Retail stores and super markets can be a busy place during festive and clearance sales. Good enough, there are more customers walking-in to buy one or two things at that time of the year. It is easy to conclude that owners of these stores make more profit at the mentioned period, but at the same time, it can be a nightmare in terms of shoplifting.
In other to keep a clear head as a Retail store manager, a lot of work must go into planning ahead and following best practices in retail security and crowd control.
As aforementioned due to the high traffic of customers in the retail store, there is a high possibility of theft, though not instantly noticeable at the first glance because retail loss from theft will only lead to a reduces sales, i.e retailers get run out of stock without making profit, and these have been the major challenges faced by super market and retail store managers.
We have carefully come up with 6 strategic solution for prevention of Retail Store Losses, and they are:
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Keeping track of how many people are present at any one time in any store
The current state of affairs calls for retailers to deploy security guards at the entrance of their stores in order to enforce health and safety measures and prevent theft and crowding.
Your guards can also act as customer service personnel, while your store staff can attend to customers’ needs.
In the event that security guards feel they have reached their capacity, they may consult with managers or use click counters to maintain that capacity. Thermal fever detector cameras can be used at certain
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Don’t display highly desirable or expensive items close to the exit
Don’t display highly desirable or expensive items close to the exit. Display value-added and small items that are potentially theft-prone in a case or an area that can easily be seen by the checkout staff and is closely monitored.
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Avoid theft by utilizing floor walkers
Floor walkers should be a trained security guard, they serve as foot patrol but here they walk around the shopping malls to observe the activities of shoppers or customer.
A store employee may be distracted by commotions, fights, or loud arguments that are staged between shoppers to make them look away while items are being stolen. Assign different retail security guards or staff to monitor different areas of your store to minimize distraction thefts.
However, for a better result, you can disguise your floor walker as shoppers, i.e they shouldn’t wearing the security guard attire. The officer will remain discreetly on the lookout while your staff can focus on serving the customer.
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Shops should have alarms on their back room doors
In many situations, an easy solution can make the difference between a crime occurring and it being prevented. In busy situations and crowded areas, shoplifters are more likely to enter store rooms. Employees can be notified of unauthorized entry by a beeping alarm. All staff property, including purses and wallets, should be locked.
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Stockpiled and planned thefts are to be avoided
Multiple items of high value can be placed together in one area so that all of the desired items can be “grabbed and run” at the same time. This is a common technique for large value thefts. Retail security guards should be looking for shoplifters returning to the area and should remove items that seem to have been stockpiled and return them to their respective locations.
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Be on the lookout for label changes
Staff should ensure that the product scanned into the cash register software is the same as the one the customer purchased. Theft will take advantage of the Shopping rush to replace some products’ labels with cheaper ones.
Action Point
You can avoid being surprised by the high traffic and any undesirable behavior during ‘rush hours’ by following these tips and other advice. The implementation of a retail security solution from a professional security firm like Sheriff Deputies can be as important as smart security measures.