iPad Theft- 3 WC Blog 562
Bug Tag-5
Classic N10-4
A Bug Tag And Classic N10 Towers Are A Powerful Solution To Medical iPad Theft
I recently made another visit to a hospital for a relative. During the visit I caught myself looking around at the medical equipment and thinking about the issue of iPad theft and stolen medical identity. No, I wasn’t being insensitive I was waiting for the relative to be released by the nursing staff so there wasn’t much I could do to stay occupied. While I was glancing around the halls I saw several laptop carts left unattended. Because of my frequent visits to this hospital I also am aware that iPads or computer tablets are in use by staff. How easy would it be for a criminal to engage in iPad theft or computer theft with equipment left unattended? The potential for theft is problematic but the issue of medical identity theft as a result of a stolen device is a bigger concern. The remedy for the problem is simple. It would only require a Bug Tag to be attached to an iPad or Tablet and a Classic N10 electronic article surveillance tower to be set up at each door.
The Bug Tag is a device with electronic article surveillance circuitry built into it that sends out a radio wave. The Classic N10 tower is a receiver that can detect a tagged iPad, computer tablet or other device when carried with the detection radius of the tower. When the tag is detected pandemonium erupts. The tower alarms scream out a high pitched alert and LED lights flash on and off signaling nearby staff to respond and recover hospital equipment. If the tag is a 3 Alarm tag it will sound an internal alarm if the crook continues to exit the building and this alarm follows the thief where they go. What happens if the criminal just pulls the tag off of the device? No problem! The Bug Tag has a tamper alarm that will scream out 95 decibels of noise giving away what the culprit is trying to do.
Why am I more concerned about the loss of information contained on a mobile medical device than I am the device itself? In an article in Healthcare IT News by Bill Siwicki, Feb 20, 2017, “Study: One in four U.S. consumers have had their personal medical information stolen”, the author makes several scary points. “Twenty-six percent of U.S. consumers have had their personal medical information stolen from healthcare systems, according to results of a new study from Accenture released today at HIMSS17 in Orlando.” While the article does not go into detail on how the data breaches take place we know from the Department of Health and Human Services reporting that many potential breaches occur due to stolen computer devices. In 2018 alone 12 incidents of stolen computers or “other portable electronic devices” have been reported. The requirement is that the “Secretary must post a list of data breaches of unsecured protected health information affecting 500 individuals or more.” That means there could potentially be more incidents of theft and data breaches that are not reported if they are impacting less than 500 patients.
Mr. Siwicki goes on to say that, “…of those who experienced a breach were victims of medical identity theft and had to pay approximately $2500 in out-of-pocket costs per incident, on average.” It would be intolerable for patients to be responsible for such expenses due to a failure of the facility to provide adequate protection for devices when it would only take a Bug Tag and installation of Classic N10 towers to prevent many losses.
Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has the ability to equip all of your hand-held devices with the Bug Tag to prevent iPad theft and the potential theft of other equipment. They can point out the best locations to set up Classic N10 towers and train staff how to handle attempted device thefts. Why risk losing not only patient data but patient trust as well? Let Loss Prevention Systems Inc. protect your equipment and reputation as only they know how.
Get more information on a Bug Tag, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I recently made another visit to a hospital for a relative. During the visit I caught myself looking around at the medical equipment and thinking about the issue of iPad theft and stolen medical identity. No, I wasn’t being insensitive I was waiting for the relative to be released by the nursing staff so there wasn’t much I could do to stay occupied. While I was glancing around the halls I saw several laptop carts left unattended. Because of my frequent visits to this hospital I also am aware that iPads or computer tablets are in use by staff. How easy would it be for a criminal to engage in iPad theft or computer theft with equipment left unattended? The potential for theft is problematic but the issue of medical identity theft as a result of a stolen device is a bigger concern. The remedy for the problem is simple. It would only require a Bug Tag to be attached to an iPad or Tablet and a Classic N10 electronic article surveillance tower to be set up at each door.
