Retail Security Tips for Christmas

As a retailer heading toward Christmas you begin to lift the tempo of your working week. New products must be sourced, new stock purchased and stored, extra staff employed and trained, rosters worked out, displays created and countless other tasks to ready your shop for the busiest few months of the year.

Unfortunately, the Christmas period isn’t just a busy time for retailers. As the crowds build and stock lists increase it becomes an opportune time for thieves to ply their trade.

Thieves plan around annual cycles just like the retailers do. And Christmas is the busiest and most profitable time of year for criminals just as it is for retailers. They know stores become far easier to steal and defraud at Christmas, and they take advantage.

Below are some retail security tips that you can implement to protect yourself, your staff and your store from theft this Christmas season.

Staff

Having well trained staff versed in loss-prevention is at the frontline of tackling would be thieves. Before the Christmas rush begins, take some time to train your staff on what to look for, what to avoid, correct stock management techniques and how to respond if a shop lifter is identified. In addition to having well trained staff, your staffing levels must rise to meet the demand. Thieves talk with one another, if a shop is identified as being under staffed, they will descend in droves.

CCTV

A good quality CCTV system in your store is not only an excellent deterrent for shop lifters but will act as a great tool to prevent shrinkage from within your staff or delivery personnel. With your CCTV system, there a few things you must consider

  • Avoid cheap do-it-yourself systems. Potential thieves will be able to spot an inadequate system within moments of stepping into the store and will act accordingly
  • Ensure there are no blind spots in the store, these will instantly become targeted
  • Let it known to everyone in the store that the store is protected by CCTV through appropriate signage on your front door
  • Ensure that areas over the till are covered
  • Use a high-resolution camera on the front entrance to clearly capture the faces of everyone entering your store.

Alarm System

While your staff and CCTV system are protecting your business during opening hours, a proper Alarm system will protect your stock overnight. Thieves are well aware of the additional stock kept in store rooms and on the floor during these peak times and will try and capitalise on this fact. Your alarm system should have motion detectors and REED switches protecting all entrances and should be reporting back to a control room. Not only will the external and internal sirens deter would be thieves, your Alarm Monitoring company can send a guard out immediately to check on your store in the event of an alarm.