Retailers beware

Australian retailers are set to lose millions of dollars over the busy Christmas sales period and should prepare for a crime blitz to avoid paying the price, according to a set of security experts.

ADT Security, currently the world’s largest electronic security company, has warned that last year's Christmas crime figures do not bode well for retailers who have not bolstered loss prevention measures for the coming holiday season.

According to the company, last year in one pre-Christmas sting in Sydney, police arrested 102 shoplifters and recovered almost $30,000 in stolen goods in just four days. Clothing, toys, perfume, jewellery, electronics, hardware and health and beauty gift packs feature high on shoplifter target lists.

ADT Security national retail manager Phil Brown added that shoplifters typically strike when stores are at their busiest.

“Christmas shopping environments provide thieves with the perfect cover. With so many extra customers in stores, it’s easy for even experienced staff to miss suspicious behaviour. New, casual employees are less likely to spot a thief and often won’t know what action to take if they do suspect someone,” he said.

“As a basic loss prevention measure, we recommend that retailers minimise cash held at the point-of-sale area and always use safes to secure cash. In the lead-up to Christmas, retailers should also provide refresher training to employees on safety and security procedures.”

ADT Security anticipates retailers will also experience a spike in employee theft over the Christmas and New Year sales period. For many, the company said the impact of this crime could be far greater than shoplifting and robbery combined.

“Capitalising on the same conditions that make theft so tempting for shoplifters, dishonest employees may swipe cash or goods for themselves - sometimes even before the stock reaches the floor. 'Sweet-hearting', whereby staff provide unauthorised discounts or ‘freebies’ to friends and family, is also rife at Christmas,” Brown said.

Brown also recommended that retailers pay particular attention to their returns policy as many can be exploited by both customers and employees.

“Savvy thieves may return stolen goods and ask for a cash refund, enter the store with a receipt from a previous purchase and steal the exact same item, or return boxes which on later inspection don’t contain the original product. Meanwhile, some returns policies make it easy for a sales clerk to grab an item off the shelf, register it as returned and pocket the cash.”

Other security tips for retailers to consider ahead of Christmas include:

Shoplifting and robbery:
- clear the sight lines in your store so you can easily observe customer behaviour
- always acknowledge customers; it demonstrates you have noticed them and is good customer service
- consider applying security tags/labels to high value and easily pocketed items
- ensure procedures are in place so staff know what to do in the event of theft; these should include how to approach a suspicious customer, how to respond to aggressive behaviour, what to do if the store EAS system is activated, and who to call to report an incident.

Employee theft and 'sweet-hearting':
- remove all handbags, phones and personal items from the point-of-sale area  - implement random end-of-shift cash balances
- use employee cards for tracking sales by employees
- reduce the cash on hand at the point-of-sale area
- consider CCTV surveillance as a possible solution.

Fraudulent returns:
- revisit your returns and refunds policy; ensure all staff understand and enforce the policy
- inspect all returns
- consider an item-level inventory intelligence system which can track goods as they move from shelves, through your point-of-sale area and out the door.