Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small-Business Saturday, Christmas, and New Years have all come and gone. Hopefully, the holidays have lived up to their reputation this year, and have brought your business a great deal of profit. Now it is time to breathe a sigh of relief, put your stores back together, and get back to the basics. During the busy season, many of us relax our standards on merchandise protection either because we haven’t had the resources to give it the attention it needs, or because we wanted to make the merchandise easily accessible to our customers. Either way, it is time to go back through the store and ensure that everything is protected and that all of our processes are back in place to ensure retail theft prevention in our stores.
First and foremost, it is important to check the current status of merchandise security and assess any potential damage from the hectic season. Are high-risk items accounted for? What items are now missing that are not accounted for in sales? What items are at a higher risk than was previously believed? Where are high-risk items being stored on the floor and in the back? Are they secured like they are supposed to be? This is a list of just a few questions you should be asking yourself when recovering from the holiday season. You should also evaluate how much loss you incurred in anti-shoplifting devices like Checkpoint Security Tags, Spider Wraps, and other devices. This will allow you to order more if necessary, and make sure that your merchandise gets protected.
While it is still fresh in your mind, after evaluating the damages of the season, it is a good idea to implement changes to how you will handle the holidays for the next season. Did you run out of equipment that was needed during the middle of the hectic season? Did any of your equipment break during the season that now needs to be repaired or replaced? It is much like assessing the damage to your ship after a brutal storm (one that hopefully washed up thousands of fish into your nets). Part of this assessment should also be sizing up and evaluating your crew.
Of your employees, who shined the most? Who maybe needs to have a bit more training? For seasonal employees who did a wonderful job, maybe you should consider hanging onto them. Make sure that your crew remains “undamaged” and coach and hire as you see fit. Having the right employees on board can do a lot for retail theft prevention. If you found any bad apples stealing during the holiday season, it is obvious that you should probably throw them out. Keep the good ones around and train them up to be effective theft-deterrents and customer service representatives. Always remember to treat your crew how you would expect to be treated. After all, when being the captain of the ship, there is little worse than mutiny!
In addition to assessing and repairing any damage, it is a great time to evaluate upgrade options. Perhaps you have discovered from the holiday season that your security system needs an upgrade. This may include new surveillance systems, a Checkpoint Security System, or maybe even new security staff. Make sure to reassess and see what additions can be made to prevent retail theft and optimize your profits.
For more information contact us: Retail Theft Prevention or call 1.770.426.0547