MAKING INVENTORY GREAT AGAIN
Inventory doesn’t have to be pain, I promise. If you know what to do, are well prepared and have a good team in place, inventory can actually be fun! Every year I lend my advice to my 25 stores in the form of a conference call and since you’re smart enough to be reading this, I’ll let you in on the secrets to a smooth night as well. Not is inventory time a perfect opportunity to clean your on-hand counts, it’s also a great time to ensure your checkpoint system is at the top of its game.
Prep and Prep Early
There’s a whole lot that goes into inventory prep and isn’t something you can just do in one or two days. Prepping for inventory should be a year-round task. This includes keeping your warehouses organized, back-stock constantly purged and commons areas cleared out on a normal basis. If you’re a clothing store, it should be a daily task to ensure all garments have barcodes/pricing indicators. This helps with selling the item and help in the counting process. This also goes for your checkpoint tags. While you’re out checking each and every rack for barcodes, make sure your team has a box full of checkpoint tags to snap on any garments that don’t have them. You’re already going through every piece of clothing; why not use this time to your advantage?
Have a plan
Inventories follow a basic routine. Lay area tickets, scan. Variances. When you first lay your area tickets, do so in a logical manner. Each part of the store should be assigned a numbered group depending on your specific set-up (clothing – 3000, shoes – 2000, etc). This way, if you are missing an area ticket late in the count, you can easily identify where in the store it should be. Also, when laying tickets, do them in numerical order and every 4 – 8 feet of shelf space. Try to stay consistent on each aisle so the counting team doesn’t get confused and miscount. Again, incorporate your checkpoint system into this process. There aren’t too many times a year that you put your hands on each and every piece of inventory. Make it count!
Top-Stock/Back-stock/warehouse
A day prior to counting, it’s a wise idea to “pre-count” your back-stock and warehouse merchandise. This will save you tons of time during the actual count. You’ll have to manage this a little so when items are sold during the day, they are removed from your pre-count sheet. Don’t forget about any outside containers, or off-site storage areas. If you store clothing in your warehouses, I’d suggest pre-counting this a day or so before inventory as well. The more you pre-count, the easier the actual inventory night is. You know what else you can do while you’re counting your warehouse? Yep, you guessed it! Use this time to apply some checkpoint tags to those items you hadn’t gotten to yet!
Overnight
I can’t stress this enough. Do your count overnight, when there are no customers in the store. I hate when I see stores trying to conduct inventory during the day. There are just too many distractions to contend with during business hours. At night, there are no customers, no checkpoint system alarms,no phone calls, no drama and no fussing. It allows you and your counters to focus 100% to the task at hand – getting your inventory correct.
Variances
Once you count your store, the computer probably gives you a variance report. This generally shows you what you counted and what the books showed you should have in the store. So, at what variance do you spend time and research the discrepancies? Well, it depends and you have to use some common sense. Most big-box stores don’t chase anything less than $250. You may want to set that threshold a little lower or higher.
Mistakes do happen during inventory and you’ll never, ever, no matter what anyone tells you, or what a third-party business may try to sell you, get an inventory 100% accurate. Humans conduct the count. Humans conduct the variance. There will always exists the inherent human error, but by following some of these tips, you could save yourself a good deal of grief, heartache and a few sleepless nights.
Need information on Checkpoint Systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Inventory doesn’t have to be pain, I promise. If you know what to do, are well prepared and have a good team in place, inventory can actually be fun! Every year I lend my advice to my 25 stores in the form of a conference call and since you’re smart enough to be reading this, I’ll let you in on the secrets to a smooth night as well. Not is inventory time a perfect opportunity to clean your on-hand counts, it’s also a great time to ensure your Checkpoint System is at the top of its game.
Prep and Prep
Early There’s a whole lot that goes into inventory prep and isn’t something you can just do in one or two days. Prepping for inventory should be a year-round task. This includes keeping your warehouses organized, back-stock constantly purged and commons areas cleared out on a normal basis. If you’re a clothing store, it should be a daily task to ensure all garments have barcodes/pricing indicators. This helps with selling the item and help in the counting process. This also goes for your Checkpoint tags. While you’re out checking each and every rack for barcodes, make sure your team has a box full of Checkpoint tags to snap on any garments that don’t have them. You’re already going through every piece of clothing; why not use this time to your advantage?
