If you want to know how to keep shoplifters away from your retail shop, or perhaps you are tired of losing thousands to shoplifters every month, you are in the right place. Indeed, shoplifters can be a threat to your growth as a retailer regardless of your business size, especially now that these cases are more common now than ever.
While you cannot keep your shop or store 100% free from theft, there are several measures you can put in place to reduce the risk of being shoplifted. Explained below are various ways you can prevent or mitigate the risk of shoplifting in your retail shop to optimize your profits:
Ensure You Store is Clean and Organized
One perfect sign that your retail store is an ideal playground for shoplifters is uncleanliness and unorganized shelves. When a potential shoplifter sees that your shop is unkempt or unorganized with litter on the floor, they will know your employees are not attentive and execute their mission.
To increase your overall oversight and minimize any chances of being shoplifted, you should train your employees to keep your shop organized and clean. Make them adopt a routine of ensuring the store is clean and organized once they report to work in the morning.
Once you do that, you can easily identify whether or not there is a missing item on the shelf and what is selling and what is not to minimize any chance of a shoplifter sneaking out with unpaid merchandise.
Put Out that Welcome Mat
As you could be aware, shoplifters would want to stay anonymous, and they do this by avoiding eye contact with you or your employees once they enter your shop. To dissuade or deter shoplifters from your shop, you should make it a habit to greet all your customers.
Do not just shout "hello" while seated on the other end of the counter. Ensure you make eye contact with your customers when greeting them. A simple greeting and good eye contact with your customers can make a potential shoplifter think twice about stealing from you.
Also, making eye contact with a potential shoplifter brings about fear that you could quickly identify them once they steal from your shop.
Ensure Your Shop is Well Lit
Undoubtedly, most locations with frequent shoplifting cases are areas with lousy lighting. Having a dark place in your shop can provide a shoplifter with an ideal hideout to stow stolen items in their pockets or bags without anyone noticing.
Ensure that your shop has proper lighting if you want to keep shoplifters at bay. Take your time to look for lighting techniques that will not only improve your shop interior design to attract more customers but dissuade shoplifters simultaneously.
Make Your Policies About Theft Known to Your Customers
Advertise your shop's policies to your customers to ensure potential shoplifters are aware of the consequences they will suffer when they steal any item. You can also display shoplifting or anti-theft warning signs on different prominent areas of your shop to alert potential shoplifters that you are indeed serious about curbing shoplifting.
Not only do these anti-theft signs stay put or displayed 24/7 while your staff and customers move in and out of your line of sight, but they also deter potential shoplifters, just like security signage at home can keep burglars at bay. Below are tips to help you maximize the impact of anti-theft signs in your shop :
- Consider putting up signs which are featuring open eyes because it increases the likelihood of compliance with the warnings.
- Place or fix a sign at or near the front door because it is often the first place your customers will look once they walk into your shop.
- Ensure the language on these signs reflects your company's or business brand, considering your targeted clients.
- Instead of filling up your valuable shelves with these signs, it is wise that you fix them at high places where potential shoplifters are most likely to check in an attempt to know whether or not you have surveillance cameras in place.
Ensure the anti-theft signs you will fix in your shop indicates the maximum shoplifting charge and penalties a shoplifter could be subject to upon conviction.
Add Electronic Prevention Methods
Investing in modern security technology is a helpful shoplifting prevention strategy. For instance, you can use electronic article surveillance, also commonly known as security tags, to easily track when merchandise or product is missing in your shop. Using security tags as an anti-theft measure ensures valuable items in your shop are protected 24/7.
Although installing these systems in your shop is not cheap, it is a reliable way of keeping shoplifters at bay because they fear that you will be alerted when they step out of the shop with stolen merchandise.
Secure At-Risk Merchandise or Items in Your Shop
As you could be aware, shoplifters are more likely to steal small and high-value items in your shop because it is easy to conceal them. If you have expensive items like jewelry that are likely to attract the attention of shoplifters, you should take the necessary protective measures to protect them.
