Double Duty to Prevent Shoplifting

A recent Washington Post “On Small Business” article proposed double-duty tactics retailers can use to head off losses from shoplifting. The double duty comes because each tactic is also a way to increase store sales.
     Here is my adaptation of that list, including research-based augmentations to make the tactics work even better for you:

• Remind yourself and your employees of the consequences of shoplifting. When profitability is lost to shoplifting, less money is available to pay salaries and benefits. Survey research indicates a greater acceptance of shoplifting now than five years ago. One explanation is that people are feeling deprived and losing hope during these tough economic times. This acceptance of shoplifting affects not just the frequency of the crime, but also the willingness of retail employees to let it happen. Reminding employees that their job security depends on store profitability is always a good way to motivate selling.
• Offer good customer service. Another explanation for the increased acceptance of shoplifting is that people perceive big businesses as exploiting consumers and accepting government favors not available to the consumers. Show how you’re intent on helping, not exploiting, people. When you treat all customers with respect, concern, and empathy, people prone to shoplifting are less likely to steal from you, even when the opportunity is there.
• Instruct your employees to vary the routes they take as they walk around. Salespeople are more likely to walk through the center of the area for which they are responsible rather than along the perimeter. By taking the routes less traveled, staff can both provide shopping assistance to more people and deprive prospective shoplifters of predictability in surveillance.
• Keep shopping areas organized. Organized shopping areas help customers make selections more quickly, increasing the shopping cart totals. However, many retailers have upped the clutter in their stores, attending to the finding that total purchase size increases among today’s shoppers when there is more to see. The motto seems to have become, “If they trip over it, they might decide to buy it.” In addition, research says clutter implies low prices. However, when the abundance is disorganized, it’s harder for store staff to spot that merchandise is gone or that someone in the store has positioned an item to be subsequently shoplifted. From another angle, the Washington Post article says that the temptation to shoplift is greater when a browser thinks, “They wouldn’t notice it’s missing.”

Click below for more:
Augment Loss Prevention with Psychology
Clear Up Clutter Ambiguities