last word

By Heather Walter

Cutting Theft

According to Ronald Bond, author of the book Retail in Detail, "Entire retail chains have gone out of business due to their inability to control losses from theft."

To make sure your business isn't one of them, Bond, whose book is available from Entrepreneur Press, offers tips to help you decrease your inventory shrinkage.

INTERNAL THEFT

Though you might not guess it, Bond says, "The biggest threat facing store owners is employee theft, which accounts for nearly half of inventory shrinkage—more than shoplifters, more than administrative error, and more than vendor fraud."

The only way to cut those losses is to introduce consistent controls. These include the following.

• Take physical inventory as often as possible.

• Rotate employee "teams" so that the same people do not always work together.

• Try to balance the register after each shift.

• Randomly compare the day's items sold against receipts.

• If you think a particular employee is stealing, look at that individual's sales for a set period and, under the guise of a routine survey, contact their customers to verify the details of their sales.

EXTERNAL THEFT

Though shoplifters are tough to catch, here are a few things you can do to make it tougher for them to succeed:

&bull Walk your dispensary and chat with anyone looking at frames. Being around will make a thief's job more difficult.

• Use signage to make it clear that you will prosecute shoplifters.

• Make sure your dispensary is designed so you can easily see those areas where expensive items are on display.

• Keep easy-to-steal items near the register.

• If theft becomes a serious problem at your location(s), check out the cost of electronic tags and door sensors.

WHAT IF…

If you see someone shoplifting, be careful. Don't accuse someone unless you are certain they have taken something. And, definitely don't stop someone if you're the only employee in the dispensary. Instead, alert authorities immediately and discreetly.

Whatever their monetary value, a pair of glasses is not worth risking your own safety.