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Crime and the Slumping Economy
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How has the slumping economy affected your store? Have you experienced economy-related crime in your store? Have you developed any effective ways to keep morale high, reduce turnover, and maintain low shrink levels during the slumping economy?
To read Dr. Hollinger's column on this subject, click here.
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| Adam Hollanek December 17, 2008, 10:41 pm |
Bad guys caught in the act during big-screen demonstration
A funny thing happened at this past summer’s annual convention of the North American Association of Subway Restaurant Franchisees in New Orleans.
One of the franchise owners was demonstrating the loss prevention system he’d recently installed in his stores. On a big screen, fellow franchise owners were watching a live video feed from one of the stores as the franchise owner described the system.
That’s when it happened. If anybody had written a script like this, nobody would have believed it:
Right then and there, in the middle of the demonstration, the ezConnect system caught somebody red-handed trying to pull off a fraud involving gift cards.
The Subway franchise owners might have thought this was a joke for a second or two, but then it became clear that the attempted thievery was real and that they were watching it in real time as it happened.
Tied into the store’s point-of-sale system, ezConnect had spotted an unusual activity with the gift cards and was alerting the store owner to the situation as it was happening – and as the room full of franchise owners were watching.
“Needless to say, people at the convention were all talking about that demonstration,” said Leszek James, founder and president of the ezUniverse company that invented ezConnect.
Already running in Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway franchises across America, ezConnect is currently on its way to another 2,000 Subway locations, and, wherever it arrives, store employees get the idea right away: The boss may not be standing here, but you never know when he’s watching.
Every aisle is monitored – every door, every shelf, every slot of every drawer in every register.
The employees know the boss is watching.
Actually, the boss is doing a lot more than just watching. The boss is actively managing things at his various locations from his desktop or his laptop or his hand-held. |
| Mike Gilligan October 20, 2008, 3:36 pm |
Dr. Hollinger, welcome to my world. Operating effective retail loss prevention initiatives during difficult economic times or in a store closing environment is difficult at best. Most loss prevention executives have been cutting payroll and capital expenses for the past several quarters. The diminishment of observable shortage control tools and disciplines will result in a significant increase of inventory and cash losses. However, with a solid understanding of loss prevention fundamentals and human nature even this stressful environment is manageable.
During the grieving process a predictable sequence of behavior is experienced by most healthy adults; denial and isolation is followed by anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. A sequential of loss prevention initiatives should be designed to address the potential for negative behaviors associated with the impending loss of a job.
My experience suggests an approach to the problem of uncertainty with initiatives that are designed in a sequence that has a beginning, middle and end. This linear approach guides the retailer and its employees by responding with an appropriate shortage control initiative at the appropriate time thus maximizing deterrent’s effectiveness.
By understanding the changing psychological environment retail decision makers and loss prevention executives can save money and maintain control in these difficult times.
Mike Gilligan
Hilco Asset Protection |
| Shawn B. September 24, 2008, 11:41 am |
| I am experiencing a little of both. As opposed to petty thefts that occured more often in the past it seems to me that the routine thieves that do it for a living, are now getting bolder. Running out with cart loads of merchandise. I have detained more people recently that shoplift in desperation. I have caught executives, professional business men, and others who wouldn’t steal otherwise. These types of thieves are the easiest to catch. I can tell they are completely new at the game. Each and everyone of these types have lost their jobs and resorted to stealing to pay bills and feed their families. |
| Richard Hollinger September 23, 2008, 10:23 pm |
| If retail crime is increasing due to the down turn in the economy, are these people former offenders increasing their crime involvement? Or, are there a new group of offenders being drawn into retail crime because of their desperate economic condition? |
| Shawn B. September 23, 2008, 3:50 pm |
I just read the article in which there seems to be a two sided view concerning the issue that our slumping economy has a direct affect on retail crime and other types of property crimes or not. I have worked in the Asset Protection industry for six years and since this downward slump in the economy, I have seen a significant rise in theft. Moreover, not only has it risen, people seem to be more daring, stealing higher priced and larger items than before that increases their chances of being caught. As of lately, almost all the lifters I catch say they are stealing because they had lost their jobs and just cannot find another one so stealing was their last resort.
To those that say the economy today is not taking its toll on retailers are taking a blind eye towards the issue. Additionally, I urge all retailers to invest in Asset Protection as myself and many others I work with, can only imagine theft increasing throughout the country as we try to rebuild our economy. |
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