I was headed to the grocery store one Friday evening and decided that I wanted some red wine to go with the fish dinner I planned on preparing later. Once in the store, I shopped around a bit and then headed over the liquor section. Of course, I was met with more choices than I wanted. I’m not a wine drinker, so trying to pick out one bottle of red wine from a selection of 200 was a bit overwhelming. As I was shuffling up and down the aisle, I happened on the manager of the store, whom I had met at a recent retail meeting. I noticed he was placing bottle locks on some of his product. I went over and introduced myself and we struck up a conversation that ultimately led to why he had to secure his liquor.
The way he put it, was he was tired of coming in to work every morning and seeing how much alcohol was lost. He had worked in several retail settings most of his career and he told me alcohol had to be one of the highest shrinking categories he had ever had to manage. He went off on a tangent about how he didn’t think anyone in the city paid for alcohol. Knowing exactly what he was feeling and I asked about the different ways he was securing his product. The locks seemed to work really well for him, but he stopped mid-sentence and said, “I have to tell you about this one shoplifter last month.” I’m never in too much of a hurry to ignore a good shoplifting story.
It was about a month before our talk and he came into his store and noticed he was missing about 10 bottles of a more expensive bottle of whiskey. Angry at the fact that he knew they were stolen, he went to his camera system to see if he could find the thief. Over the course of the evening, he saw not only one, but three different shoplifters take his whiskey, even though they were secured with a bottle lock. He was frustrated, rightly so. Not only with the shoplifters, but with his employees. They were not visible in the area and were not providing service in that area, leaving it wide open for theft. After cooling down a bit, he went out onto the floor and spoke with some of his supervisors and stressed how important it was the teams to be aware of their surroundings. That’s when he was called to the front of the store.
He figured there was customer upset about something, so he prepared himself and walked towards the doors to rectify whatever complaint was most likely coming his way. As he neared the service desk, he noticed a man holding two bottles of whiskey that still had bottle locks secured to them. Then he realized that this was one of the shoplifters he had seen on tape steal the whiskey! Not knowing what he was about to walk into, he asks the individual what he needed. To his complete dismay, the guy says that he bought the whiskey a few nights ago and the cashier had failed to take this locks off. The manager, took back the bottles, apologized and asked if he could wait while he took the security device off. He quickly contacted the police and his whiskey thief spent a night in the drunk tank.
For more information, contact us: Bottle Locks, or call 1.770.426.0547
I was headed to the grocery store one Friday evening and decided that I wanted some red wine to go with the fish dinner I planned on preparing later. Once in the store, I shopped around a bit and then headed over the liquor section. Of course, I was met with more choices than I wanted. I’m not a wine drinker, so trying to pick out one bottle of red wine from a selection of 200 was a bit overwhelming. As I was shuffling up and down the aisle, I happened on the manager of the store, whom I had met at a recent retail meeting. I noticed he was placing bottle locks on some of his product. I went over and introduced myself and we struck up a conversation that ultimately led to why he had to secure his liquor.
The way he put it, was he was tired of coming in to work every morning and seeing how much alcohol was lost. He had worked in several retail settings most of his career and he told me alcohol had to be one of the highest shrinking categories he had ever had to manage. He went off on a tangent about how he didn’t think anyone in the city paid for alcohol. Knowing exactly what he was feeling and I asked about the different ways he was securing his product. The locks seemed to work really well for him, but he stopped mid-sentence and said, “I have to tell you about this one shoplifter last month.” I’m never in too much of a hurry to ignore a good shoplifting story.
It was about a month before our talk and he came into his store and noticed he was missing about 10 bottles of a more expensive bottle of whiskey. Angry at the fact that he knew they were stolen, he went to his camera system to see if he could find the thief. Over the course of the evening, he saw not only one, but three different shoplifters take his whiskey, even though they were secured with a bottle lock. He was frustrated, rightly so. Not only with the shoplifters, but with his employees. They were not visible in the area and were not providing service in that area, leaving it wide open for theft. After cooling down a bit, he went out onto the floor and spoke with some of his supervisors and stressed how important it was the teams to be aware of their surroundings. That’s when he was called to the front of the store.