The Bug Tag is a device with electronic article surveillance circuitry built into it that sends out a radio wave. The Classic N10 tower is a receiver that can detect a tagged iPad, computer tablet or other device when carried with the detection radius of the tower. When the tag is detected pandemonium erupts. The tower alarms scream out a high pitched alert and LED lights flash on and off signaling nearby staff to respond and recover hospital equipment. If the tag is a 3 Alarm tag it will sound an internal alarm if the crook continues to exit the building and this alarm follows the thief where they go. What happens if the criminal just pulls the tag off of the device? No problem! The Bug Tag has a tamper alarm that will scream out 95 decibels of noise giving away what the culprit is trying to do.
Why am I more concerned about the loss of information contained on a mobile medical device than I am the device itself? In an article in Healthcare IT News by Bill Siwicki, Feb 20, 2017, “Study: One in four U.S. consumers have had their personal medical information stolen”, the author makes several scary points. “Twenty-six percent of U.S. consumers have had their personal medical information stolen from healthcare systems, according to results of a new study from Accenture released today at HIMSS17 in Orlando.” While the article does not go into detail on how the data breaches take place we know from the Department of Health and Human Services reporting that many potential breaches occur due to stolen computer devices. In 2018 alone 12 incidents of stolen computers or “other portable electronic devices” have been reported. The requirement is that the “Secretary must post a list of data breaches of unsecured protected health information affecting 500 individuals or more.” That means there could potentially be more incidents of theft and data breaches that are not reported if they are impacting less than 500 patients.
Mr. Siwicki goes on to say that, “…of those who experienced a breach were victims of medical identity theft and had to pay approximately $2500 in out-of-pocket costs per incident, on average.” It would be intolerable for patients to be responsible for such expenses due to a failure of the facility to provide adequate protection for devices when it would only take a Bug Tag and installation of Classic N10 towers to prevent many losses.
Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has the ability to equip all of your hand-held devices with the Bug Tag to prevent iPad theft and the potential theft of other equipment. They can point out the best locations to set up Classic N10 towers and train staff how to handle attempted device thefts. Why risk losing not only patient data but patient trust as well? Let Loss Prevention Systems Inc. protect your equipment and reputation as only they know how.
Get more information on a Bug Tag, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Retail Theft Prevention-4 WC Blog 657
Sensormatic security systems-4
Retail Theft Prevention Is Not An Impossible Mission
I know that an article about retail theft prevention may seem an odd place to find a commentary on a movie but I just saw the movie, “Mission Impossible Fallout” and I thought it was fantastic. From start to finish it kept me on the edge of my seat and I left the cinema feeling like I got every bit of my money’s worth out of it. No, I won’t give any spoilers if you haven’t seen it, I’m not THAT guy. What I will say is from a return on investment perspective I was not disappointed in the least. That is my tie-in with this article. Have you ever been disappointed with a product that was supposed to enhance the security of your store and felt like it didn’t meet expectations? Maybe you have an alarm system that never seems to work properly and you get calls from the alarm company in the middle of the night due to malfunctions. It could be you have a credit card service that is not available to resolve issues for your point of sale after 5pm or on weekends, you know, the times a retail business is open. It could be you wanted to reduce theft and someone sold you an electronic article surveillance system at a bargain price and now you can’t get the support you need. Could you be getting defective tags and labels that never seem to activate your system when they should or maybe the deactivation pads don’t deactivate? All of these things can hinder your ability to provide the service your customers want from your store or won’t prevent the shortage YOU expect it to. Sensormatic security systems has been around for a long time and that doesn’t happen when a business doesn’t deliver on promises.
