Retail Traffic Counting – 3 WC Blog 742
Customer Counting Systems -3
Using Customer Counting Systems To Improve Customer Service – Part 1
Writing about the importance of retail traffic counting to improve sales and also writing about how it can help reduce shortage seem to be incongruent at first glance. How does keeping track of the number of people entering your store have anything to do with efforts to prevent shoplifting or any other criminal activity, i.e. purse snatching, property theft, sexual misconduct and so on? The questions came to my mind as I was preparing to write an article on recent customer service experiences I encountered in recent visits to two different fast food chains. One visit was exceptional and one was the polar opposite. Then I had to consider that I was not only going to explain the tie in between customer counting systems, customer service and the impact on theft deterrence I was also going to toss in the fast food business to retail store owners and operators. I started to question my own sanity. As I considered the mess I was trying to create it dawned on me, it all DOES relate and it makes the fact that I am comparing restaurants to stores makes no difference. Both are service industries and who is being served? Customers are being served, that is who.
The two experiences that led me to this topic started when I had gone to a famous burger restaurant. Someone may be arching their brow in curiosity about which chain I am talking about but I am going to refrain. I like the food and this is not my experience at all of their restaurants. This day was busy and the parking lot was full and the line of cars for the drive though was lengthy. I chose to go inside rather than sit idling for too long. I was able to order in just a few minutes but as I stood waiting I watched the activity behind the counter and the customers waiting with me. Cashiers were chatting with customers who had already placed orders while the people trying to bag orders and get the food were harried and looked anxious. The manager was yelling at cooks and employees asking where orders were and trying to give directions but she seemed to be barely in control, bagging orders herself and barking at staff. On top of this some customers who, like me, were waiting for their food were frazzled. Some customers who ordered after us received their food before us. When I did get to the car with my food I checked the bag before driving off and found I had been shorted a burger. This was a very unpleasant customer service experience. It was clear to me that no planning went into staffing for the day and perhaps retail traffic counting COULD have been a useful tool for this business. I also saw that management as being a part of the problem not managing but rather reacting to situations and not in control.
Now this was the poor example of customer service and I don’t like to dwell on negatives. I would prefer to help a business correct a problem and improve the customer service. As customer service improves sales grow. Bill Bregar, the founder of Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. would agree with me on this point. His background is in investigations and retail Loss Prevention but he knows the value of a great customer service culture. Bill recognizes how it serves to improve sales and will also reduce store theft and that is the reason he supports the use of customer counting systems to track foot traffic. Using that information retailers can plan and schedule much more effectively for future store activity. Sensormatic offers a retail traffic counting sensor that can be added to many existing Sensormatic electronic article surveillance towers. Those retailers that already use Sensormatic security systems will have the added benefit of tracking alarm activity which can aid in theft prevention plans and evaluating alarm response.
I love a good cliff hanger and so I am going to leave one of my own here. If you would like to read about the great customer service experience I had and what was so different about it from the first restaurant you will need to look for Part 2 to this series. This will be particularly important if you want to see how customer counting systems and customer service can be used in your business and grow your sales.
Get more information on retail traffic counting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 now.
Writing about the importance of retail traffic counting to improve sales and also writing about how it can help reduce shortage seem to be incongruent at first glance. How does keeping track of the number of people entering your store have anything to do with efforts to prevent shoplifting or any other criminal activity, i.e. purse snatching, property theft, sexual misconduct and so on? The questions came to my mind as I was preparing to write an article on recent customer service experiences I encountered in recent visits to two different fast food chains. One visit was exceptional and one was the polar opposite. Then I had to consider that I was not only going to explain the tie in between customer counting systems, customer service and the impact on theft deterrence I was also going to toss in the fast food business to retail store owners and operators. I started to question my own sanity. As I considered the mess I was trying to create it dawned on me, it all DOES relate and it makes the fact that I am comparing restaurants to stores makes no difference. Both are service industries and who is being served? Customers are being served, that is who.