He figured there was customer upset about something, so he prepared himself and walked towards the doors to rectify whatever complaint was most likely coming his way. As he neared the service desk, he noticed a man holding two bottles of whiskey that still had bottle locks secured to them. Then he realized that this was one of the shoplifters he had seen on tape steal the whiskey! Not knowing what he was about to walk into, he asks the individual what he needed. To his complete dismay, the guy says that he bought the whiskey a few nights ago and the cashier had failed to take this locks off. The manager, took back the bottles, apologized and asked if he could wait while he took the security device off. He quickly contacted the police and his whiskey thief spent a night in the drunk tank.
For more information, contact us at Bottle Locks, or call 1.770.426.0547
A particular case of theft was brought to my attention over the last several days. Two girls had gone into the college bookstore and attempted to steal several textbooks, presumably for the upcoming semester. As one of the security guards attempted to stop them they ran away. One of the girls dropped her bag containing her student ID.
The information was researched and taken to the dean. Even though we were not going to prosecute for the attempted theft, we needed to handle the situation from an honor code standpoint. The girl was brought in, and the situation was discussed thoroughly.
As it turned out, the girl was having financial hardship, which is why she was in the college bookstore to steal, rather than to pay for the books. The girl that was with her was not under financial duress, she simply did not want to pay for the expensive textbooks. She wanted to spend the money on going out to bars and parties instead.
The end result was that both girls were dropped from their academic programs and not allowed back on the campus. The college bookstore took this as a learning opportunity to discuss and find ways to reduce the shoplifting and theft that was going on. Clearly having a security guard was not enough of a deterrent as both girls admitted this was not the first time they had come to the college bookstore to steal their textbooks.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Bookstore Security and Library Theft Detection System devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop inventory losses.
For more information on Checkpoint Systems and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to stop inventory losses in your College Bookstores, School Bookstores, School Libraries, High School Library, or High School Bookstore call 1.770.426.0547
A particular case of theft was brought to my attention over the last several days. Two girls had gone into the college bookstore and attempted to steal several textbooks, presumably for the upcoming semester. As one of the security guards attempted to stop them they ran away. One of the girls dropped her bag containing her student ID.
The information was researched and taken to the dean. Even though we were not going to prosecute for the attempted theft, we needed to handle the situation from an honor code standpoint. The girl was brought in, and the situation was discussed thoroughly.
As it turned out, the girl was having financial hardship, which is why she was in the college bookstore to steal, rather than to pay for the books. The girl that was with her was not under financial duress, she simply did not want to pay for the expensive textbooks. She wanted to spend the money on going out to bars and parties instead.
The end result was that both girls were dropped from their academic programs and not allowed back on the campus. The college bookstore took this as a learning opportunity to discuss and find ways to reduce the shoplifting and theft that was going on. Clearly having a security guard was not enough of a deterrent as both girls admitted this was not the first time they had come to the college bookstore to steal their textbooks.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Bookstore Security and Library Theft Detection System devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop inventory losses.
For more information on Checkpoint Systems and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to stop inventory losses in your College Bookstores, School Bookstores, School Libraries, High School Library, or High School Bookstore call 1.770.426.0547
You probably don’t think much of sending a trusted employee to the back door to check in a shipment, or to take the trash out when you’re busy. Have you ever stopped to think if anyone you’ve ever employed had stolen from you? Chance are, if your back door was wide open, you were most likely the victim of a dishonest employee. Taking a step as simple as controlling access to your back door, can help you to stop employee theft.
Last back to school season I got a call from a manager from one of my stores. He stated that he was missing 25 cases of red school uniform shirts. He stated that he had personally received them into his store 3 weeks ago and when he went to set the display, he discovered that they were gone. He tore his store to pieces trying to find the product, but with no luck. He was pretty distraught over the loss, since each case had about $400 worth of shirts. I asked him to provide me some additional details and I started an investigation. After reviewing the camera footage, it didn’t take me long to see where the merchandise had gone to.
