When evaluating your location’s shoplifting vulnerability, do you look outside your four walls at what other retailers are doing within your center/mall, especially your immediate competition? When working with client locations we ask them this question and many times we get a blank stare or “No, why?”. Then we ask them about their competition’s pricing, sales strategies and current promotions, they quickly reply with what’s happening in these areas with their competitors. We will then ask them why they know all this information about their competitor’s pricing, sales promotions, etc. but nothing about what they are doing to control shoplifting. Once again, we get the blank stare or “I don’t know”.
We most often find this scenario within smaller to midsize retailers. Store management has little to no idea what their competition is doing within the area of anti-shoplifting, and how their actions may be influencing theft at their own store. When it comes to shoplifting prevention, we have found that shoplifters are creatures of habit like many people and will take the path of least resistance when possible. So if your competition has better anti-shoplifting controls and measures in place than your store does, they are likely “pushing” the shoplifters to your store.
For example, does your competition:
. Have more sales floor coverage and provide better customer service that you do?
. Have less “blind spots” on their sales with better overall sales floor visibility than you?
. Utilize any anti-shoplifting “tools” that your store does not including: EAS (electronic article surveillance), Ink/Fluid Tags, CCTV system, Customer View Monitors, Facial recognition, RFID, Anti-shoplifting signage, Spider wraps, Keeper boxes, etc.)?
. Protect their high value/highly pilferable merchandise in locked showcases while your store openly displays with little if any protection?
. Use fitting room checkers, or locks FR doors and monitors customer usage of FR more closely than your store?
. Uses off-duty police, guard or a greeter and you do not?
. Have a stricter refund policy than your store does?
. Does your competition prosecute shoplifters and your store does not?
Unfortunately if you answered “Yes” to several of the above questions, your store could be known as an “easy mark” to shoplifters.
So what should you do? We recommend visiting 3 to 4 nearby competitor stores and evaluate what they are doing to reduce/control shoplifting within their stores. Remember, your anti-shoplifting measures should be better than, or at least equal to, your competitors to keep your store from being known as an “easy mark’ for shoplifters. $