The two experiences that led me to this topic started when I had gone to a famous burger restaurant. Someone may be arching their brow in curiosity about which chain I am talking about but I am going to refrain. I like the food and this is not my experience at all of their restaurants. This day was busy and the parking lot was full and the line of cars for the drive though was lengthy. I chose to go inside rather than sit idling for too long. I was able to order in just a few minutes but as I stood waiting I watched the activity behind the counter and the customers waiting with me. Cashiers were chatting with customers who had already placed orders while the people trying to bag orders and get the food were harried and looked anxious. The manager was yelling at cooks and employees asking where orders were and trying to give directions but she seemed to be barely in control, bagging orders herself and barking at staff. On top of this some customers who, like me, were waiting for their food were frazzled. Some customers who ordered after us received their food before us. When I did get to the car with my food I checked the bag before driving off and found I had been shorted a burger. This was a very unpleasant customer service experience. It was clear to me that no planning went into staffing for the day and perhaps retail traffic counting COULD have been a useful tool for this business. I also saw that management as being a part of the problem not managing but rather reacting to situations and not in control.
Now this was the poor example of customer service and I don’t like to dwell on negatives. I would prefer to help a business correct a problem and improve the customer service. As customer service improves sales grow. Bill Bregar, the founder of Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. would agree with me on this point. His background is in investigations and retail Loss Prevention but he knows the value of a great customer service culture. Bill recognizes how it serves to improve sales and will also reduce store theft and that is the reason he supports the use of customer counting systems to track foot traffic. Using that information retailers can plan and schedule much more effectively for future store activity. Sensormatic offers a retail traffic counting sensor that can be added to many existing Sensormatic electronic article surveillance towers. Those retailers that already use Sensormatic security systems will have the added benefit of tracking alarm activity which can aid in theft prevention plans and evaluating alarm response.
I love a good cliff hanger and so I am going to leave one of my own here. If you would like to read about the great customer service experience I had and what was so different about it from the first restaurant you will need to look for Part 2 to this series. This will be particularly important if you want to see how customer counting systems and customer service can be used in your business and grow your sales.
Get more information on retail traffic counting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 now.
WAB 09 Blog
We Can Guarantee To Stop All Shoplifting In Your Store-Sensormatic Systems
Yep, Loss Prevention Systems has a Sensormatic Systems solution to stop every bit of shoplifting in your store going forward. We will even put it in writing. The problem is that you will not have any customers because you will not be able to let anyone in. If that is a bit extreme for you, then you may want to try our other more popular plan to prevent shoplifting. It is a two part plan including LPSI helping you to train your staff and a Sensormatic system.
The reality is that the only way to shut down all shoplifting will cut into your profit margin. What we need to do is focus on the bulk of the shoplifting that is costing you the most money. If your goal is to prevent shoplifting completely then you will spend more in expenses than the losses are worth. However, we need to make sure we are on the same page in how we calculate losses. If a shoplifter steals $100 in merchandise is that what you have lost – $100?
Actually, no, you have lost much more than that. To replace that $100 at retail you need to figure in your costs. You had to purchase it, ship and receive it, handle and stock it, carry the cost in inventory, etc. On top of that you have rent, payroll, taxes, utilities and other expenses.
The easiest way to figure this is to take the retail price of the item and divide it by your profit margin. So let’s say for this explanation that your margin after all expenses is 2%. So the calculation is 100/.02=5000. Yes that is a five with three zeros. To break even, not make money but to break even you will need to sell an ADDITIONAL $5000 in merchandise.
Well, that’s not really a good business plan. So we have to fix this problem once and for all by doing what you do for any business problem you encounter, you attack it head on! Our goal has to be something more than “catching” shoplifters. You have already lost money at that point. You may have caught them but now you have to deal with them. It is kind of like when my dog chases a car. Exactly what is she going to do when she catches it???
There are only two economical ways to prevent shoplifting, not counting the whole never let anyone in your store thing. Training your staff and putting in an electronic article system such as a Sensormatic system. Okay let’s get something out of the way right now. YES, this is what Loss Prevention Systems does. We train our customers and we provide one of the best systems in the retail world, Sensormatic.
Our solutions that prevent shoplifting work. The reason I know that is that I have been in the loss prevention world for most of my life. I started in the trenches apprehending shoplifters all the way through Director of Loss Prevention at several major companies to the Board Room.
