How to combat shoplifting?

Frequent theft and security awareness in the retail industry

According to the survey, in the United States, 1/12 of customers have stolen in stores, and they have stolen 50 times on average before being caught. In other words, even if they are caught, only 10% -15% of people will be arrested.

There are many techniques to prevent shop theft. Being a shoplifter for more than 20 years, I know which ones are effective and which are just a waste of time. You can use a few field-tested techniques to reduce the theft of the store.

Install safety devices

In most cases, shoplifters will need a hidden place to store goods. In small specialty stores, the installation of security devices has created many opportunities for pickpockets to avoid sight, so the theft is even more serious there. Observe what your shop assistant is doing most of the time. In many small shops, the clerk is near the cash register. Some may be by the phone or in the office.

The safety device is installed to reduce "blind spots". Their usual role is to enable your shop assistant to monitor almost every channel.

If you install a safety device to expand the monitoring range, you should also consider placing a large convex mirror to observe those unavoidable hidden places.

If you go to the convenience store next time, pay attention to its layout. Most stores let a clerk directly look after the shelves, and then the convex mirror will reflect the other places.

Change the direction of the hanger

In one way, shoplifters can steal an alarming amount of clothes. They grabbed as much of the clothes on display as possible and rushed to a car waiting for them outside the store before they responded.

A simple way to prevent this is to change the orientation of each hanger on display, especially those close to the store exit. Because pickpockets hold a pile of clothes and escape from the tree shelf is not so easy. It should be regarded as a daily task, and employees should put hangers before opening and closing the store every day.

A receipt is required for return

Many shop pickpockets purposely "return" the goods to the shop. They may go to the same shop or other branches and ask for tax refunds.

In this case, you can ask him for a shopping receipt. This may cause some conflicts, but is conducive to providing high-quality customer service.

One compromise is to ask for tax refund documents and return orders, allowing the same commodity to be exchanged. In this way, legal customers with the wrong size or the wrong color can be exchanged, and pickpockets are also turned away.

Lock the goods that attract shoplifters

Generally speaking, the smaller and more valuable goods, the more attracted the attention of pickpockets, especially those stolen goods that can be sold on their own and refunded in exchange for tax refund.

Put small, expensive goods behind the counter or lock them in the display rack. If the display rack has a lock, lock it. Don't think that a display rack can block pickpockets. Legitimate customers will understand that this is a last resort and will not object because pickpockets are everywhere.

  Pay attention to EAS tags

Shopping mall electronic anti-theft system (EAS) is a small label attached to goods, it will be removed or automatically invalidated after the goods are purchased.

If it is not removed or automatically disabled, an alarm will be triggered when it passes the sensor at the door of the store. The EAS system is expensive, but very effective. If you install it, stick the label carefully. Hide it under the seam and the logo, or sandwich it between books and magazines. If you ca n’t hide it, arrange it naturally in the graphic design of the package to make it less conspicuous.

Consider putting two labels on the product, one is conspicuous and the other is less conspicuous. The shop pickpocket may have ripped off the conspicuous label, but did not pay attention to the other.

Precautions: Even if you do n’t have an EAS system, you might consider buying some tags. Some suppliers sell recycled labels at low prices. Pickpockets will notice these tags, but because they do not see a sensor door at the exit, they will think you are using a new system, they have not noticed. It ’s enough to prevent theft.