Have a plan
Inventories follow a basic routine. Lay area tickets, scan. Variances. When you first lay your area tickets, do so in a logical manner. Each part of the store should be assigned a numbered group depending on your specific set-up (clothing – 3000, shoes – 2000, etc). This way, if you are missing an area ticket late in the count, you can easily identify where in the store it should be. Also, when laying tickets, do them in numerical order and every 4 – 8 feet of shelf space. Try to stay consistent on each aisle so the counting team doesn’t get confused and miscount. Again, incorporate your Checkpoint System into this process. There aren’t too many times a year that you put your hands on each and every piece of inventory. Make it count!
Top-Stock/Back-stock/Warehouse
A day prior to counting, it’s a wise idea to “pre-count” your back-stock and warehouse merchandise. This will save you tons of time during the actual count. You’ll have to manage this a little so when items are sold during the day, they are removed from your pre-count sheet. Don’t forget about any outside containers, or off-site storage areas. If you store clothing in your warehouses, I’d suggest pre-counting this a day or so before inventory as well. The more you pre-count, the easier the actual inventory night is. You know what else you can do while you’re counting your warehouse? Yep, you guessed it! Use this time to apply some Checkpoint tags to those items you hadn’t gotten to yet!
Overnight
I can’t stress this enough. Do your count overnight, when there are no customers in the store. I hate when I see stores trying to conduct inventory during the day. There are just too many distractions to contend with during business hours. At night, there are no customers, no Checkpoint system alarms,no phone calls, no drama and no fussing. It allows you and your counters to focus 100% to the task at hand – getting your inventory correct.
Variances
Once you count your store, the computer probably gives you a variance report. This generally shows you what you counted and what the books showed you should have in the store. So, at what variance do you spend time and research the discrepancies? Well, it depends and you have to use some common sense. Most big-box stores don’t chase anything less than $250. You may want to set that threshold a little lower or higher.
Mistakes do happen during inventory and you’ll never, ever, no matter what anyone tells you, or what a third-party business may try to sell you, get an inventory 100% accurate. Humans conduct the count. Humans conduct the variance. There will always exists the inherent human error, but by following some of these tips, you could save yourself a good deal of grief, heartache and a few sleepless nights.
Need information on Checkpoint Systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Checkpoint Tags – 5 WC Blog 337
Stop Shoplifting- 3
Balancing Efforts To Stop Shoplifting And Use Loss Prevention Resources Wisely – Part 2
In case you may have missed Part 1 of this two-part series, I am visiting an argument/question that recently popped up in an article in LP INSIDER magazine, “To Stop or Not to Stop the Shoplifter: Is This Still a Question?”, by Johnny Custer, LPC, CFI, March 14, 2017. The arguments posed by the writer question whether the best uses of Loss Prevention professionals should be to focus on and stop shoplifting or can they be more effective in reducing shortage in other ways. I pointed out in Part 1 that shoplifting accounts for more shortage than the author contends by referencing the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer Report. I also expressed my concern that it is a poor use of assets for stores to focus the attention of Loss Prevention on store operations as I have personally experienced. Stores usually pay someone to manage the operations, replenishment and administrative functions for the business. I will return to this point in a little later. To be fair to the author, he did not totally disapprove of stopping shoplifters, and his concern is partially for L.P. safety. I will also say, as someone who has had to fight with shoplifters, it can be dangerous but proper training on safe apprehensions and when to disengage can alleviate much of that concern. One area that was not specifically addressed in the article and I believe can stop shoplifting AND impact other shortage is the use of Checkpoint Tags on merchandise. They can help L.P. prevent external and internal theft and even improve some operational shortage issues.
Checkpoint Tags are readily identifiable to shoplifters when placed in highly visible locations on merchandise. Since the objective of the shoplifter is to steal without getting caught, most do not want to contend with trying to force off a tag which is usually unsuccessful and damages product. They also don’t want to risk leaving a tag on and activating the electronic article surveillance pedestals at the doors when they try to exit with unpaid for products. Employees who want to steal face the same risks, so internal theft is also reduced with the use of Checkpoint Tags. One often overlooked benefit of electronic article surveillance tags is that when a tagged item is missed by a cashier during checkout, such as a product on the bottom of the shopping cart or a small cosmetic item in a buggy, the electronic article surveillance pedestal detects the item and employees can assist the customer in purchasing it or returning it to the salesfloor. This is not a theft issue it is an operational/training issue.
