Many people believe that shoplifting is a victim-less crime. No one usually gets hurt and stores know that they will have a certain amount of loss. However, a smaller, local store can feel an especially hard hit with even minor shoplifting loss.
Lets look at how shoplifting impacts a local business.
- Even small loss have a big impact. If a $10 item is stolen it might first be assumed that the store lost $10. However, this could not be further from the truth. A local store that does not have lots of chains often may have a small profit margin – lets say it is 5%. To generate $10 of profit to pay for the loss, the store needs to sell nearly $200 dollars of additional products.
- Stores can close – with a low profit margin and steady loss, even casual, small time shoplifters can cause the failure of local businesses and the loss of local jobs.
- These small businesses are frequent targets of shoplifters if the stores have not invested in shoplifting prevention tools. They know to look for easy targets to avoid getting caught.
So what can a local store do if they have a limited budget and are experiencing even minor loss? Store managers can go over to the Loss Prevention Systems Shoplifting Calculator to see the ROI and payoff of investing in shoplifting prevention technology. Then give them a call and discuss what systems are best for your type of retail location.