hook" trick. I'm sure you will be happy with the results!

Retail Theft Prevention Example #2
- "Employee Cash Theft"

I noticed that after a couple of transactions, after she had given the customer change, she would not close the register drawer all the way. After the customer had walked away, she would slip her had into the register till and would grab a bill (you always can tell when someone is up to no good by the way they hold their hand). With the bill in her hand, she would quickly slip her hand into her front pants pocket after she would look around to see if anyone was watching her.

Pretty simple. Hand in register. Money in hand. Money in pocket. This type of "cash" theft is pretty easy to catch on camera - security cameras are a necessary tool in your small business security plan.

Retail Theft Prevention Example #3 - "Are all your employees honest when the registers are not short?"

While randomly monitoring an employee's activity at the cash register and I was using the same procedure as above. I was reviewing the previous day's video along with the register journal tape. I would see a customer walk up to the register & for example I would see one tube of toothpaste go across the scanner & also see the toothpaste on the journal tape. I would see a box of tissues go across the scanner & also on the journal tape. I continued use this method (watching item by item on both the video and journal tape).

After 2 1/2 hours of mind numbing video watching, I noticed the following: a pack of gum on video & journal tape, a candy bar on video & journal tape, a DVD on video & . . . "WAIT A MINUTE, WHERE IS THE DVD ON THE JOURNAL TAPE?". I quickly backed-up the video. DVD on video but not on the journal tape. The customer paid just over $1.00 for the gum, candy bar and the $19.99 DVD. Was it a mistake or was the customer actually a friend of the employee getting a sweet deal? After finding this one incident, I was sure to watch everything that this employee did for the next few days (you need to find-out the full extent of the dishonesty - are they stealing from you once a month or once an hour?).

My investigation revealed that this employee was stealing at least once a day (sometimes 3 times a day). She always used the same method to steal - scan a few small items and "free bag" the more expensive items for several friends - the most expensive item not paid for was a $135 bike. After just three days on video, this employee had stolen over $900!

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