For most retail stores, shoplifting is responsible for most cases of inventory shrinking. While bigger businesses may not feel its impact so hard, the effect on profit margin can be profound for retail stores. Therefore, you must reduce incidences of shoplifting to the barest minimum.
Thankfully, most points of sale system help retail stores achieve this. In this article, we highlighted ways in which POS can help retail stores cutdown shoplifting.
How Can I Curtail Shoplifting in My Retail Store?
Shoplifting is not limited to just pilfering. The intent to steal is also regarded as shoplifting. Thus, actions such as:
- Altering price tags
- Uninstalling security camera and tampering with security tags
- Concealing goods in pockets, bags, or clothing.
There is no racial profile, background, or gender for shoplifters. However, there are common red flags exhibited by most shoplifters. We have provided some tips below to help you spot shoplifters and curtail shoplifting at your retail shop.
- Customers That Don’t Fit Your Normal Profile – you should keep an eye out for people that deviate from your normal customer profile. For example, if your store caters to older people, a group of wandering teenagers may pose a red flag.
- Oversized Clothing and Big Bags – big clothing and big bags serve as possible storage places for shoplifters to hide goods. Be wary of customers that fit this profile.
- Shifty Customers – keep an eye on people who avoid making eye contact, loiter around the exits, occupy the dressing room for long periods.
What Impact Does POS Have in Reducing Shoplifting?
Shoplifters often shy away from close observation and attention. However, as a retail store owner, you can’t be everywhere at the same time. Installing a retail point of sale provides you with the opportunity to monitor your staff activity, inventory, and even sales floor.
The added flexibility and functionality the POS confers on you helps you cut down the rate of shoplifting in your store. This reduced shoplifting rate consequently leads to an increase in overall sales and profit margin.
How Can I Reduce Shoplifting in Your Retail Store With POS?
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Well Developed Inventory Tracking Feature
Keeping watch over your inventory (both purchased and sold) helps you discover where your losses originate. Retail point of sale systems automate inventory taking, meaning you can track your goods efficiently. Let’s see how POS helps you track your inventory.
- You can keep tabs on which products are in your store, on display, or have been sold.
- All your goods are barcoded, allowing you to monitor your goods from when you purchase them to when they are sold.
- You can access detailed reports on your retail stock. Feel free to compare this automated report with your records from your manual stock-taking.
- Easy access to inventory reports from remote locations.
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Retail POS Provide You with An Easy Way to Monitor All Your Transactions.
According to Wisesmallbusines.com, with a retail point-of-sale system, you can get insights into all that happens during each employee shift. Monitor how much sales are rung up by each employee and check if it tallies with the cash. You may notice some red flags like a shift with lots of void transactions or discounts.
With these insights, you can deduce theft patterns and stop them before it is too late.
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Access Level Feature
Sadly, the shoplifters maybe your employees. Light-fingered employees can cause you to lose huge amounts of inventory. However, most retail point of sale allows you to assign access levels to your employees.
With the assigned access levels, you can restrict employees’ groups to varying access levels to your point of sale. By so doing, you can control which employee is authorized to perform certain transaction actions. You can also restrict their access to your website while granting them access to the information they need to carry out their jobs.
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Increased Mobility
Cloud-based POS software allows you to monitor your inventory and even ring up sales from the floor. The added mobility makes it easier for you to engage your customers and keep an eye on them. By engaging customers on the sales floor, you effectively discourage most shoplifters as there’s no opportunity for them to stash their stolen goods.
How Do I Select the Right Point of Sale for My Retail Store?
Now that you have realized the role a retail POS plays in helping you reduce incidences of shoplifting; it is time to select one. However, choosing a retail point of sale system can be an arduous task, with quite a lot to consider. We have compiled some tips below to help you to select the best point of sale for your retail store.
- Cost of Setup and Hardware Compatibility – unlike the operating cost of most retail point of sale, setup cost can be quite steep. You must choose one with a low setup cost. Pay attention to how the POS interacts with your hardware.
- Check for the Features You Need – your retail store’s needs may differ from those of the next. Therefore, you must get a POS that has all the features you require.
- Ease of Use – to cut training costs, it is paramount that you choose a POS that is easy to use. To boost your productivity, your selected POS must be easy to operate so that you do not spend a good part of the day checking the instruction manual.
Conclusion
The retail point of sale system provides an effective way to cut down shoplifting in your retail store. Features like automated inventory, barcoding, and increased mobility allow you to monitor your inventory and interact with your customers. While picking out a retail point of sale system, some things to bear in mind include ease of setup, features, cost, and software type. Get the point of sale for your retail store today and minimize shoplifting activity.