sunglass shoplifting prevention

[rocnrick]

My employer found out that his shop has lost $10,000 worth of sunglasses due to shoplifting in the last year. What has worked best to prevent losses due to theft in your optical businesses?

[hcjilson]

Hi Rick,
Your first post was a thorny one, but a great subject for a thread.Having once had 20something sunglass shops from Maine to Fla I did glean a few glimpses of theft.(a LOT more than one or two:angry: But I NEVER had to wait till years end to find out how much I had lost.

Sunglasses, as a small and very portable item in large demand, are very vulnerable to theft, from inside as well as from outside.There are certain ways to protect your investment.

1. Be vigilant-if shoplifting is a problem in a business, its because whoever is responsible for the store is not paying attention.All too often Opticians will hide out in the back room.If you are other than a one man shop, someone should always be watching the front.I maintain that a good shoplifter can do it in front of you without you being aware unless you are giving your FULL attention.We haven't got time for all the methods used.

2. Have a good inventory system in place, and group your displays together by mfg so that a "hole" in the grouping will be obvious to store personel.This won't eliminate theft, but it will tend to reduce the temptation to shoplift and certainly will encourage vigilence by the staff.

3. On a RANDOM BUT REGULAR basis, call for an inventory of a specific mfg.You don't need to do this by style, just a stroke count.It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.Because you have an inventory system in place and reconcile it to sales on a daily basis (or at the most, every couple of days) you will know, to within a few items, what the inventory Should be. If it doesn't jibe-you been hit boy!The good news is you won't have to wait till year end to find out how badly.

4. It will not take long to figure out who's watching what.Responsibilty of the inventory is the store manager's job.If he/she is not doing it, it will become obvious to the owner, and you may see a new manager.What I have described to you will tend to slow down theft from the "inside" as well.We don't like to think that it happens, but after employing 179 employees, I can guarentee you it does.

Theres a whole lot more methods that others use to protect their investment.I hope they see and contribute to this thread.Good post rick!

from a cold dreary Cape Cod this AM-harry j

[Cassandra]

We use a variety of tatics

Our Sunglasses are setup as a seperate area. We have put mirrors up on the corners as well so you can see what is happening there even if you aren't right there..

We keep our less expensive items readily accessible. Like the Guess up to the RayBans. Our Revo, Serengetti, and the like are all locked up in display cases. You can also get locking frame boards. At one point in time we were using pieces of carboard wrapped in foil to make it look like we had a system in place.

To prevent shoplifting, the number one deterrent is excellent customer service. The one thing shoplifters can't stand is to be noticed...

Number two, unfortunately Harry is right. More theft occurs from the inside than the outside. From the inside, one person can take many times more frames and other things than a dozen shoplifters. I really like his ideas on keeping a close tab on inventory levels.

You can purchase domes and fake cameras. So from the outside all you see is a red blinking light. This also acts as a deterrent to both inside and outside thefts. If you continue to have a problem, you may want to get the real thing.

Do you have a place to put excess inventory? It might be interesting to keep counts by basic styles back there. And to intall a mirror, dome or some other deterrent...

Cassandra

[chip anderson]

As I have said before. Pilferage in my shop stopped when I went to Sam's and got a TV monitor and 4 cameras. You do not need to record, just have the monitor in sight where "customers" can see that they are on display when they come in the shop. They will say: "This ain't our kind of place and leave."

My cost $ 300.00 (Probably a hundred or two more now) and about an hour putting the wires and cameras in the ceiling.

:idea: Chip

[CME4SPECS]

I think that if I was missing $10,000 worth of sunglasses, I wouldn't be worried about what is going out the front door in someone's pocket...I'd worry about the boxes going out the back door!

[JERRY HUANG]

$ 10,000 !!!

If I were you, I would listen to Chip and install one more camera above my back door.