So let’s fix the shoplifting problem once and for all. Our training does not focus on chasing shoplifters in the parking lot. We want them to go away and take their theft elsewhere. Consider this, if you are doing a better job sending the shoplifter on their way and getting the reputation in the shoplifting community that you are not an easy mark then the shoplifters will go elsewhere. No one wishes trouble on anyone else. But, if your neighbors are doing a better job of shoplifting prevention than you then guess where they will go? Yeah, right to you!
Even with the best of training you still need a back-up. A Sensormatic system is protecting your merchandise 24/7. No vacations, sick days or my Grandfather has died for the ninth time. So when your staff is slammed and the customer to employee ratio is out of sync, the Sensormatic system is on guard. Kind of like a Doberman ready to start barking and baring its teeth.
The combination of the two, training and Sensormatic, are the problem solver. Oh, and by the way, both solutions are VERY AFFORDABLE for any size company from one store to, well you get the picture. So now you do not have any excuse. Contact us today or call 1-770-426-0547 for Sensormatic systems, retail theft prevention and stop shoplifting training.
Yep, Loss Prevention Systems has a Sensormatic Systems solution to stop every bit of shoplifting in your store going forward. We will even put it in writing. The problem is that you will not have any customers because you will not be able to let anyone in. If that is a bit extreme for you, then you may want to try our other more popular plan to prevent shoplifting. It is a two part plan including LPSI helping you to train your staff and a Sensormatic system.
The reality is that the only way to shut down all shoplifting will cut into your profit margin. What we need to do is focus on the bulk of the shoplifting that is costing you the most money. If your goal is to prevent shoplifting completely then you will spend more in expenses than the losses are worth. However, we need to make sure we are on the same page in how we calculate losses. If a shoplifter steals $100 in merchandise is that what you have lost – $100?
Actually, no, you have lost much more than that. To replace that $100 at retail you need to figure in your costs. You had to purchase it, ship and receive it, handle and stock it, carry the cost in inventory, etc. On top of that you have rent, payroll, taxes, utilities and other expenses.
The easiest way to figure this is to take the retail price of the item and divide it by your profit margin. So let’s say for this explanation that your margin after all expenses is 2%. So the calculation is 100/.02=5000. Yes that is a five with three zeros. To break even, not make money but to break even you will need to sell an ADDITIONAL $5000 in merchandise.
Well, that’s not really a good business plan. So we have to fix this problem once and for all by doing what you do for any business problem you encounter, you attack it head on! Our goal has to be something more than “catching” shoplifters. You have already lost money at that point. You may have caught them but now you have to deal with them. It is kind of like when my dog chases a car. Exactly what is she going to do when she catches it???
There are only two economical ways to prevent shoplifting, not counting the whole never let anyone in your store thing. Training your staff and putting in an electronic article system such as a Sensormatic system. Okay let’s get something out of the way right now. YES, this is what Loss Prevention Systems does. We train our customers and we provide one of the best systems in the retail world, Sensormatic.
Our solutions that prevent shoplifting work. The reason I know that is that I have been in the loss prevention world for most of my life. I started in the trenches apprehending shoplifters all the way through Director of Loss Prevention at several major companies to the Board Room.
So let’s fix the shoplifting problem once and for all. Our training does not focus on chasing shoplifters in the parking lot. We want them to go away and take their theft elsewhere. Consider this, if you are doing a better job sending the shoplifter on their way and getting the reputation in the shoplifting community that you are not an easy mark then the shoplifters will go elsewhere. No one wishes trouble on anyone else. But, if your neighbors are doing a better job of shoplifting prevention than you then guess where they will go? Yeah, right to you!
Even with the best of training you still need a back-up. A Sensormatic system is protecting your merchandise 24/7. No vacations, sick days or my Grandfather has died for the ninth time. So when your staff is slammed and the customer to employee ratio is out of sync, the Sensormatic system is on guard. Kind of like a Doberman ready to start barking and baring its teeth.
The combination of the two, training and Sensormatic, are the problem solver. Oh, and by the way, both solutions are VERY AFFORDABLE for any size company from one store to, well you get the picture. So now you do not have any excuse.