I contacted the manager a few days later and asked what the procedure was in his store for taking trash out to the dumpster. He said that normally his maintenance employee would take all of the store’s trash out. I followed up by asking a question I already knew… Who lets the maintenance employee out of the back door? The manager said he would routinely give his keys to the employee because he trusted that employee. I felt bad telling this manager that his trusted employee had taken him for $10,000. This was no sophisticated theft scheme. There were not a lot of moving parts either. The associate just found merchandise that he wanted to steal and simply walked them out the back door since he had his own key.
Think about your stores. Is this a common practice for you? How can you stop employee theft when you are giving your employee the tools and the means to steal profits from your own pockets? As managers, or store owners you should develop a store policy where only a manager, or supervisor (those already entrusted to a store key) opens your doors. There’s a reason we don’t give an hourly associate a key to the store. Most stores, no matter the size, will hurt when $10,000 dollars walks out of the store. Think of the hours you could provide to your honest employees, potential sales bonuses and not to mention the profits of that extra cash. You should be proactive, not reactive, in order to stop employee theft.
Whether you want to believe it or not, chances are you’ve had an employee steal from your store. Whether it was something as small as a 20oz drink, or cases of merchandise, these dishonest employees hurt your bottom line. Don’t let your profits walk away. Have a program in place and stick to it. Just remember that any policy is only as strong as those who enforce it.
For more information, contact us: Stop Employee Theft, or call 1.770.426.0547
You probably don’t think much of sending a trusted employee to the back door to check in a shipment, or to take the trash out when you’re busy. Have you ever stopped to think if anyone you’ve ever employed had stolen from you? Chance are, if your back door was wide open, you were most likely the victim of a dishonest employee. Taking a step as simple as controlling access to your back door, can help you to stop employee theft.
Last back to school season I got a call from a manager from one of my stores. He stated that he was missing 25 cases of red school uniform shirts. He stated that he had personally received them into his store 3 weeks ago and when he went to set the display, he discovered that they were gone. He tore his store to pieces trying to find the product, but with no luck. He was pretty distraught over the loss, since each case had about $400 worth of shirts. I asked him to provide me some additional details and I started an investigation. After reviewing the camera footage, it didn’t take me long to see where the merchandise had gone to.
I contacted the manager a few days later and asked what the procedure was in his store for taking trash out to the dumpster. He said that normally his maintenance employee would take all of the store’s trash out. I followed up by asking a question I already knew… Who lets the maintenance employee out of the back door? The manager said he would routinely give his keys to the employee because he trusted that employee. I felt bad telling this manager that his trusted employee had taken him for $10,000. This was no sophisticated theft scheme. There were not a lot of moving parts either. The associate just found merchandise that he wanted to steal and simply walked them out the back door since he had his own key.
Think about your stores. Is this a common practice for you? How can you stop employee theft when you are giving your employee the tools and the means to steal profits from your own pockets? As managers, or store owners you should develop a store policy where only a manager, or supervisor (those already entrusted to a store key) opens your doors. There’s a reason we don’t give an hourly associate a key to the store. Most stores, no matter the size, will hurt when $10,000 dollars walks out of the store. Think of the hours you could provide to your honest employees, potential sales bonuses and not to mention the profits of that extra cash. You should be proactive, not reactive, in order to stop employee theft.
Whether you want to believe it or not, chances are you’ve had an employee steal from your store. Whether it was something as small as a 20oz drink, or cases of merchandise, these dishonest employees hurt your bottom line. Don’t let your profits walk away. Have a program in place and stick to it. Just remember that any policy is only as strong as those who enforce it.
