Shrink is a constant threat to retailers, but the holidays bring a whole new set of challenges. Between the massive amount of product moving through the supply chain, seasonal staff that needs to be hired and trained, and an increased risk of outside theft, losses that a retailer incurs around the holidays can affect the whole year.
For these reasons, the best time to start creating the holiday plan is one year in advance — right when the holidays end. But not everyone has the luxury of a whole year’s worth of planning, so at the very least, start now. Six months is the bare minimum to come up with a decent plan, because by the time the season rolls around, it will be too late.
There are a number of specific things retailers can — and should — be doing now to get themselves ready for the holidays. If all this planning happens now, the employees can focus on better serving customers and catching criminals during the holiday season.
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Evaluate your merchandise. At most retailers, holiday merchandise selection is either already complete or happening right now. If the security and operations teams work with merchants now to determine which products are coming in and what will need to be protected, there is opportunity for a more strategic and cohesive plan that allows for interoperability between technologies (e.g. tags, video surveillance, etc.).
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Create a comprehensive plan to secure your building. Evaluate the physical aspects of your buildings — from exterior lighting to alarm systems and access control. All technologies need to be fully functional and secure before you shift your focus to the other important aspects of the holiday season.
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Prepare for grab-and-run season. Retailers also see huge theft spikes in September and October from Organized Retail Crime (ORC). Complex criminal operations grab product from stores, hop in a getaway car and most often go to another store of the same retailer because they assume the security in place will be similar. It’s critically important to ensure that there is an LP department in high-traffic stores and that associates are trained on what to look for. Also, consider hiring floor guards for the two to three months to prevent grab and runs — this investment can pay for itself quickly.
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Ensure employee safety. Merchandise is easily replaceable, fixtures are too, but people are not. Devise a plan that protects your most valued asset. Some strategies that can make a big difference are a buddy system for walking to cars after closing and a specific process to walk cash to the back.
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Protect your assets from internal theft. Most retailers hire seasonal employees for the holidays. With the sudden surge in the number of workers come higher chances of process errors and internal theft. Now is a great time to prepare training for the new hires to ensure they will know how to follow company processes and policies. It also does not hurt to prepare to increase cash register monitoring and conduct random baggage checks when employees leave for the day.
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Involve the LP team in your holiday decoration plan. Very few operations teams think to involve the LP team when working on the visual setting for the stores, which is usually done in the summertime. A lot of the planned décor can end up blocking the cameras or disrupting visibility in some way. Allowing the LP team to weigh in can make for a safer and better shopping environment.
The holidays are highly important to all retailers, and there are so many things to think about that loss prevention tasks can fall to the bottom of the list. Some can be completed now and others later in the summer, but an integrated, year-long security plan is important to prevent losses, ensure safety and protect your bottom line during the peak season.
Brent Onan is Vice President at USS. He is a 17-year veteran of loss prevention. He was a director of LP at Nordstrom, previous to which he was at Old Navy. Onan joined USS last year, leading the sales and business development in the Southwest region. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminology.