Contact us today or call 1-770-426-0547 for Sensormatic systems, retail theft prevention and stop shoplifting training.
I work in an office supply store and there are several different methods the store employs to prevent shoplifting. I am in the unique position that I can look at these strategies and make a professional judgement on their effectiveness. I have been involved in Retail Loss Prevention in one way or another for over 20 years. I have used the most effective retail anti-theft devices and the least effective tools for protecting merchandise. As a sales associate in my current role I can speak to the one strategy I really detest and that is keeping merchandise in a stockroom. It wasn’t long ago I had a customer who wanted to take a look at a couple of packages of pens. The store doesn’t keep these pens on the floor; instead there are placards with the picture of each type of pen on them. If the customer wants to look at the pen I have to go to the stockroom and get one out. I wanted to help this customer get what they came in for so I went to retrieve one so she could examine it. This was just to look at the pen, there was no guarantee she would purchase it (and ultimately she did not). On the way to the stockroom I had to stop and answer questions for two other customers. In one of those instances I had to ask the customer to wait until I was done helping my first customer then I would get back to her. What a terrible way to provide customer service. Yes, I called to see if anyone else could assist her but everyone was occupied with their own customer or they were busy in another department. If I had my choice I would protect the pens with Sensormatic Safers rather than the placard/stockroom lockup method.
There are two types of Safers available to prevent shoplifting. The first is the Flexible Safer and the second is the Adjustable Safer. Both types are equipped with electronic article surveillance technology. This means anyone attempting to carry a protected item out of the store is going to activate the Sensormatic pedestals and store associates can respond and recover the merchandise. The wonderful thing about Sensormatic Safers is that they are great for protecting small items or high dollar goods. For example Flexible Safers are a fantastic tool for protecting 4-packs of AAA lithium batteries or electric toothbrush heads. Adjustable Safers might be used to protect fragrances or skin care products (or pens). The use of these retail anti-theft devices allow merchants more options for stocking merchandise on the salesfloor and minimizing the use of stockrooms for holding merchandise. Protecting products and getting them in the hands of your customers alleviates the necessity of wasted manpower to retrieve products that may or may not be bought. It also makes the convenience of picking up an item and examining it an unstated selling point. As a shopper, I get frustrated when I can’t look at a locked up item because no one is nearby to readily unlock a display case or retrieve something from a stockroom. If it frustrates me, I know it frustrates others.
Sensormatic Safers were not available to me when I was a Loss prevention Manager. I wish they had been. I recall one of the hardest areas of the store to prevent shoplifting in was the health and beauty department. Within the specific department razor blades, perfumes and colognes were some of the specific items where we were constantly fighting shoplifting. We had some retail anti-theft devices we used but Safers would have been a better option if we had them available to us. We spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to brand these items to deter Organized Retail Crime groups and tagging them with electronic article surveillance tags. We were more successful than some of our peers but we still had theft problems that impacted our ability to keep product in-stock for paying customers. Of course, this hurt sales, on top of the financial impact of the theft itself.
Customer service is a powerful tool in retail. A negative experience for a customer may mean they don’t return for quite some time if at all. On the other hand a great experience leads to customer loyalty and a many return trips. Providing convenience to your customers contributes to an enhanced shopping trip and sales for your store. Sensormatic Safers can make the shopping experience easier and happier for your clients and that means more sales for you.
Get more information on Sensormatic Safers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I was in a store the other day and saw a box of Cracker Jacks and a thought came to me about the Loss Prevention System, Inc. (LPSI) Free Loss Prevention Calculator. Now I had better go back a bit for some readers. Cracker Jacks today aren’t like they used to be. A LONG time ago you used to get some little trinket surprise in the box. You never knew what the surprise would be but you knew something would be in the bottom of the box. We enjoyed the snack but many of us also bought the treat for the joy of the hidden treasure. In a manner of speaking LPSI offers a kind of surprise to retailers when they use the Loss Prevention ROI Calculator and learn that Loss Prevention can be free.