The writer states in his article, “There are other aspects of shrink occurring in your buildings that contribute to the bulk of your shrink woes. These aspects are more controllable and much safer to address.” One of his suggestions to focus on is, “Train and require continued training on all facets of business operation, including perpetual inventory process, price changes, markdowns, seasonal changeovers, DSD and receiving processes…” While I have no argument against L.P. being trained to recognize the potential shortage issues related to these areas, it is my opinion this is NOT where L.P. teams should be focused. Certainly we can be partners in this and L.P. can bring a fresh set of eyes to a problem but, I would refer again to the 2014-2015 GRTB that indicated administrative and non-crime shortage accounts for approximately 13% of shortage and vendor fraud and theft 6% of stores shortage. Together they combine for 19% of store losses. I would suggest the use of Checkpoint Tags to stop shoplifting could help to reduce some of the vendor theft that may be taking place if we are talking about the theft of other merchandise while the vendor is in the store. As I also mentioned tagging can help improve some operational issues. Unless, your L.P. team is focusing on theft related to fraudulent markdowns, I don’t feel this is the best use of a Loss Prevention department.
I do understand the concerns over the dangers associated with shoplifter detentions and apprehensions. That said, underestimating the impact of shoplifting and choosing to let criminals get away with theft is an invitation to increased shortage, not the other way around. Deter theft with Checkpoint Tags and customer service but don’t dismiss the value of L.P. apprehensions of shoplifters. The threat of being apprehended is a deterrent in itself.
Need information on Checkpoint Tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
In case you may have missed Part 1 of this two-part series, I am visiting an argument/question that recently popped up in an article in LP INSIDER magazine, “To Stop or Not to Stop the Shoplifter: Is This Still a Question?”, by Johnny Custer, LPC, CFI, March 14, 2017. The arguments posed by the writer question whether the best uses of Loss Prevention professionals should be to focus on and stop shoplifting or can they be more effective in reducing shortage in other ways. I pointed out in Part 1 that shoplifting accounts for more shortage than the author contends by referencing the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer Report. I also expressed my concern that it is a poor use of assets for stores to focus the attention of Loss Prevention on store operations as I have personally experienced. Stores usually pay someone to manage the operations, replenishment and administrative functions for the business. I will return to this point in a little later. To be fair to the author, he did not totally disapprove of stopping shoplifters, and his concern is partially for L.P. safety. I will also say, as someone who has had to fight with shoplifters, it can be dangerous but proper training on safe apprehensions and when to disengage can alleviate much of that concern. One area that was not specifically addressed in the article and I believe can stop shoplifting AND impact other shortage is the use of Checkpoint Tags on merchandise. They can help L.P. prevent external and internal theft and even improve some operational shortage issues.
Checkpoint Tags are readily identifiable to shoplifters when placed in highly visible locations on merchandise. Since the objective of the shoplifter is to steal without getting caught, most do not want to contend with trying to force off a tag which is usually unsuccessful and damages product. They also don’t want to risk leaving a tag on and activating the electronic article surveillance pedestals at the doors when they try to exit with unpaid for products. Employees who want to steal face the same risks, so internal theft is also reduced with the use of Checkpoint Tags. One often overlooked benefit of electronic article surveillance tags is that when a tagged item is missed by a cashier during checkout, such as a product on the bottom of the shopping cart or a small cosmetic item in a buggy, the electronic article surveillance pedestal detects the item and employees can assist the customer in purchasing it or returning it to the salesfloor. This is not a theft issue it is an operational/training issue.
