Currently in its twenty-fifth year, the National Retail Security Survey continues to offer not only insightful research into retail crime but also successful countermeasures. Key findings from the most recent survey show that the impact of shrinkage continues to be sizeable, with 48.1 percent of retailers reporting increases in inventory shrink. Just one year ago, employee theft was the fastest-growing crime in America. The Jack L. Hayes International Annual Retail Theft Survey also found that one out of every twenty-seven employees was apprehended for theft in 2016.
Now for the second year in a row, shoplifting has surpassed employee theft in inventory shrink, and the average loss per incident has increased. While technology is increasing in use as a deterrent for shoplifting, more advanced technology has not yet caught on. Furthermore, technology and hiring practices for deterrence of dishonest employees has dropped, reflecting the change in shrinkage concerns from employee theft to shoplifting.
Proven Methods
With changes in technology and trends shifting so quickly, what proven methods empower retailers to attack shrinkage from both sides of the cash wrap? Digilock’s® patented technology and responsiveness to market demands ensures its out-of-the-box solutions are simple, versatile, and most of all, secure.
LockUp® delivers a top-of-the-line employee locker complete with the security of a shared-use keypad lock. The locker is manufactured from heavy-gauge, powder-coated metal to withstand heavy use in the most demanding environments. It is delivered ready-to-use, fully assembled with a pre-programmed electronic keypad lock. Options include a clear polycarbonate door, giving store managers the ability to see the contents inside the employee lockers, contributing to internal theft prevention.
The procedure is simple: store employees gain access to their lockers with the entry of a self-selected four-digit code, and management controls and audits the lockers by using an electronic manager key, which also offers external power. LockUp was designed specifically for the retail industry, where the shift-based environment and high turnover led to specific management and loss prevention needs. By streamlining electronic management for the retail environment, LockUp offers benefits and savings in reduced initial investment, real estate, and time.
Innovative Uses
Although LockUp was designed with employee storage and internal theft in mind, one retailer saw LockUp as a way to deter the increase in shoplifting incidents in high-risk, high-crime areas by adopting a common practice used in Europe. By placing lockers at major entrances, the stores provide a service to their customers—giving them a secure but temporary space to store backpacks and large bags while shopping. The stores are also able to limit concealed theft by being able to remove backpacks and duffle bags from the sales floor. In fact, within the initial testing phase of one month, merchandise theft via concealed backpacks and duffle bags decreased to almost nothing. In addition to reducing internal shrinkage resulting from employee theft, Lockup has proven to be a viable solution for retailers seeking to reduce incidents of shoplifting within their stores.
For retailers, LockUp lockers, backed with the expertise and innovation of Digilock’s simple-to-use and easy-to-manage storage system, strengthen loss prevention strategies while enabling management to take proactive steps to ensure merchandise is not lost or stolen, whether from the back-of-house employee storage or front-of-house shoplifting. Through Digilock’s commitment to innovation, LockUp has proven itself to be a cost-competitive solution for secure personal storage and shrink-reduction.
Visit lockup.com for more information.