One way I decide I am going to view a movie is I look at the plot, the actors and occasionally the reviews. Having been a fan of the Mission Impossible series since the television days (and I even met Peter Graves for about 1 minute), and having watched the other movies in the series I can look at the proven track record and feel confident that the next movie will be great too. With an eye to retail theft prevention I can look at the track record of a company as a benchmark for their product. Sensormatic security systems is celebrating 50 years in retail electronic surveillance. According to their website they installed systems on a trial basis in stores. “A Los Angeles retailer using the system reported a decline in shrink from 5% to almost zero.” A lot has changed both in how thieves steal and in technology but this company continues to be a leader in the industry.
As a Loss Prevention Professional I used Sensormatic security systems tags and towers. I have witnessed the deterrence ability of tags when shoplifters could not remove them and I have seen the consistency of the tags alarming at the pedestals near the doors of a store. The Sensormatic brand is so reliable in retail theft prevention that Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. also a leader in retail theft reduction consulting services recommends the systems to clients. Reliability and dependability are two key factors in finding a system that will effectively reduce shortage.
Retail theft prevention is not an impossible mission for retailers. By installing a Sensormatic security system and consulting with Retail Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. you can get a superb return on your investment. Spoiler alert! Invest in a system and you will drive criminals out and put profits back in to your store.
Need information on Sensormatic security systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I know that an article about retail theft prevention may seem an odd place to find a commentary on a movie but I just saw the movie, “Mission Impossible Fallout” and I thought it was fantastic. From start to finish it kept me on the edge of my seat and I left the cinema feeling like I got every bit of my money’s worth out of it. No, I won’t give any spoilers if you haven’t seen it, I’m not THAT guy. What I will say is from a return on investment perspective I was not disappointed in the least. That is my tie-in with this article. Have you ever been disappointed with a product that was supposed to enhance the security of your store and felt like it didn’t meet expectations? Maybe you have an alarm system that never seems to work properly and you get calls from the alarm company in the middle of the night due to malfunctions. It could be you have a credit card service that is not available to resolve issues for your point of sale after 5pm or on weekends, you know, the times a retail business is open. It could be you wanted to reduce theft and someone sold you an electronic article surveillance system at a bargain price and now you can’t get the support you need. Could you be getting defective tags and labels that never seem to activate your system when they should or maybe the deactivation pads don’t deactivate? All of these things can hinder your ability to provide the service your customers want from your store or won’t prevent the shortage YOU expect it to. Sensormatic security systems has been around for a long time and that doesn’t happen when a business doesn’t deliver on promises.
One way I decide I am going to view a movie is I look at the plot, the actors and occasionally the reviews. Having been a fan of the Mission Impossible series since the television days (and I even met Peter Graves for about 1 minute), and having watched the other movies in the series I can look at the proven track record and feel confident that the next movie will be great too. With an eye to retail theft prevention I can look at the track record of a company as a benchmark for their product. Sensormatic security systems is celebrating 50 years in retail electronic surveillance. According to their website they installed systems on a trial basis in stores. “A Los Angeles retailer using the system reported a decline in shrink from 5% to almost zero.” A lot has changed both in how thieves steal and in technology but this company continues to be a leader in the industry.
As a Loss Prevention Professional I used Sensormatic security systems tags and towers. I have witnessed the deterrence ability of tags when shoplifters could not remove them and I have seen the consistency of the tags alarming at the pedestals near the doors of a store. The Sensormatic brand is so reliable in retail theft prevention that Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. also a leader in retail theft reduction consulting services recommends the systems to clients. Reliability and dependability are two key factors in finding a system that will effectively reduce shortage.
Retail theft prevention is not an impossible mission for retailers. By installing a Sensormatic security system and consulting with Retail Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. you can get a superb return on your investment. Spoiler alert! Invest in a system and you will drive criminals out and put profits back in to your store.
Need information on Sensormatic security systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Checkpoint Labels-5 WC Blog 501
Electronic Article Surveillance-4
Properly Respond To Electronic Article Surveillance Alarms
I write a lot about the benefits of using Checkpoint labels to protect merchandise from theft but I realized I do not necessarily do an adequate job of providing guidance on how to respond to electronic article surveillance alarms. I am going to spend some time in the article talking to you about the do’s and don’ts of alarm activations. It may sound like it is easy to do but issues can arise if an employee does it incorrectly.
