Some large stores use uniformed guards and plainclothes personnel who serve as a reminder to patrons that only legally purchased merchandise may be removed from the premises. One way to identify such merchandise is to use stapled packages with receipts attached outside. When you have no guards and rely solely on your own people, convex wall mirrors can be helpful. They allow store personnel to see around corners and keep several aisles under observation from regular work stations. Anti-shoplifting signs prominently displayed warn potential thieves and deter some. Various uses of public address systems have also been employed to discourage shoplifters. When a suspect has been observed, a "walkie-talkie" radio can be used for speedy communication between you and those employees who handle such situations. Electronic devices which expose the shoplifter are also on the market. One example of such a device is an electronic pellet or wafer attached usually to an expensive garment so that it cannot be removed without tearing the merchandise. If a shopper tries to remove the garment from the store, the pellet or wafer sends out signals. The cashier removes the pellet with special shears when the customer purchases the garment.. You should keep in mind that there is a legal danger in using electronic devices. If the cashier forgets to remove the pellet device, an innocent shopper may be stopped outside and falsely detained. When shoplifters use ticket switching to gain their ends, you can use the following alternatives: (1) Tamper-proof gummed labels which rip apart when attempt is made to remove labels. (2) Hard-to-break plastic string for softgoods tickets. (3) When tickets are stapled on, special staple patterns are used which are recognizable to store personnel. (4) Extra price tickets are concealed elsewhere on merchandise. If you use simple and basic pricing methods, don't ticket prices in pencil. Use a rubber stamp or pricing machine. PHYSICAL LAYOUT OF STORES A store's layout can discourage or encourage shoplifting. For example, high fixtures and tall displays which give visual protection to the shoplifter will encourage his practices. To destroy such protection, set your display cases in broken sequences. If possible, run them for short lengths with spaces in between. Keep small, high-priced items out of reach, preferably in locked cases. Keep valuable and easy-to-hide items at counters where clerks are in continuous attendance. Or better yet, let the customer ask a salesman to show him such items. If fire safety regulations allow it, lock all exits not to be used by customers. In addition, attach noise alarms to the exits which must be kept unlocked. Always close and block off unused checkout aisles. WHAT EMPLOYEES MUST DO Employees must watch merchandise and people if you are to prevent shoplifting. Generally, your salesclerks should be alert to persons who wear loose coats or capes or bulky dresses. They should also watch persons who carry large purses, packages, umbrellas, and shopping bags. Those who push baby strollers and collapsible carts also bear watching as well as individuals who walk with short steps. The latter may be carrying stolen goods between their legs. In clothing stores, clerks should beware of the "try-on" shoplifters. They try on an item for size, as it were, and then, if they feel no one has seen them, walk out wearing the garment. Salespeople should keep a check on the number of garments carried into the fitting rooms. Thieves often try to sneak in extra garments beyond the number permitted. You and your people should be especially alerted for "teams"-thieves who pretend not to know each other. One of the team will attract the clerk's attention away from the partner. He will cause a fuss, ask unreasonable questions, create an argument, even stage fainting fits while his partner picks up the merchandise and makes a quick exit. Sales persons should keep in mind that ordinary customers want attention while shoplifters do not. When busy with one customer, the salesman should acknowledge other customers with polite remarks such as, "I'll be with you in a minute." It can make a shoplifter feel uneasy. Such attention pleases ordinary customers. Salesclerks should not give the impression that they distrust customers, but they must always be alert to their movements. If possible, they never should turn their backs to customers even when fetching merchandise for them. They should display merchandise neatly because missing items are easily detected when orderly arranged. You should schedule your employees' working hours with floor coverage in mind. An adequate number of clerks should be on duty during your store's busy periods. These periods are most conducive to theft. Finally, and most important, you should instruct employees about what they are to do when they observe a theft by a shoplifter. This training should be done periodically, at least once every 3 months. Such knowledge helps prevent legal problems in addition to catching offenders. APPREHENSION AND ARRESTS Be certain or risk a false arrest suit is a good rule to follow when catching a shoplifter. In pursuing this rule, salespersons should not accuse patrons of stealing. Nor should they try in any way to apprehend shoplifters. When a salesperson sees what appears to be a theft, he should keep the suspect in sight and alert you immediately. The police or the store detective should be notified if you use one. In fact, salespersons should alert you about any suspicious loiterers. If your refund desk clerk receives a returned item and recognizes it as a stolen or suspicious item, she should delay the person and call you. Ask the person for identification and have him sign his name and address. If the item is stolen, he will usually give a wrong name and have no identification. Some organizations in large cities have control files on shoplifters who have been caught. Your retail merchant's association can inform you about the services available in your area. You can check these files to see whether the person you catch has a record. Usually a shoplifter claims to be a first offender. He is apt to remain a "first offender" if the merchant allows him to leave without positive identification and without filing his name with the police and local retail merchant association. You should also check to see what the law is in your State. Many States have passed "shoplifting laws" which, among other things, deal with apprehending shoplifters. Check with your lawyer or the police in your area. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. It is best to apprehend shoplifters outside of the store. For one thing, apprehension of this kind strengthens the store's case against a shoplifter. Then, too, scenes or any type of commotion which a shoplifter precipitates interferes with store operation. You should recognize that apprehension in many States does not necessarily have to be initiated outside of the store. Sometimes, it suffices if a shoplifter is observed concealing merchandise on his or her person. A shoplifter is generally apprehended in the store if the merchandise involved is of substantial value, and if you feel that he may get away with the stolen goods if you allow him to get beyond the store premises. If the shoplifter is an elderly person, treat him or her with extra gentleness lest he be “shocked." If you don't, he may have a heart attack. A good approach to stopping a suspect is to FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Readers interested in exploring further the subject of shop- SHOP LIFTING AND SHRINKAGE PROTECTION FOR MODERN RETAIL SECURITY by S. J. Curtis. 1960. $25. "PREVENTING RETAIL THEFT." Small Marketers Aids No. "SHORTAGES: BEST BET IS TO FACE THE FACTS" in Department Store Economist. May 1967. $7.50 per year, 75 cents single copy. The Chilton Company, Chestnut and 56th Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. 19139 HOW TO STOP PILFERAGE IN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY by Charles P. Rudnitsky and Leslie M. Wolff. 1961. $3. Pilot Books, 42 W. 33d St., New York, N.Y. 10001 FILING CLASSIFICATION: ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES.-Copies of this Aid are available free from field offices and Washington headquarters of the Small Business Administration. Aids may be condensed or reproduced. They may not be altered to imply approval by SBA of any private organization, product, or service. If material is reused, credit to SBA will be appreciated. Use of official mailing indicia to avoid postage is prohibited by law. Use of funds for printing this publication approved by Bureau of the Budget, June 30, 1965. |