When a store owner starts to look into the purchase of a Loss Prevention anti-theft system it is often the result of high shortage numbers primarily attributable to theft. There are also owners or managers who think about purchasing a security system but are reluctant to do so out of an unfounded concern over what a system would cost them. Sadly, some of these owners have looked in all the wrong places for the best value. They get prices for systems and they may get prices on tags but they have no idea what they are purchasing and no one is explaining the value of what they are investing in. By visiting the LPSI website and their Loss Prevention ROI Calculator, a storeowner is going to be in for a pleasant surprise. Just like finding that hidden toy in a box of Cracker Jacks, the owner is going to find out that the ROI Calculator is a Free Loss Prevention Calculator. There is no charge to use it, no pushy salesman with a pop-up chat box trying to interact with you just a calculator that requires a few key pieces of information.
The second surprise comes when the user of the calculator learns that shortage in the store can be reduced by almost half with a Sensormatic security system installation. The calculator estimates a system will reduce your losses due to theft from 1.2% to .65% (which approximates average national shortage figures). Surprise number three is when you learn that over a period of time a retail anti-theft system will pay for itself. You read that correctly, the amount of money a system will save in shortage reduction will eventually pay for the system and the Free Loss Prevention Calculator will tell you how long it will take to do so. No boxed candy snack is going to give you three surprises!
And to borrow a phrase from those as seen on the television commercials, “Wait there’s more!” After you use the Free Loss Prevention Calculator and decide you might be interested in a Sensormatic system, a visit to LPSI’s home page reveals that if you purchase a Loss Prevention System from them you get more than just a Sensormatic tower and installation. LPSI includes free, live Loss Prevention training for the life of your Sensormatic system when you purchase a system from them. You ALSO receive free training on how to use your Sensormatic system when you make the purchase from them. A system requires more than just haphazardly putting labels on merchandise or walking up to someone who has set off an alarm and asking if they have something they didn’t pay for. There are right and wrong ways to do things and LPSI will teach your team the best methods for optimizing your system.
Purchasing something and getting a bonus item with it that was not expected is always a pleasant surprise. You may be in the market for a new anti-theft system just to get control over inventory shortage. Before you search the internet for a dealer who may not be interested in more than selling you a tower and tags take a look at the LPSI’s Loss Prevention ROI Calculator and their website. Learn how they are interested in more than selling you a tower, they are interested in the success of your business. Their commitment to their clients makes them stand far above other Loss Prevention consultation businesses and even Loss Prevention system dealers. Check out their website today and find out why they are an award winning company in the field of Loss Prevention.
Get more information on the Free Loss Prevention Calculator, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Sensormatic Customer Counting Systems
Have you ever wanted effective customer counting systems in your retail? How about incorporating retail traffic counting into a Sensormatic security system? We can do it. In fact, given the low cost it is simply not smart to leave it out of a Sensormatic system.
But, what will it do for you? We have a long time customer with eight stores that incorporated retail traffic counting into the systems we installed. Besides the obvious like counting traffic by time of day, day of the week, etc., a number of other surprise benefits arose. Our customer told me that in the first year the people counting portion of the system saved them in excess of $100K!
They found that there were stores that were opening too early/late and some that were closing to early/late. They combined our people counting systems data with their sales data and these revelations jumped out at them. They made adjustments to the hours in individual stores and their sales climbed significantly.
They also found that they were better able to adjust staffing needs to accommodate customer traffic. It makes sense. Why have staff on the floor when the customer traffic is low? On the other hand if you know there is a spike every Wednesday between 2:00 PM and 3:45 PM, you would want to make sure you have enough folks on the floor to accommodate.
But you may be saying to yourself now “I have my sales data to tell me that”. Sales data is only a piece of the puzzle. Sales data tells you how many customers made a purchase. It does not tell you how many lost opportunities there were because customers could not get assistance, make a decision or find something. On top of that, we know that properly trained staff will have add-on sales. “I think this scarf would look lovely with the blouse you picked out”. So we have more opportunities to increase the sales with the customers we have already attracted to the store. That is the benefit of having the right people on the sales floor at the right time.
All of this leads us to the big elephant in the room, payroll! We know that our largest expense tends to be labor. A retail traffic counting system will help you to reduce or use your payroll dollars much more efficiently as I have demonstrated above.