You may be new to the world of electronic article surveillance and how it works so before I go too far into my article I am going to delve into it a bit here. Electronic article surveillance is used to protect merchandise through radio wave transmissions. Checkpoint labels come in several versions but are basically peel off labels with circuitry built into them. The circuitry sends out a radio wave on a specific frequency and this radio wave can be picked up by Checkpoint pedestals which are receivers. The pedestals are located near store entrances/exits or areas where merchandise is not to be taken into. When a tag has not been de-sensitized at a point of sale and the merchandise it is attached to is carried too close to a pedestal an alarm sounds. It is this alarm that requires a response and if a store is doing everything properly alarms will result in merchandise recoveries. In this way Checkpoint labels prevent shoplifters from stealing merchandise in stores where training is a focus.
I am sure there are some of you out there who are wondering how anyone could mess up a response to an alarm pedestal. There are a several ways to do this and I think I can safely say that over my 27 years in retail and Retail Loss Prevention I have probably seen most of them. To respond to an alarm activation properly store employees must:
• Be trained – I have watched employees just walk up and look into a customer’s bag and start rifling through it looking for the piece of merchandise the caused a problem. You have to be sure that employees responding to Checkpoint label alarms understand they have to respect the rights of the customer. The customer has the right to refuse to allow someone to look through their personal belongings. A store may reserve the right to look through a store shopping bag but it better be clearly posted in plain view. The approach to getting someone to give permission is key to having a successful deterrent program.
• This leads to my next point an employee must be personable and friendly when approaching someone who has activated an alarm. One thing that happens is that an employee may approach someone who is standing at a door waiting for a responder following an alarm. The customer waiting may not have been the one to activate the alarm. If multiple people are leaving about the same time, one person may set off the alarm carrying merchandise with active Checkpoint labels on them. The person who set off the alarm continued to walk out while an innocent person may just be trying to make sure they did not cause the alarm. Walking up to that person and treating them like a shoplifter can lead to all sorts of problems. Politeness and tact are going to resolve alarms and in the majority of cases result in the recovery of merchandise.
• An employee responding to alarm activations has to be able to give excuses to a potential shoplifter. What I mean is this, when responding to a pedestal alarm if someone IS trying to steal there is a better chance of getting merchandise back if the responder can say words like, “Is there something in your bag the cashier may have overlooked?” or, “Sometimes people get their hands full and accidently put things in their pockets or purses intending to take it out and forget they had it until they get to the door.” Being smart and diplomatic can pay off in a big way.
• A responder must also be able to deal with angry and upset patrons. Someone attempting to steal may try to display an attitude and act indignant in order to embarrass or intimidate the employee and get them to just send them out the door. Training should include how to de-escalate a tense situation without giving in to the temptation to just get the person out the door. An employee who gets tense or angry can make a situation explosive.
How your team responds to alarms can be the difference between antagonizing people and making substantial recoveries. Follow these suggestions and you can be sure you are optimizing your electronic article surveillance pedestals and tags and staying profitable.
Need information on electronic article surveillance? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I write a lot about the benefits of using labels to protect merchandise from theft but I realized I do not necessarily do an adequate job of providing guidance on how to respond to electronic article surveillance alarms. I am going to spend some time in the article talking to you about the do’s and don’ts of alarm activations. It may sound like it is easy to do but issues can arise if an employee does it incorrectly.
You may be new to the world of electronic article surveillance (EAS) and how it works so before I go too far into my article I am going to delve into it a bit here. Electronic article surveillance is used to protect merchandise through radio wave transmissions. EAS labels come in several versions but are basically peel off labels with circuitry built into them. The circuitry sends out a radio wave on a specific frequency and this radio wave can be picked up by EAS pedestals which are receivers. The pedestals are located near store entrances/exits or areas where merchandise is not to be taken into. When a tag has not been de-sensitized at a point of sale and the merchandise it is attached to is carried too close to a pedestal an alarm sounds. It is this alarm that requires a response and if a store is doing everything properly alarms will result in merchandise recoveries. In this way EAS labels prevent shoplifters from stealing merchandise in stores where training is a focus.
