Money out the Door

Everyone in business wants to make money and while suffering few losses. Keeping merchandise from walking out the door is one way to prevent loss and improve customer service. For every piece of merchandise stolen, your customers suffer by higher prices and lack of selection. Preventing loss is a fact which needs looked into but safety concerns are a priority also.

Major Concerns in Retail

Merchandise being stolen isn’t the only big concern of business owners. Concern over the safety of the security officers is becoming an issue also. To protect assets and employees, you must evaluate your response plan; keeping up with communications and proper training is essential. Make sure your emergency response plan is well rehearsed. By making sure all employees are involved in the event of an emergency, be it an emergency blackout, extreme weather or even a shooter, will give the employees a sense of safety and procedure. Rosamaria Sostilio, Senior Vice President of Asset Protection at Saks Incorporated says, “We’re seeing increased violence in certain pockets around the country, and this is prompting loss prevention professionals everywhere to evaluate their response plans and step up communication and training with their associates to keep them safe and make sure they’re careful when they’re making apprehensions.”

Using Available Technology

Equipping the Loss Prevention Department with technology can go a long way towards theft prevention. By upgrading the wireless infrastructure within the building, IP security cameras, security tags and video surveillance with cloud technology, you increase theft prevention. Cloud based solutions offer the capability to store video in the cloud but also provide services to monitor the video. With other resources at hand, it will allow the Loss Prevention team more time to focus on the other various aspects of their job.

Employees Who Make Loss Prevention Happen

Loss Prevention Associate: this person works at the actual place of business. It involves camera monitoring and security employees dressing and acting as if they are customers to watch for shoplifters. This “hands on” position is responsible for checking and inspecting dressing rooms, stock areas, following and observing suspicious acting customers. This type of employee needs excellent people skills and observation skills for details.

Loss Prevention Manager: This employee manages the entire loss prevention team. He or she observes and detects high-level theft areas in the stores, as well as keeping track of internal and external theft. Another responsibility is keeping track of the inventory numbers to determine what’s in the store and what’s missing through theft. This employee has to have a head for numbers and good organizational skills.

Loss Prevention Area Manager: This employee is in charge of several stores. His or her involvement is mostly with internal theft, not shoplifters. This employee manages the store level loss prevention managers and works with them to help deter theft in their stores and protect the assets of those stores. This type of manager also keeps track of inventory and properly trains store associates. The most important personal asset at this level is strategic-thinking skills.

Keeping  merchandise from walking out the door is important for the business and the customers. Keeping your Loss Prevention Team safe and functional is important also. By working hand in hand, you can accomplish both and make sure your profits stay where they’re supposed to, in your pocket. 

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