For more information, contact us at Stop Employee Theft, or call 1.770.426.0547
Have you ever been in a store on a Monday morning and wondered why the store was so blown up? Recovery had not been completed, stock piled up in the aisles, returns not put away? Maybe you decided to give them the benefit of the doubt by looking at their sales to see if they had an unusually busy weekend. I know that on several occasions, after looking at the sales reports, I still was in the dark as to why the store was in such terrible shape. That’s when I knew I needed to go to my VisiPlus people traffic counter reports.
The VisiPlus is a people traffic counter report. It breaks down day of the week and hour of the day to show how many people are coming into the store. Even though my sales had not been where I would have thought they should be in light of the disaster zone my stores had turned into, the people traffic counter was giving me an alternative view of what had happened.
I was seeing increases in the customer traffic, but the sales were not where they should be. I then learned that my stores had been understaffed. Payroll had been mismanaged through the week, leaving critical hours being cut or the weekend. Not only were there not enough employees to handle the customers to increase sales, but also the lack of payroll negatively affected the store’s presentation standards.
Had I not seen both the sales reports and the VisiPlus reports, I would not have been able to track down a very critical operational breakdown. It wasn’t that my managers and employees were not being productive enough to get the work done. It was that processes had been mismanaged throughout the week causing this secondary breakdown. I now knew exactly where to go to fix my store’s problems.
Have you ever been in a store on a Monday morning and wondered why the store was so blown up? Recovery had not been completed, stock piled up in the aisles, returns not put away? Maybe you decided to give them the benefit of the doubt by looking at their sales to see if they had an unusually busy weekend. I know that on several occasions, after looking at the sales reports, I still was in the dark as to why the store was in such terrible shape. That’s when I knew I needed to go to my VisiPlus people traffic counter reports.
The VisiPlus is a people traffic counter report. It breaks down day of the week and hour of the day to show how many people are coming into the store. Even though my sales had not been where I would have thought they should be in light of the disaster zone my stores had turned into, the people traffic counter was giving me an alternative view of what had happened.
I was seeing increases in the customer traffic, but the sales were not where they should be. I then learned that my stores had been understaffed. Payroll had been mismanaged through the week, leaving critical hours being cut on the weekend. Not only were there not enough employees to handle the customers to increase sales, but also the lack of payroll negatively affected the store’s presentation standards.
Had I not seen both the sales reports and the VisiPlus reports, I would not have been able to track down a very critical operational breakdown. It wasn’t that my managers and employees were not being productive enough to get the work done. It was that processes had been mismanaged throughout the week causing this secondary breakdown. I now knew exactly where to go to fix my store’s problems.
I come from a long line of retail professionals. I have been in the corporate loss prevention world for years, my dad owns a restaurant and my grandparents ran a grocery store for decades. During every family gathering and holiday the conversation seems to always turn to our jobs and we all trade stories of our funniest… or dumbest shoplifter stories. Last Independence Day, the family was together and grandpa began telling a story we’ve all heard probably 100 times. It involved an employee at his grocery store stealing bottles of vodka. One of my little cousins was hearing this for the first time and sternly asked us, “Isn’t there a bottle lock you could use?” What a little genius.
The year was 1967. My Grandpa had been running his own grocery store for 10 years, with the help of his wife and anyone that wanted to make an honest wage. The hours were long, the margins were slim, but being his own boss was all he ever dreamed about. Inside the store was a small, although very profitable, liquor section. My grandpa liked to brag about how he was the only person to stock high end scotch, whiskey and vodka for miles around. He not only stocked it, he sold the heck out of it. Liquor was a cash cow for him back then, and it still is for stores today. Liquor theft today costs retailers hundreds of thousands of dollars. It may have not been that much in my Grandpa’s store, but it was more than enough to get him to notice.