I am sure there are some of you out there who are wondering how anyone could mess up a response to an alarm pedestal. There are a several ways to do this and I think I can safely say that over my 27 years in retail and Retail Loss Prevention I have probably seen most of them. To respond to an alarm activation properly store employees must:
• Be trained – I have watched employees just walk up and look into a customer’s bag and start rifling through it looking for the piece of merchandise the caused a problem. You have to be sure that employees responding to EAS label alarms understand they have to respect the rights of the customer. The customer has the right to refuse to allow someone to look through their personal belongings. A store may reserve the right to look through a store shopping bag but it better be clearly posted in plain view. The approach to getting someone to give permission is key to having a successful deterrent program.
• This leads to my next point an employee must be personable and friendly when approaching someone who has activated an alarm. One thing that happens is that an employee may approach someone who is standing at a door waiting for a responder following an alarm. The customer waiting may not have been the one to activate the alarm. If multiple people are leaving about the same time, one person may set off the alarm carrying merchandise with active EAS labels on them. The person who set off the alarm continued to walk out while an innocent person may just be trying to make sure they did not cause the alarm. Walking up to that person and treating them like a shoplifter can lead to all sorts of problems. Politeness and tact are going to resolve alarms and in the majority of cases result in the recovery of merchandise.
• An employee responding to alarm activations has to be able to give excuses to a potential shoplifter. What I mean is this, when responding to a pedestal alarm if someone IS trying to steal there is a better chance of getting merchandise back if the responder can say words like, “Is there something in your bag the cashier may have overlooked?” or, “Sometimes people get their hands full and accidently put things in their pockets or purses intending to take it out and forget they had it until they get to the door.” Being smart and diplomatic can pay off in a big way.
• A responder must also be able to deal with angry and upset patrons. Someone attempting to steal may try to display an attitude and act indignant in order to embarrass or intimidate the employee and get them to just send them out the door. Training should include how to de-escalate a tense situation without giving in to the temptation to just get the person out the door. An employee who gets tense or angry can make a situation explosive.
How your team responds to alarms can be the difference between antagonizing people and making substantial recoveries. Follow these suggestions and you can be sure you are optimizing your electronic article surveillance pedestals and tags and staying profitable.
Need information on electronic article surveillance? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Employment drug screening-4 WC Blog 533
Drug Testing-5
Employment Drug Screening Saves Money And Productivity
If using employment drug screening is not part of your hiring process you may want to reconsider that choice. Look at these statistics according to the DWI Resource Center (dwiresourcecenter.org):
• Workers who are heavy drinkers or illicit drug users are twice as likely as non-users to have been fired by an employer in the last year.
• Missed two or three days of work in the past month.
• Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities can be linked to alcohol abuse and alcoholism
• Drug-abusing employees are 3.6 times more likely to be involved in workplace accidents and five times more likely to file a worker’s comp. claim
• Substance abusers are three time more likely to use medical benefits than other employees
• 80 percent of drug abusers steal from their workplaces to support their drug habits.
• Substance abuse is the third leading cause of workplace violence.
With those kinds of numbers it only makes sense to minimize the chance you are bringing a drug or alcohol abuser into your workplace as a team member. Bill Bregar, Founder and CEO of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has introduced employment drug screening as part of the company’s efforts to make retail businesses more profitable. Those of us who have worked as Retail Loss Prevention Managers understand the baggage drug users bring with them to a job.