The writer states in his article, “There are other aspects of shrink occurring in your buildings that contribute to the bulk of your shrink woes. These aspects are more controllable and much safer to address.” One of his suggestions to focus on is, “Train and require continued training on all facets of business operation, including perpetual inventory process, price changes, markdowns, seasonal changeovers, DSD and receiving processes…” While I have no argument against L.P. being trained to recognize the potential shortage issues related to these areas, it is my opinion this is NOT where L.P. teams should be focused. Certainly we can be partners in this and L.P. can bring a fresh set of eyes to a problem but, I would refer again to the 2014-2015 GRTB that indicated administrative and non-crime shortage accounts for approximately 13% of shortage and vendor fraud and theft 6% of stores shortage. Together they combine for 19% of store losses. I would suggest the use of Checkpoint Tags to stop shoplifting could help to reduce some of the vendor theft that may be taking place if we are talking about the theft of other merchandise while the vendor is in the store. As I also mentioned tagging can help improve some operational issues. Unless, your L.P. team is focusing on theft related to fraudulent markdowns, I don’t feel this is the best use of a Loss Prevention department.
I do understand the concerns over the dangers associated with shoplifter detentions and apprehensions. That said, underestimating the impact of shoplifting and choosing to let criminals get away with theft is an invitation to increased shortage, not the other way around. Deter theft with Checkpoint Tags and customer service but don’t dismiss the value of L.P. apprehensions of shoplifters. The threat of being apprehended is a deterrent in itself.
Need information on Checkpoint Tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Alpha 3 Alarm-3 WC Blog 333
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-3
Alpha Security-3
Childhood Antics Can Lead To Young Adult Shoplifters; Clamp Down On The Crime Of Shoplifting With Alpha 3 Alarm Tags
I was reflecting on some of my oddest encounters with shoplifters and one came to mind that bothers me and I wasn’t even working that day. It involved an encounter with a young man about 10 years old in a grocery store. I wasn’t working there, and had no affiliation with the store, I just happened to be shopping with my wife. We were in the fruits and vegetables department and the boy was standing near his mother. He looked at a bunch of grapes and pulled one off and ate it. He then looked at me and grinned and grabbed another one. I wasn’t grinning, I gave the young man a stern look and shook my head. He smiled and reached for more. I continued to glare at him but he wasn’t bothered, he plucked some more and continued to eat even though he knew it was wrong. How do you prevent shoplifting when kids at that age are not afraid of adults or apparently their own parents? Often when children are able to get away with taking little things they go on to other theft. I have dealt with the children that became little monsters. I would catch the child stealing toys, cd’s or videogames and call the parent who would come to the store and tell me the kid was just a child and didn’t understand. I would have to remind the parent their precious little angel understood enough to remove the wrap or hide the item under their clothes. Need reasons to use retail anti-theft devices in your store? There you go. Grapes may not be able to be protected by Alpha Security products, but other things can be.
As these young people grow up into teenagers one of the popular categories of merchandise I have caught many of these “youths” stealing are clothes. This has included everything from underwear to pants, shirts and accessories like hats, scarves and purses. Today there are outstanding tools to deter the theft of these products from Alpha Security. Alpha 3 alarm hard tags can be attached to any garment or accessory making the item nearly impossible to steal. The tags are attached in an easy to notice location, alerting the would-be thief that protection is in place. If a shoplifter decides to try to steal the merchandise anyways there are several barriers they have to get past. First, a special detachment tool is needed to remove the tags and those are controlled by the store. If the bad guy tries to force a tag off they damage the merchandise, rendering it useless. There is also a tamper alarm that is activated when an attempt is made to forcibly remove these retail anti-theft devices. Stores that use the Alpha 3 alarm tags also have electronic article surveillance (EAS) pedestals at the front doors and these sound an audible alert and flash lights if someone tries to walk out with tagged product. Finally, for the Pièce de résistance, should a shoplifter ignore the alarm from the EAS towers, a self-alarm sounds in the device as the culprit exits, screeching even in the parking lot.
