Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2016 - 35

PARTNER MESSAGE INTEGRAL SECURITY SOLUTIONS

REDUCING SHRINK TO
INCREASE THE BOTTOM LINE
There are some simple things that retailers can do to decrease
incidents of theft in-store, many of which are a combination of
technological and human intelligence.
BY NATHANIEL HAEEMS, Integral Security Solutions
CUSTOMER theft at retail is nothing new. All retailers are well
aware of their inventory shrinkage quantity for their stores. And
in recent years some major and successful retailers have publicly
stated the significant problem it presents. In many companies,
the overall shrinkage percentages, about 2 per cent, are nearly
as great as the profit ratio, about 3 per cent.
Retail management is also aware that about 60 per cent of
theft is caused by incorrect procedures and poorly trained and
managed staff. However, the rest is caused by customer theft and
this is where more attention is now focused.

Recently a retailer sent us the following information:
* First week $173 of chocolates, second week $375 of wine and last
Saturday $407 of cleaning products.
* The M.O. is the same. He enters by the front door and exits by
the front door.
We subsequently provided a loss prevention solution to this
retailer.
So, just what is going on?

The client information outlined above is both revealing and
interesting. Obviously, this retail client has a sophisticated camera security system in operation whereby they can back-track the
exiting customer on their security system and establish exactly
what is being stolen.
Kudos to the tracking system, but so what? An accurate assessment of a loss is useful only if that information can be properly used to correct the problem. Here the thief is out of the store
and so is the merchandise.
Had this retailer considered some more effective systems combined with this high level of tracking, they would have an important
win and the losses from customer theft would decrease quickly.
Some ideas:
* Have a trained security person watch the entrance so the thief
would not have an easy time exiting through the front door.
* Install an EAS type system so that anyone exiting from the
store without the detector being neutralized would alert the retail staff and act as a deterrent.
* Install entrance barrier systems at the entrances. These solutions vary from simple mechanical systems to more sophisticated systems utilizing modern technology including microprocessors and various sensors.
www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Integral Solutions helping retailers reduce theft.

There is no doubt that theft will not decrease
on its own, especially with uncertain economic
times. All retailers are pressured to improve
or maintain their levels of profits. In addition,
management attention to the losses caused by
customer theft intensifies.
What if the chocolates, wine and cleaning products stayed in the store? Or a case of engine oil?
Or a case of beer? Or a wheel of cheese? Or a stack
of frozen seafood? Or a full rack of winter jackets?
Management needs to do something right
away or they will be forever looking at screens
and accurately calculating their losses. It's time
to stop these losses.
For more information about Integral Security Solutions, visit the website at www.integralsolve.com.

THE LOSS PREVENTION ISSUE | CANADIAN RETAILER

| 35

http://www.integralsolve.com http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2016