To ensure these items are safe, you should lock them in secure cabinet displays or place them in a harder-to-reach place. Doing that makes it challenging for shoplifters to steal any valuable item in your shop without your knowledge.
Another way to keep at-risk items secure in your shop is by moving them to a location where your employees can see them most of the time.
Train Your Employees on Shoplifting Prevention
Do not undermine the importance of delivering shoplifting prevention training to your employees. To prevent any chances of being shoplifted, you should take your time to train your employees on how to spot shoplifters by observing particular behavior patterns. For instance, female shoplifters are often dressed in long coats and have a pulse or handbag with them most of the time.
Below are other additional red flags or indicators that someone is probably a shoplifter:
- They are paying more attention to employees than items in the shop.
- They are picking different merchandise and "pretending" to admire them.
- They often walk in the opposite direction of your employees.
Because a shoplifter is less likely to pick an item in your shop and run away with it, it will be easier for your employees to identify a potential shoplifter if they are familiar with their common behavior patterns. Also, you should train your employees on how to deal with different possible shoplifting scenarios.
For instance, actions to take when one of your employees points their finger at a customer for allegedly concealing an item in their pocket, and they turn out aggressive and rude. Knowing what to do in that scenario is vital to protect your business reputation and deter shoplifters from executing their mission in your shop.
Monitor Your Shop's Dressing Rooms
Dressing rooms are an ideal hide place for shoplifters to conceal a stolen item in their sweatpants or bags. To reduce or prevent any chance of being shoplifted, you should keep an eye on your dressing rooms, especially if your shop sells clothing because a customer could need to try on a few clothes of their choice before buying them.
Ensure you have an employee positioned around this area to monitor the number of items a customer carries in the dressing room and ensure they come out with all of them. Once you do this, you can know when merchandise is missing for an appropriate loss prevention action to prevent future losses.
Apply Proper Customer Service Techniques
Excellent and outstanding customer service is not only a way to attract more customers to your business, but it is also an effective way to keep shoplifters at bay. To keep your shop's customer service outstanding, you should encourage your employees to stay active with walk-in customers.
This technique makes potential shoplifters in your shop fear that one of your employees could catch them red-handed while in the act of concealing an item. Below are a few tips that can improve your business customer service and deter people with dishonorable intentions like shoplifters:
- Update your employees on new shoplifting prevention strategies when necessary.
- Welcome all your customers warmly when they walk into your shop.
Building a great relationship with your customers can help you curb or prevent any chance of being shoplifted because your honest customers will not hesitate to report suspicious behavior to you for a reasonable cause of action.
Maintain an Inventory
Having an inventory of the merchandise in stock ensures that you are not unknowingly losing some of your items to shoplifters. Nowadays, most retailers use the POS (Point of Sale) system to monitor merchandise that comes and leaves their shop. The POS system matches the number of items that leave your shop to the current revenue and investigates further if these numbers do not reconcile.
Maintaining an inventory of your stock helps you identify and solve negative issues before they become serious or unsolvable.
Beware of Times When Shoplifting Cases Become More Prevalent
Shoplifting cases are common, but there are times when they are more prevalent in many places than others. Knowing when these cases are more prevalent can save you thousands you could lose to shoplifters because you will have proper anti-theft measures in place when that time comes.
For instance, most shoplifters are more likely to strike when your shop is busy, meaning you have an influx of customers. Although it depends on the type of items that you sell, shoplifting cases are typically more prevalent during high-demand shopping times, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, or summertime.
Adhere to a Strict Return and Refund Policy
Shoplifting is not the only way thieves can slow your business growth rate. Fraudulent returns for a cash refund are another way a thief can "kill" your business over time. It is not uncommon for shoplifters to steal an item and attempt to return it for a cash refund in the current economic times.
Ensure your return and refund rules or policy are clear and precise, stating circumstances when a customer can receive a cash refund for returned goods or merchandise. If your policy clearly states that a customer cannot receive a refund for returned goods without a receipt (s), you should stick to it under all circumstances.
