There’s nothing easy about business ownership. Obviously, competition from other companies is always a concern, but preventing theft and fraud is an area that can cause you considerable trouble. If you want to protect your products and your business funds, we have some simple pointers that can mitigate your company’s risk factors.
Staffing: Your First Line of Defense
When it comes to loss prevention in a retail business, your employees are of the utmost importance. It’s crucial that you train your staff to recognize risks as they arise. Some simple steps you can take are to make sure that your employees welcome customers as they enter the store, and consistently offer assistance to shoppers. This can reduce theft by simply making potential shoplifters aware that your staff are attentive.
Layout: Optimize Your Store’s Interior Design
Imagine that you’re a thief who wants to steal from your store. Does the layout of your store make it easier or harder to shoplift? Some things you can do, include moving checkouts to the front of the store, and placing expensive items as far from the entrance as possible. Keep windows clear of clutter and design your aisles so people can’t easily hide behind shelves or stock.
You should also make sure that the interior and exterior of your store are well-lit and free of shadows. You can even record the serial numbers of your high-value merchandise to make these items easier to recover if a theft does occur. If you have any expensive items that are small (or otherwise easily concealed) store them in locked cabinets, place them behind the checkout stand, or use security ink tags.
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Finally, don’t keep much cash in your store. Make regular deposits at the bank to ensure you never have more cash on-hand than you can afford to lose.
Security: More Than Just Cameras
Security cameras are obviously important. Sometimes, just the sight of well-placed cameras and monitors can be enough to deter some thieves. They need to be clearly visible, but also fully operational. If a theft does occur, and you don’t have footage for the police to review, there’s not much they can do. In addition, if your security cameras are just for show, your employees will know this and may try to take advantage.
Beyond just setting up cameras, you might want to consider hiring professional security officers to monitor your store. Much like the mere presence of cameras can help deter some theft, so can the appearance of a uniformed security guard. In addition, these officers know what to look for and how to stop shoplifters in the act.
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Additional Policies to Consider
If you do capture footage of thieves on your cameras, resist the urge to blast them on your website or social media accounts. If you display the footage, the people in the images can argue that you are singling them out or harassing them, which could have civil repercussions. Furthermore, it gives off the appearance of being unprofessional or petty, and can also lead to customers distrusting your security measures.
Another option is to conduct bag searches. While this is a rather extreme measure that may make customers feel like their privacy is being violated, as long as you post a sign stating that bags may be searched at any time, it is legally within your rights to do so. If a customer does not comply with your bag search policy, you may refuse them service, suggest that they leave the premises, or even call the police.
How to Detect Fraud Before It Happens
Theft of inventory and cash from your retail location isn’t the only threat to your business, as there are a number of ways that fraudsters can take advantage of an unprepared company. There are several common scams to be aware of. Sometimes a thief may overpay you, and then ask you to provide the excess portion of the payment in return. Of course, once you do so, they contact their bank to cancel the original payment, leaving you on the hook for the remainder.
Other common scams include false invoices, sent to trick you into providing the scammer with personal information that they can then exploit, or asking you to make payments to unknown bank accounts (even if the person making the request is someone that you trust). Be sure to also consider your insurance options.
In Conclusion
When it comes to theft prevention, it’s impossible to cover every imaginable base. If you operate a retail business, it’s very possible that someone will successfully steal from you at some point. However, if you keep these tips in mind, and implement as many of the security measures as you can, you will significantly reduce the threat of shoplifting and fraud for your store.
In addition to mitigating risk factors, your customers and employees will appreciate your dedication to keeping your store safe.
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