Fighting Shrinkage In Retail With Surveillance

When most people think of surveillance they think of catching people committing criminal acts. These small cameras and audio recording devices have been used to stop bank robbers and house burglars alike. These systems are both used by private home owners and business owners. Just because someone doesn't own a large corporation doesn't mean that a surveillance system isn't the right move to avoid petty theft and more expenses. Shrinkage is a term used to describe the loss of items within a retail store. And unfortunately a lot of business owners lose money due to this factor.

Effective management of shrinkage allows the price of items to stay relatively low for consumers while taking in the appropriate amount of profit. A lot of retail store owners think that in order to put a stop to or control shrinkage they must first buy an expensive surveillance system, which is not true. The people you employee, or your sales force, should be the first line of defense when combating shrinkage. Everyone knows that your sales force can't be expected to act like security guards or police enforcement officers, but the visual prescience of them can be enough to help combat shrinkage.

It is easy to teach your sales force how to help prevent shrinkage without putting them in any real harm. For instance, a simple and effective way to reduce shrinkage is to teach your sales team to greet each consumer and look them in the eye. A person who is intent on shoplifting within the store often times avoids any and all eye contact. The visible prescience of your sales force roaming the floors of the store is also a good way to reduce the opportunity of items to become pocketed. If the store has dressing rooms, a good way to avoid shoplifters is to station people within these rooms greeting people an counting items as they enter and leave.

While these actions may cause some shoplifters to not pocket any items within your store, there are always those that will try anyways. In addition to placing store personal in dressing rooms and have them virtually patrolling your store, cheap and cost effective security items are available for purchase. Security mirrors can be used to watch spots of the store that are seemingly invisible to the eye. These mirrors are available in many different shapes and styles. They came come in half dome which mounts against walls and ceilings, quarter dome which fit into corners, or full dome mirrors which can be placed in the middle of the ceiling. These mirrors can be used to watch customers as they browse through merchandise without them knowing.

Entry alerts can be placed within a store to allow notice when new customers are entering or when old customers are leaving. They can come in the form of contact alerts which means when the person enters the door an audible noise is made, or they can come in infrared beams that make a sound when a person crosses through it. The latter are often used in malls where the entry-way is always open. Surveillance systems can come in the form of cameras or simply mirrors and a dedicated work force.