Over the course of a few weeks that summer, he began to notice that he was always out of stock on a certain brand of vodka, but his sales seemed to not show a profit. He couldn’t figure it out and eventually forgot about it while dealing with a hundred other problems in the store. One day while receiving a shipment of produce in the warehouse, he noticed one of his most tenured employees carrying two gallons of water to the loading dock. He watched as the employee poured the water out of the jugs and left the warehouse. He got pulled away again and forgot about what he saw until a few days later. He went back to that area of the warehouse and noticed a few boxes that were out of place. After moving them aside, he discovered about 20 empty bottles of his most expensive vodka. It all began to make sense to him now. He learned after watching for few days that his employee would empty the water, fill it with vodka and then leave the store after paying the $.20 for the water. If bottle locks had been invented back then, it would have saved him thousands of dollars in lost profit.
In today’s world, a bottle lock is the preferred method of retailers to secure their high end liquors. It’s a simple, cost effective solution that will prevent loss and lead to increased sales. They come in all types of sizes and styles that can fit any application out there. I’ve used them in several applications in my career and they really are a simple way to protect your product. So join me as we raise a glass to higher profits!
For more information, contact us: Bottle Locks, or call 1.770.426.0547
I come from a long line of retail professionals. I have been in the corporate loss prevention world for years, my dad owns a restaurant and my grandparents ran a grocery store for decades. During every family gathering and holiday the conversation seems to always turn to our jobs and we all trade stories of our funniest… or dumbest shoplifter stories. Last Independence Day, the family was together and grandpa began telling a story we’ve all heard probably 100 times. It involved an employee at his grocery store stealing bottles of vodka. One of my little cousins was hearing this for the first time and sternly asked us, “Isn’t there a bottle lock you could use?” What a little genius.
The year was 1967. My Grandpa had been running his own grocery store for 10 years, with the help of his wife and anyone that wanted to make an honest wage. The hours were long, the margins were slim, but being his own boss was all he ever dreamed about. Inside the store was a small, although very profitable, liquor section. My grandpa liked to brag about how he was the only person to stock high end scotch, whiskey and vodka for miles around. He not only stocked it, he sold the heck out of it. Liquor was a cash cow for him back then, and it still is for stores today. Liquor theft today costs retailers hundreds of thousands of dollars. It may have not been that much in my Grandpa’s store, but it was more than enough to get him to notice.
Over the course of a few weeks that summer, he began to notice that he was always out of stock on a certain brand of vodka, but his sales seemed to not show a profit. He couldn’t figure it out and eventually forgot about it while dealing with a hundred other problems in the store. One day while receiving a shipment of produce in the warehouse, he noticed one of his most tenured employees carrying two gallons of water to the loading dock. He watched as the employee poured the water out of the jugs and left the warehouse. He got pulled away again and forgot about what he saw until a few days later. He went back to that area of the warehouse and noticed a few boxes that were out of place. After moving them aside, he discovered about 20 empty bottles of his most expensive vodka. It all began to make sense to him now. He learned after watching for few days that his employee would empty the water, fill it with vodka and then leave the store after paying the $.20 for the water. If bottle locks had been invented back then, it would have saved him thousands of dollars in lost profit.
In today’s world, a bottle lock is the preferred method of retailers to secure their high end liquors. It’s a simple, cost effective solution that will prevent loss and lead to increased sales. They come in all types of sizes and styles that can fit any application out there. I’ve used them in several applications in my career and they really are a simple way to protect your product. So join me as we raise a glass to higher profits!
For more information, contact us at Bottle Locks, or call 1.770.426.0547
Every store I visit, or manager I speak to always wants to know what they can do to prevent shoplifting. I will always be the first person to say that there is not one single method, or tool you can implement that will stop your losses. You have to take a multi-layered approached to combat shoplifting. I thought I would do something a little different and make a three part series on, what I believe are the most fundamental pillars to battle shoplifters.
Unless you’re a major, multi-billion dollar a year corporation, chances are you don’t have a loss prevention team in your store. It’s more than likely up to you, and your store employees, to prevent losses from shoplifters. Most store managers want to simply deter a theft than having to go through the process of contacting the police and having someone arrested. It’s just as simple to scoot the shoplifter out the door and recover your merchandise. At the end of the day, you keep the money in your store, and that’s what our ultimate goal is anyway.
