Loss Prevention

The seriousness of this term is often underestimated and costs retailers thousands of dollars every year. An important part of any retail business and probably the area that retailers should be aware of is loss prevention. Following are some areas of concern and tips on reducing theft in your store.

Shoplifting Prevention
Everyone who enters your store could be a potential shoplifter. Ranging from small children, teenagers, young adults, adults and senior citizens. Shoplifters can be well dressed and well groomed and they come in all shapes and sizes. Don't let them fool you!

Encourage your staff to make eye contact with everyone in their working area. A very effective means of deterring theft by customers is prompt recognition and response to people when they enter your store. Shoplifters use their hands to steal. If you suspect someone is going to steal something, watch their hands, not his or her face. Constant visual contact should be made with the person you suspect. Dishonest customers are constantly searching for the location of staff by moving their heads from side to side.

Some characteristics of shoplifters are:
1. People carrying shopping bags, sport bags, suitcases, giftwrapped parcels, books, newspapers and open purses.
2. People pushing carts or strollers or they may have a jacket or a coat thrown over the stroller.
3. Customers that talk to you a lot (they may be working with an accomplice).
4. People who linger or loiter or anyone folding merchandise or simply rolling up their jeans.
5. People inappropriately dressed for the weather.
6. People wearing very loose or large clothing.
If you suspect a person of shoplifting, a manager should approach the suspicious party and ask if they need assistance with their selection. Customers carrying shopping bags should be approached and asked if they wish to leave their bags or parcels at the front.

Backdoor Security
1. Your receiving door should be locked at all times.
2. Non-personnel should never be left unattended in your backroom (sales reps, truck drivers friends etc..)
3. Never leave keys to the backroom unattended.
4. Never store loose merchandise in the backroom (ie.opened boxes)
5. Properly labeled receiving hours should appear on your back door. This door should not be opened after receiving hours. Ask after hour visitors to please go to the front door.
Some warning signs of back door security problems are:
1.Product found in parcels or bags left in the backroom that aren't paid for.
2.Product found in unusual or suspicious locations.
3.Product missing from full cases
4.Empty packages found in backroom, washrooms, garbages etc
5.Articles missing between closing and re-opening of the store the next morning.
6.Truck drivers permitted free access to your backroom.
7.Receiving procedures not being followed: ie. accepting the delivery person's word that the carton count is correct, not checking the boxes for damages etc..

Cash Registers and Store Safe
1.If you have a safe, it should be bolted to the floor and armed with an alarm system.
2.Your safe combination should not be written down, it should be memorized.
3.A safe should be used for change and cash pick ups from overflow of cash, especially this time of year when stores are busy and higher sales are experienced.
4.Your safe should always be locked and should not be left in the safety or day lock position.
5.If you have multiple cashiers, they should be responsible for balancing his/her own floats.

Cash Handling
During this time of year there should be regular cash pick ups due to increased traffic and increased cashflow. All $20, $50 and $100 bills should be taken out and placed in the safe immediately. Never put the case down for any reason and don't allow any distractions take your attention off this task. All tills should have less than $1000.00 cash in them at any given time.
Due to the volume of traffic in our stores during the fourth quarter, there are a couple of areas of concern that all retailers should be aware of:

Quick Change Artists
Cashiers must make it a regular practice to say out loud the amount received from the customer and place it on top of their register until change has been given to the customer. This will safeguard any disagreements on amounts tendered.

The cashier is to count the customer's change 2 times. As it is being pulled from the register drawer and as it is being handed to the customer.
Quick Change Artists work when the store is busy and their trick is to try and confuse the cashier.

 Whenever someone tries to confuse the cashier, the cashier should STOP, close the cash drawer and call for Management. Signs in recognizing these are:
- Anytime the customer changes his/her mind about the amount tendered
- When a small article is purchased using $50 or $100 bills.

Counterfeit Money
When dealing with large denominations of currency ($50.00 and $100.00), the cashier should always check bills to make sure it is not counterfeit. This is a growing problem in the marketplace and should not be taken lightly.
For Canadian currency, the green dots on the bills should be able to be removed by either scratching or picking them off. Another way of telling whether or not the bills are counterfeit is by rubbing the bill on a white sheet of paper. The ink should rub off onto the white piece of paper.
For US Currency, counterfeit bills often have hair-like red and blue fibres found throughout the bill.
To safeguard against this problem, there are counterfeit detectors you can purchase.

Cheque Cashing
If it is your policy to accept payment in the form of cheques, there are a few things you can do to safeguard against cheque fraud. If you do accept cheques, your policy in this matter should be distributed to all staff members as well as posted by the cashier for the customers to see. All cheques should be accompanied by 2 pieces of signature identification. A Driver's License is preferred as well as another piece of ID, such as a major credit card.
Traveller's cheques should be signed in front of the cashier. The cashier should compare the signature to the one that already appears on the cheque.

Robbery
The following steps should be taken to discourage a potential robbery of occurring.
1. Make no moves or sudden action without telling the robber. Never do anything to jeopardize your safety.
2. The front of the store should never be left unattended.
3. Never take the deposit out of the safe and walk directly to the bank with it. Go to the office, disguise the deposit and have two other employees take it to the bank.
4. At no time should the life of an employee be threatened by not co-operating during a robbery. All employees should be trained to stay calm, do what they are told and never argue with the robber.
5. Most armed robbers do not usually hard their victims but they could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Let the robber know of any potential surprises ie. expected visitors etc..
6. Opening and closing times are key target times for robberies to take place.
7. Never keep large sums of money in your registers. Cash pick ups must be done prior to the cashier's break and lunch. Cash pick up times should be varied every day.
8. Do not make regular timed visits to the bank. Never make deposits at night.
9. Do not have your money bag visible to anyone. Disguise it so it does not draw attention.
10. Encourage your employees not to discuss the following with non-employees:
a) alarm systems; b) amount of money on premises, daily sales; c) safe combination; d) deposit time; e) route to bank;  f) specific employee duties; g) employee schedules.

If you notice that a robbery is about to occur, take action and remove innocent people from the situation. While the robbery is in progress, take a metal note of any distinguishable marks or feature of the robber such as age, height, hair colour and length, facial markings, eye colour, tattoos, clothing and accessories such as watches, rings etc

If a robbery occurred call the police immediately, do not touch anything. Try not to allow witnesses to leave the premises. If they must leave, make sure you get their name and phone number. Lock all doors and do not let any one in the store until the police arrive. While waiting for the police have everything what they saw including the robbers descripton. Most importantly, remain calm during and after a robbery.

John Caney,
the president of John Caney Consulting

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