When you make exceptions to these policies, meaning you allow some customers to receive a refund for their items without a receipt, shoplifters will likely target your shop, hoping to do the same.
Optimize Your Shop's Interior Design and Layout
There are several ways you can optimize your shop's interior design and layout to keep shoplifters at bay, including:
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Shorten Your Displays
Designing your shop with short displays will give you and your employees a broader view of what is going on in every section of your shop. Generally, the purpose of shortening displays is to reduce blind spots in your shop because tall displays act as obstructions to your view, and shoplifters can take advantage of that.
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Station Your Checkout Strategically
Placing a checkout at the back of your shop could seem ideal if you want to optimize your available space, but it could put you at risk of being shoplifted. To reduce any chances of being shoplifted, you should consider placing a checkout by the exit to make it easy to greet your customers as they walk in and acknowledge them as they leave.
Having employees stationed near the exit of your shop increases the chances of catching a potential shoplifter before they step out with a stolen item.
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Place Mirrors on Different Areas of the Shop
Mirrors can improve your shop's interior design and help your employees monitor what is going on in different sections of your shop. Additionally, mirrors deter shoplifters because they are often self-conscious and fearful that you or one of your employees could be looking at them in one of these mirrors.
A common type of mirror that most retail shops use to deter shoplifters is the rounded security mirror often fitted in the corner of the shop. Potential shoplifters will have no hiding place to conceal stolen items when you fix this type of mirror in your shop because you and your employees will have a broader view of every section of the shop.
Use an Alert System at Your Shop Entrance
Using an alert system at your entrance is another idea you cannot undermine if you want to reduce any possible chances of being shoplifted as a retailer. This alert system is an effective and approved strategy that can keep shoplifters at bay because they like to remain anonymous.
Having a door buzzer or a doorbell installed at your shop's entrance is a cost-friendly alert system that could be suitable for your small-scale retail business to discourage customers that enter your shop with the motive to steal.
When this entrance doorbell rings, a potential shoplifter can change their mind on their premeditated motive because they certainly develop fear and anxiety that you or your employee could be watching them.
Have a Unique Secret Code that Your Employees Can Use to Communicate Suspicious Behaviors
Having a unique secret code or signal that your employees can use to alert each other of suspicious behaviors or traits on some customers can help minimize the chances of being shoplifted. Ensure this unique secret code is easy to memorize and remember for easy communication whenever you or another employee want to alert others of places to keep an eye on.
When doing this, you should avoid pointing at a particular person or place because an honest customer can feel like they are being targeted, tarnishing your reputation.
Hire Security Personnel
Partnering with security experts can also help you curb and prevent any chances of losing your merchandise to a shoplifter. Instead of hiring more employees, which increases your business overhead, hiring security personnel could be a cheaper alternative to keep an eye on different floor areas of your shop.
If you have CCTV cameras in place, which is a great idea, one security personnel can keep an eye on your entire shop and even capture clear photos of potential shoplifters while in the act of stealing. With the advancement of technology and improved lenses, investing in CCTV cameras is a choice you cannot regret if you want to ensure top-notch security in your shop to keep shoplifters at bay.
Have a Plan of What to Do When You Catch a Shoplifter
Have a plan that can help you know appropriate actions to take when you catch a shoplifter. Although you can handle this matter in-house, it is wise to call the police when you catch a potential shoplifter. Calling the police for a cheap item like lipstick worth $4 or less can seem like a harsh way to treat a customer, but it will send the right message to shoplifters who are targeting your shop.
Find a Los Angeles Security Provider Near Me
As you can see above, perhaps, shoplifting prevention at your retail store is not an overwhelming prospect as many people assume. Regardless of your business size, the above shoplifting prevention ideas or tips can help you minimize and prevent possible chances of losing your merchandise to a shoplifter.
We invite you to call credible security experts at Green Knight Security at 844-457-8326 if you need tight security services in your retail shop in the city of Los Angeles, CA.