Your store employees are one of the bigger investments you make as an employer. Why not use those employees to prevent shoplifting. Think of this… You can only be in one place at one time. Your employees are always around different areas of the store at all times. So how do you get your hourly staff excited about stopping theft? It’s not an easy question to answer. One of the first things you need to shore up is the level of customer service your customers are receiving. When a shopper walks into a department, are they greeted and offered assistance, or are they ignored as your employee trudges away at a task? I can tell you from years of experience that a shoplifter does not want to be noticed. They want to come into your store with their head down and not bring attention to themselves. If they know employees are aware of their presence, and will be monitoring them in case they need assistance, they will be less likely to steal from you.
There’s two sides to this equation as well. As retailers, our main focus is to drive sales. If your employee is engaging your customer, think of the potential add on sales that can be made. So not only is your employee doing their part to prevent shoplifting, they are boosting your bottom line. The best part of this… you don’t have to spend a single penny. This is one of the simplest ways to get your team motivated to prevent theft all while driving sales and helping your store meet sales expectations. If your store is known for great service, your customers will tell their friends. I’ve had long term customers tell me that they drive an extra 25 minutes to come to my store because they appreciate the level of service they receive.
Customer service is the most important of the three pillars of reducing losses from shoplifters. It’s a simple method for you to immediately implement and you will see a return on this investment on the very same day. Don’t let shoplifters take advantage of your store; provide them with exceptional service and you will be sure to see your losses decrease all while your sales go up!
For more information, contact us: Prevent Shoplifting, or call 1.770.426.0547
Every store I visit, or manager I speak to always wants to know what they can do to prevent shoplifting. I will always be the first person to say that there is not one single method, or tool you can implement that will stop your losses. You have to take a multi-layered approached to combat shoplifting. I thought I would do something a little different and make a three part series on, what I believe are the most fundamental pillars to battle shoplifters.
Unless you’re a major, multi-billion dollar a year corporation, chances are you don’t have a loss prevention team in your store. It’s more than likely up to you, and your store employees, to prevent losses from shoplifters. Most store managers want to simply deter a theft than having to go through the process of contacting the police and having someone arrested. It’s just as simple to scoot the shoplifter out the door and recover your merchandise. At the end of the day, you keep the money in your store, and that’s what our ultimate goal is anyway.
Your store employees are one of the bigger investments you make as an employer. Why not use those employees to prevent shoplifting. Think of this… You can only be in one place at one time. Your employees are always around different areas of the store at all times. So how do you get your hourly staff excited about stopping theft? It’s not an easy question to answer. One of the first things you need to shore up is the level of customer service your customers are receiving. When a shopper walks into a department, are they greeted and offered assistance, or are they ignored as your employee trudges away at a task? I can tell you from years of experience that a shoplifter does not want to be noticed. They want to come into your store with their head down and not bring attention to themselves. If they know employees are aware of their presence, and will be monitoring them in case they need assistance, they will be less likely to steal from you.
There’s two sides to this equation as well. As retailers, our main focus is to drive sales. If your employee is engaging your customer, think of the potential add on sales that can be made. So not only is your employee doing their part to prevent shoplifting, they are boosting your bottom line. The best part of this… you don’t have to spend a single penny. This is one of the simplest ways to get your team motivated to prevent theft all while driving sales and helping your store meet sales expectations. If your store is known for great service, your customers will tell their friends. I’ve had long term customers tell me that they drive an extra 25 minutes to come to my store because they appreciate the level of service they receive.
Customer service is the most important of the three pillars of reducing losses from shoplifters. It’s a simple method for you to immediately implement and you will see a return on this investment on the very same day. Don’t let shoplifters take advantage of your store; provide them with exceptional service and you will be sure to see your losses decrease all while your sales go up!
For more information, contact us at Prevent Shoplifting, or call 1.770.426.0547
