Have you a top quality shoplifting prevention program in place? To find out take the quiz below.
Give yourself 10 points for every “yes.” Then total up the points and grade yourself.
1. Have you trained your staff on how to interact well with customers?
2. Do your personnel know how to spot suspicious behaviors?
3. Do you greet people as soon as they enter the store, and do you follow up as they walk the aisles?
4. Have you taken measures to protect departments in the critical hours just after opening and before closing?
5. Have you arranged your displays as best you can for maximum visibility?
6. Have you installed mirrors so clerks can see down hidden areas?
7. Have you taken steps to secure merchandise displayed near the front door?
8. Have you secured high ticket items in locked cases?
9. Have you mounted signs warning about security surveillance and security cameras and monitors in view of the public?
10. Have you contacted your local police department to see if they have a crime prevention officer who can visit your store and advise?
What’s your score? Over 80: You are doing a great job reducing the incidence of shoplifting. Between 60 and 80: You need some improvement, so fill the gaps in your crime prevention program. Below 60: Time to improve your security before your merchandise walks out the door.
Good security, of course, is a moving target. What works for one store might not work for another, and every store has to keep experimenting with the best ways to reduce shrinkage. “Everything helps a little bit,” says Chris E. McGoey, president of McGoey Security Consulting, Los Angeles (crimedoctor.com). “It all depends on how motivated the thief is, and how afraid of being caught.”