Not everyone is aware of what employment drug screening is or what it involves. It can be two or three types that help employers keep their stores and businesses free of risks associated with drug and alcohol users. The first is drug testing prior to hiring a job candidate. A manager decides on a person they want to hire for a position but prior to making a formal offer the candidate is sent to a lab for a sample to be collected. In most cases this is a urine or blood sample but there are some labs that will conduct hair testing. The lab tests for illegal drugs in the sample and the results of the tests are submitted to the employer. If a candidate fails the employer may decline to formally offer the job. The other drug testing takes place when an employee who is already working for a business has an accident on the job. In this case the employer requires the worker to go to a lab or a medical facility to be tested for drugs or alcohol that may be in their system. Being able to demonstrate that an accident was due to the employee being under the influence may reduce the employer’s responsibility and provide cause for firing that worker. The third drug testing is called a random drug screening and is not as prevalent as the other two. It is often used in sports, the military and law enforcement but there is nothing that would prevent a private employer from using it. The key is to have the employee sign an agreement of understanding when hired that they know they could be asked to submit to a test at random. As a side note all of this documentation and testing is easy to track and follow simply by using Loss Prevention System’s Job Applicant Management System.
I know first-hand that employment drug screening works. I had a gentleman I wanted to hire onto my Loss Prevention team. He was a veteran and he had been injured while in the service. He interviewed well and we forwarded his information for a background check and sent him for drug testing. The result came back with a request from the lab asking the applicant for clarifying information. It turned out he was using a “prescription” drug from another state that permitted marijuana to be used in pain killers. Because the drug is not recognized nationally due to the inclusion of marijuana I could not (nor would I have chosen to) hire this applicant.
I have also been involved with an investigation in the workplace of an employee who was injured while working. He was fine when he came to work but we suspected he had been drinking on the job. When the accident took place we had the Human Resources Manager call for a cab to take the employee to the testing lab. The employee refused to go. He was fired for refusing to get a drug testing completed.
Don’t allow an employee’s use of drugs or alcohol impact your business. Whether it is time away from work, injuries or inappropriate behavior impaired workers can hurt your store. Use employment drug screening and prevent problems from starting in the first place.
Employment Drug Screening is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
If using employment drug screening is not part of your hiring process you may want to reconsider that choice. Look at these statistics according to the DWI Resource Center (dwiresourcecenter.org):
• Workers who are heavy drinkers or illicit drug users are twice as likely as non-users to have been fired by an employer in the last year.
• Missed two or three days of work in the past month.
• Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities can be linked to alcohol abuse and alcoholism
• Drug-abusing employees are 3.6 times more likely to be involved in workplace accidents and five times more likely to file a worker’s comp. claim
• Substance abusers are three time more likely to use medical benefits than other employees
• 80 percent of drug abusers steal from their workplaces to support their drug habits.
• Substance abuse is the third leading cause of workplace violence.With those kinds of numbers it only makes sense to minimize the chance you are bringing a drug or alcohol abuser into your workplace as a team member. Bill Bregar, Founder and CEO of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has introduced employment drug screening as part of the company’s efforts to make retail businesses more profitable. Those of us who have worked as Retail Loss Prevention Managers understand the baggage drug users bring with them to a job.
Not everyone is aware of what employment drug screening is or what it involves. It can be two or three types that help employers keep their stores and businesses free of risks associated with drug and alcohol users. The first is drug testing prior to hiring a job candidate. A manager decides on a person they want to hire for a position but prior to making a formal offer the candidate is sent to a lab for a sample to be collected. In most cases this is a urine or blood sample but there are some labs that will conduct hair testing. The lab tests for illegal drugs in the sample and the results of the tests are submitted to the employer. If a candidate fails the employer may decline to formally offer the job. The other drug testing takes place when an employee who is already working for a business has an accident on the job. In this case the employer requires the worker to go to a lab or a medical facility to be tested for drugs or alcohol that may be in their system. Being able to demonstrate that an accident was due to the employee being under the influence may reduce the employer’s responsibility and provide cause for firing that worker. The third drug testing is called a random drug screening and is not as prevalent as the other two. It is often used in sports, the military and law enforcement but there is nothing that would prevent a private employer from using it. The key is to have the employee sign an agreement of understanding when hired that they know they could be asked to submit to a test at random. As a side note all of this documentation and testing is easy to track and follow simply by using Loss Prevention System’s Job Applicant Management System.