You may be thinking that I am a exaggerating a bit, that grazing on a few pieces of fruit does not equate to someone eventually shoplifting clothing. You may be correct since I don’t have empirical data to back up my claim. What I do have is experience in dealing with shoplifting youth. I have caught teenagers stealing bathing suits, jeans, and other clothing items. I have responded to EAS pedestal alarm activations and recovered merchandise that was tagged with a retail anti-theft device. I have caught pre-teen boys trying to wear a new pair of sneakers out of the store without paying for them. I can’t begin to count the number of times I heard the excuses, “I thought I put it back”, “I didn’t know” (of course I didn’t know what it was they didn’t know) or “My friends made me do it”. Then there was the best non-excuse excuse, “I’ll just pay for it”, how was that going to work if they had gotten away? Alpha Security products work at deterring and preventing shoplifting but there are always those who are going to try anyways. I do believe in many cases properly addressing even the smallest incidents of theft and making children aware there are penalties can prevent the behavior when they grow into young adults.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor. There’s no need for sour grapes over merchandise shortage. Regardless of their age; prevent shoplifters from stealing from you by using Alpha 3 Alarm tags on all of your clothing goods and protect your profits.
Get more information on Alpha 3 Alarm, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I was reflecting on some of my oddest encounters with shoplifters and one came to mind that bothers me and I wasn’t even working that day. It involved an encounter with a young man about 10 years old in a grocery store. I wasn’t working there, and had no affiliation with the store, I just happened to be shopping with my wife. We were in the fruits and vegetables department and the boy was standing near his mother. He looked at a bunch of grapes and pulled one off and ate it. He then looked at me and grinned and grabbed another one. I wasn’t grinning, I gave the young man a stern look and shook my head. He smiled and reached for more. I continued to glare at him but he wasn’t bothered, he plucked some more and continued to eat even though he knew it was wrong. How do you prevent shoplifting when kids at that age are not afraid of adults or apparently their own parents? Often when children are able to get away with taking little things they go on to other theft. I have dealt with the children that became little monsters. I would catch the child stealing toys, cd’s or videogames and call the parent who would come to the store and tell me the kid was just a child and didn’t understand. I would have to remind the parent their precious little angel understood enough to remove the wrap or hide the item under their clothes. Need reasons to use retail anti-theft devices in your store? There you go. Grapes may not be able to be protected by Alpha Security products, but other things can be.
As these young people grow up into teenagers one of the popular categories of merchandise I have caught many of these “youths” stealing are clothes. This has included everything from underwear to pants, shirts and accessories like hats, scarves and purses. Today there are outstanding tools to deter the theft of these products from Alpha Security. Alpha 3 alarm hard tags can be attached to any garment or accessory making the item nearly impossible to steal. The tags are attached in an easy to notice location, alerting the would-be thief that protection is in place. If a shoplifter decides to try to steal the merchandise anyways there are several barriers they have to get past. First, a special detachment tool is needed to remove the tags and those are controlled by the store. If the bad guy tries to force a tag off they damage the merchandise, rendering it useless. There is also a tamper alarm that is activated when an attempt is made to forcibly remove these retail anti-theft devices. Stores that use the Alpha 3 alarm tags also have electronic article surveillance (EAS) pedestals at the front doors and these sound an audible alert and flash lights if someone tries to walk out with tagged product. Finally, for the Pièce de résistance, should a shoplifter ignore the alarm from the EAS towers, a self-alarm sounds in the device as the culprit exits, screeching even in the parking lot.
You may be thinking that I am a exaggerating a bit, that grazing on a few pieces of fruit does not equate to someone eventually shoplifting clothing. You may be correct since I don’t have empirical data to back up my claim. What I do have is experience in dealing with shoplifting youth. I have caught teenagers stealing bathing suits, jeans, and other clothing items. I have responded to EAS pedestal alarm activations and recovered merchandise that was tagged with a retail anti-theft device. I have caught pre-teen boys trying to wear a new pair of sneakers out of the store without paying for them. I can’t begin to count the number of times I heard the excuses, “I thought I put it back”, “I didn’t know” (of course I didn’t know what it was they didn’t know) or “My friends made me do it”. Then there was the best non-excuse excuse, “I’ll just pay for it”, how was that going to work if they had gotten away? Alpha Security products work at deterring and preventing shoplifting but there are always those who are going to try anyways. I do believe in many cases properly addressing even the smallest incidents of theft and making children aware there are penalties can prevent the behavior when they grow into young adults.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor. There’s no need for sour grapes over merchandise shortage. Regardless of their age; prevent shoplifters from stealing from you by using Alpha 3 Alarm tags on all of your clothing goods and protect your profits.
Get more information on Alpha 3 Alarm, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
