15 Tips and Tricks for Retail Theft / Loss Prevention and Reducing Inventory Shrinkage
- By Bob Twain
Did you know that nearly 50% of retail inventory shrinkage comes
from employee theft? It's a bigger problem that most
retailers think. And you shouldn't overlook this expensive
problem because it can happen to you.
To help you avoid these unpleasant experiences, I'll start
by giving you 10 tips to prevent retail theft by using your POS
software...
- Require store managers to review register transactions
every day - look for excessive openings of the drawer, small
cash refunds, returns, etc. (Important Tip: Make sure your
employees can see you or a manager reviewing this
information. Don't hide in the back room because just by
letting them watch you can reduce more theft than anything.)
- Look at your "voided/cancelled/deleted sales report"
every day.
- Look at your "returned transactions" report every day.
- Do not share passwords so your cashiers can logon with a
different username.
- Add password protection/security to all areas of your
software and ONLY allow employees to access what they really
need.
- Look at your "inventory adjustments report" every day.
- Look at your "profit margin reports" every day. If your
margins are low in a certain category for that day, then you
should do a little research to find out why.
- Keep your inventory count accurate.
- Make it common knowledge with your employees that your
stock is constantly monitored in your POS system.
- Secure the access to your customer's personal
information in your POS software... particularly, their credit
card information!
Here are 5 more retail loss prevention tips that don't require a POS system but I
feel they are important...
- Keep the back door closed and alarm it. This is one of
the easiest ways for employees to sneak out merchandise.
- Have management inspect the garbage before it's taken
out.
- Review security videos on a regular basis. And most
importantly, make sure your staff knows you do so.
- If you've ever been robbed blind and don't know who did
it, then try NOT to let your employees find out about it.
- On the flip side, if you do bust somebody for stealing
something. Let all your employees know that they did NOT
get away with it! Sometimes this can be your way to prevent theft and inventory shrinkage.
If you need help finding and choosing the best POS software for your business, check out:
http://www.possoftwareguide.com
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To your success!
Bob Twain
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