It is hard for a business owner to understand shoplifting. To know how to prevent shoplifting, you need to get into the mind of a typical shoplifter. This will help you view your retail store from the perspective of a shopper.

 When you step out of your role as a retail leader, you can see how your store looks to someone who is looking for items to grab quickly and sneak out the door

Have you pretended to be this person lately? Thinking like this helps you analyze your current security system and know how to make changes.

Here is some insight into the mind of a shoplifter and our advice for updating your security system to prevent shoplifting:

Prime Time

A majority of shoplifters act on the busy retail days which fall between Wednesday and Saturday. Shoplifting happens often during the late morning and after school hours. The holidays and winter months see a higher rate of shoplifting occurrences.

Location, Location, Location

Several factors make a retail store more vulnerable to shoplifting than others. Stores that open to the street, are near city centers or in high traffic areas are likely to see more shoplifting events than those in malls or more suburban areas. Smaller retailers might see more shoplifting because they have less organized security and surveillance systems. The layout of a retail store affects the ease of shoplifting. If certain parts of the retail store are not guarded or monitored by security, the store may suffer more loss. Video surveillance is one solution to a difficult layout.

What is the Target?

Retailers with “hot” items are more vulnerable to loss, but these hot items cover a wide range of retail goods. Commonly targeted items are easy to conceal, valuable, easy to resell and easy to carry out of the store. According to the 2012 NRF Organized Retail Crime Survey, some of the top shoplifted items in 2012 include: cigarettes, allergy medicine, handbags, cell phones and laptops.

Address Shoplifting in Your Business

Once you’ve checked out your retail locations from the mindset of a shoplifter, you can decide how to address the problems you find. Does your store’s location make it easy for shoplifters to blend into the surroundings quickly? A video surveillance system surrounding your store’s exterior can help you monitor the exits. Every retail location is different and needs a unique security system. Our team has worked with many retail leaders to design a custom security system. Contact us to let us share our retail security system options.