I know first-hand that employment drug screening works. I had a gentleman I wanted to hire onto my Loss Prevention team. He was a veteran and he had been injured while in the service. He interviewed well and we forwarded his information for a background check and sent him for drug testing. The result came back with a request from the lab asking the applicant for clarifying information. It turned out he was using a “prescription” drug from another state that permitted marijuana to be used in pain killers. Because the drug is not recognized nationally due to the inclusion of marijuana I could not (nor would I have chosen to) hire this applicant.
I have also been involved with an investigation in the workplace of an employee who was injured while working. He was fine when he came to work but we suspected he had been drinking on the job. When the accident took place we had the Human Resources Manager call for a cab to take the employee to the testing lab. The employee refused to go. He was fired for refusing to get a drug testing completed.
Don’t allow an employee’s use of drugs or alcohol impact your business. Whether it is time away from work, injuries or inappropriate behavior impaired workers can hurt your store. Use employment drug screening and prevent problems from starting in the first place.
Employment Drug Screening is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Stop Shoplifting – 4 WC Blog 634
Employee theft reduction training-3
With The Increase In Aggression Should Retailers Try To Stop Shoplifting?
With all of the recent stories on aggressive shoplifters, it is fair to ask if it makes sense to try to stop shoplifting. Preventing theft has to be a focus of store owners and managers. When store shortage on average is 1.33% and approximately 35.7% of that shrinkage is due to shoplifting, it only makes sense to try to stop it. According to the 2018 National Retail Security Survey, page 5, “Shoplifting has again surpassed employee theft as the leading cause of shrink for the fourth year in a row.” Think about what this means, more than one third of all of the losses your store is experiencing is caused by criminals walking in and taking your merchandise without paying for it. This leaves store owners with the following alternatives; allow theft to continue unabated, raise prices on merchandise to make up for the losses or teach staff how to prevent shoplifting through employee theft reduction training. The only solution that makes any real sense is to train employees and here are my reasons for it.
• If you allow theft to continue and make no effort to combat it, thieves will take advantage of your store. When an easy target is identified crooks will return to it because the rewards far outweigh the risks to them personally.
• Doing nothing to deter or stop shoplifting is an invitation to other more serious crime. Don’t think that word doesn’t spread in the criminal community about locations that are easy pickings. It may begin with shoplifting but it is not unheard of that car break-ins, robberies, purse snatchings and assaults creep in these places over time.
• When criminal activity grows around a store or a mall customers will stop shopping there. This in turn leads to reduced sales and at some point if sales go too low shops close up their doors…permanently.
• Increasing prices to make up for shortage rather than addressing root causes hurts customers not the thieves. Clients may be willing to spend a bit more cash for merchandise in a store with great customer service or a pleasant shopping atmosphere. Increasing prices too much and regardless of how wonderful service is, shoppers will eventually revolt and take their money elsewhere.
Ignoring shoplifting is not going to make it go away and worse, it may discourage customers from shopping in your store(s).
The concern that is then placed in front of store owners is how to address shoplifting if doing so is a potentially dangerous prospect due to violent offenders. The first thing that responsible business owners MUST do is provide employee theft reduction training to their workers. Employees are the first line of defense against criminal activity. That greeting and eye contact go a lot further than you may think in stopping a crook from snatching your merchandise. Additionally small things such as how to talk to a customer and how NOT to talk to them can make a difference in theft prevention. Is it the job of an employee to “identify” who may or may not be a criminal? To keep staff members safe while improving sales and driving out theft related shortage stores need to invest in training by a company that “has been there and done that.” Loss Prevention Systems Inc. CEO, Bill Bregar has put together that training program. As a Director of Loss Prevention for national retail companies Bill used his experience to design a program that is guaranteed to bring results and keep employees safe. As a Loss Prevention professional with years of experience training employees and teaching them how to stay safe, I have seen the training offered and I am totally impressed.