Sensormatic systems have retail traffic counting built in on many models. You will receive automated reports and can access the system dashboard at any time. Most Sensormatic systems have a built in network card to attach to your high speed router. The software monitoring is called SMaaS which stands for Shrink Management as a Service. This cloud based loss prevention service is designed to help enhance your stores productivity, increase reliability and boost system performance.
Additional features of SMaaS include the ability for you to have the systems power themselves up/down to a lower rate of energy consumption. Over a year’s period of time that will add up. You can also access real time data involving Sensormatic systems alarms, maintenance issues and much more. Here is the full list of features:
• Will help ensure reliability and optimal Sensormatic system performance with 24/7/365 remote monitoring and management of connected EAS equipment health statuses. This monitoring is provided by Sensormatic.
• Correct equipment issues in a proactive way with notification of service required to rectify problems
• Gather insights to help make effective data-driven decisions that will impact your shrink and bottom line results
• You are emailed notifications when your systems activity exceed a predetermined threshold so you know when an exception has occurred
• Minimize your Sensormatic systems downtime to help you spend less time managing
• Highly scalable and customizable cloud infrastructure and EAS event reporting
Contact Loss Prevention Systems today or call 1-770-426-0547 to learn more about Sensormatic Security Systems, retail traffic counting, people counting systems and customer counting systems.
Have you ever wanted effective customer counting systems in your retail? How about incorporating retail traffic counting into a Sensormatic security system? We can do it. In fact, given the low cost it is simply not smart to leave it out of a Sensormatic system.
But, what will it do for you? We have a long time customer with eight stores that incorporated retail traffic counting into the systems we installed. Besides the obvious like counting traffic by time of day, day of the week, etc., a number of other surprise benefits arose. Our customer told me that in the first year the people counting portion of the system saved them in excess of $100K!
They found that there were stores that were opening too early/late and some that were closing to early/late. They combined our people counting systems data with their sales data and these revelations jumped out at them. They made adjustments to the hours in individual stores and their sales climbed significantly.
They also found that they were better able to adjust staffing needs to accommodate customer traffic. It makes sense. Why have staff on the floor when the customer traffic is low? On the other hand if you know there is a spike every Wednesday between 2:00 PM and 3:45 PM, you would want to make sure you have enough folks on the floor to accommodate.
But you may be saying to yourself now “I have my sales data to tell me that”. Sales data is only a piece of the puzzle. Sales data tells you how many customers made a purchase. It does not tell you how many lost opportunities there were because customers could not get assistance, make a decision or find something. On top of that, we know that properly trained staff will have add-on sales. “I think this scarf would look lovely with the blouse you picked out”. So we have more opportunities to increase the sales with the customers we have already attracted to the store. That is the benefit of having the right people on the sales floor at the right time.
All of this leads us to the big elephant in the room, payroll! We know that our largest expense tends to be labor. A retail traffic counting system will help you to reduce or use your payroll dollars much more efficiently as I have demonstrated above.
Sensormatic systems have retail traffic counting built in on many models. You will receive automated reports and can access the system dashboard at any time. Most Sensormatic systems have a built in network card to attach to your high speed router. The software monitoring is called SMaaS which stands for Shrink Management as a Service. This cloud based loss prevention service is designed to help enhance your stores productivity, increase reliability and boost system performance.
Additional features of SMaaS include the ability for you to have the systems power themselves up/down to a lower rate of energy consumption. Over a year’s period of time that will add up. You can also access real time data involving Sensormatic systems alarms, maintenance issues and much more. Here is the full list of features:
• Will help ensure reliability and optimal Sensormatic system performance with 24/7/365 remote monitoring and management of connected EAS equipment health statuses. This monitoring is provided by Sensormatic.
• Correct equipment issues in a proactive way with notification of service required to rectify problems
• Gather insights to help make effective data-driven decisions that will impact your shrink and bottom line results
• You are emailed notifications when your systems activity exceed a predetermined threshold so you know when an exception has occurred
• Minimize your Sensormatic systems downtime to help you spend less time managing
• Highly scalable and customizable cloud infrastructure and EAS event reporting
Contact Loss Prevention Systems today or call 1-770-426-0547 to learn more about Sensormatic Security Systems, retail traffic counting, people counting systems and customer counting systems.
