As I see it....
Theft is a problem that continues to be on the increase. Since alcohol is an "age" controlled substance it is one of a few products a thief can make money over it's retail value. I doubt a thief would take a $20 pair of jeans and try to sell them on the street for $30. But would a underage kid hesitate to buy a liter of Captain Morgan for $25 or $30 from some irresponsible thief?
One common thread I have seen among all the 5 finger discount crowd is visibility. They will continually look to the registers to see who is looking at them. So make sure you greet all customers and periodically ask them if they need help. Let's try to protect our inventory, but never at the cost of our personal security!
Cameras are always helpful and most of them can now be networked with your register system so they can be viewed virtually anywhere. We have our cameras available for our police to view them inside their squad car. We also print pictures of people we have seen pocketing bottles and post them in the back room for all employees to keep a look out for.
We have heard from many different people that the biggest shrinkage problem among retail stores is employee theft. We all want to feel like it cannot happen to us because our crew would not do that to us! But as time moves on we hear of more and more stories of that happening.
At our store, we have methods we have always used such as facing bottles. When someone buys a bottle, move the remaining product forward so you have consistent face to all bottles. While this has been a great method to tell when a bottle is missing, the good crooks have caught on and face their own bottles.
In addition, I don't think those half round visibility mirrors will ever go out of style. They seem to be an affordable way to track customers.
Also make sure you have a good return policy in place. There have been many occasions where someone will grab something off the shelf and bring it to the counter to return it. We even had a guy use my name and said he worked with my wife. He Didn't!!
So protect that inventory and cash to the best of your ability, and remember to always protect yourself and your employees in the process.
Tom Agnes
Brooklyn Center Liquor Manager
MMBA President