How Holiday Preparation Helps Stop Shoplifting

If you work in retail, it’s getting to be that time of the year that theft and stress drastically increases. Yes, the holidays are almost here already, and so are the shoplifters. Are you ready for the extra rush of people, the confusion, and everything else that comes along with the busiest season of the year? If you want to get ahead of the game and stop shoplifting in your store, you have to be prepared for the coming storm. This includes testing all of your retail theft prevention equipment before your store gets busier, and ensuring that you are fully staffed and confident that you have the right team in place.

Testing to ensure that all of your equipment is functioning properly before the holidays will give you peace of mind that everything will work how it is supposed to when it matters the most. Of course, this includes testing your cameras, camera controllers, monitors, DVRs, EAS towers and deactivation pads, and anything else you use to help stop shoplifting in your store. If you wait until you are seriously busy to do this, you will have a big problem due to your hectic schedule and increased workload. I’ve seen bad situations in the past that could have easily been avoided if the teams had taken these steps before the holidays. If any of your equipment isn’t functioning like it should be, it sometimes takes a while to get it repaired, especially this time of year. For instance, if one of your DVRs has been giving you error messages or not recording everything as it should be, you might have to call and schedule for a technician to come to your store, or even pack up the DVR and ship it out to be repaired.

Another thing you will definitely want to look at before the holidays is whether or not you have enough employees staffed for the increase in business.This is a major part of the success of your holiday preparation plan. There is nothing a shoplifter likes more than being able to get in and out of a store without being noticed, so the more employees that are around helping customers, the less of a chance the shoplifters will have to get away with stealing your merchandise. Employee presence is just as important as having properly functioning retail theft prevention equipment in the store. Ensure that all of your employees are thoroughly trained on how to detect customer behaviors that could be associated with theft or other dishonest or criminal activity.

While we are on the topic of employees, make sure you do your best to hire the right people for the job. Employees typically cause a higher dollar loss than shoplifters, and everyone needs a little bit extra during the holidays. So in addition to trying to get customers to stop shoplifting, you should also have a plan in place to ensure that your employees aren’t stealing from you as well. A lot of that starts with good controls and policies, and making sure that your team follows them closely.  With the extra customers and employees in the store, sometimes controls are neglected, which can create a huge opportunity for anyone wanting to do something dishonest. 

If you don’t start preparing before the rush, you might get yourself into a position that will leave your store vulnerable to all kinds of dishonest activities. Once again, it’s important that all of your retail theft prevention devices are fully functioning, and your team is properly trained on what to look for in dishonest behaviors, and what to do if they see it happening.

For more information about how to stop shoplifting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547