Installation of closed circuit television cameras, public view monitors, and retail anti-theft devices are all pieces of a shortage prevention strategy that owners should consider to stop shoplifting. Unfortunately none of these pieces guarantees the safety of store workers. Employee theft reduction training is the one thing that owners can do to add safety as well as security to their stores. Remember, when employees feel they have the tools to stay safe and still deter theft they are going to be willing to offer customer service that will also enhance sales. That is a winning combination for you and your team.
For more information on employee theft reduction training contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
With all of the recent stories on aggressive shoplifters, it is fair to ask if it makes sense to try to stop shoplifting. Preventing theft has to be a focus of store owners and managers. When store shortage on average is 1.33% and approximately 35.7% of that shrinkage is due to shoplifting, it only makes sense to try to stop it. According to the 2018 National Retail Security Survey, page 5, “Shoplifting has again surpassed employee theft as the leading cause of shrink for the fourth year in a row.” Think about what this means, more than one third of all of the losses your store is experiencing is caused by criminals walking in and taking your merchandise without paying for it. This leaves store owners with the following alternatives; allow theft to continue unabated, raise prices on merchandise to make up for the losses or teach staff how to prevent shoplifting through employee theft reduction training. The only solution that makes any real sense is to train employees and here are my reasons for it.
• If you allow theft to continue and make no effort to combat it, thieves will take advantage of your store. When an easy target is identified crooks will return to it because the rewards far outweigh the risks to them personally.
• Doing nothing to deter or stop shoplifting is an invitation to other more serious crime. Don’t think that word doesn’t spread in the criminal community about locations that are easy pickings. It may begin with shoplifting but it is not unheard of that car break-ins, robberies, purse snatchings and assaults creep in these places over time.
• When criminal activity grows around a store or a mall customers will stop shopping there. This in turn leads to reduced sales and at some point if sales go too low shops close up their doors…permanently.
• Increasing prices to make up for shortage rather than addressing root causes hurts customers not the thieves. Clients may be willing to spend a bit more cash for merchandise in a store with great customer service or a pleasant shopping atmosphere. Increasing prices too much and regardless of how wonderful service is, shoppers will eventually revolt and take their money elsewhere.Ignoring shoplifting is not going to make it go away and worse, it may discourage customers from shopping in your store(s).
The concern that is then placed in front of store owners is how to address shoplifting if doing so is a potentially dangerous prospect due to violent offenders. The first thing that responsible business owners MUST do is provide employee theft reduction training to their workers. Employees are the first line of defense against criminal activity. That greeting and eye contact go a lot further than you may think in stopping a crook from snatching your merchandise. Additionally small things such as how to talk to a customer and how NOT to talk to them can make a difference in theft prevention. Is it the job of an employee to “identify” who may or may not be a criminal? To keep staff members safe while improving sales and driving out theft related shortage stores need to invest in training by a company that “has been there and done that.” Loss Prevention Systems Inc. CEO, Bill Bregar has put together that training program. As a Director of Loss Prevention for national retail companies Bill used his experience to design a program that is guaranteed to bring results and keep employees safe. As a Loss Prevention professional with years of experience training employees and teaching them how to stay safe, I have seen the training offered and I am totally impressed.
Installation of closed circuit television cameras, public view monitors, and retail anti-theft devices are all pieces of a shortage prevention strategy that owners should consider to stop shoplifting. Unfortunately none of these pieces guarantees the safety of store workers. Employee theft reduction training is the one thing that owners can do to add safety as well as security to their stores. Remember, when employees feel they have the tools to stay safe and still deter theft they are going to be willing to offer customer service that will also enhance sales. That is a winning combination for you and your team.
For more information on employee theft reduction training, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
