Where India Stands in Retail Theft.

India on a row once again topped highest in Global Retail Theft (Survey done by GRTB-Checkpoint) this is the fifth year that India has topped. The major part of shrinkage is shoplifting by customers. But, the good signal is that India is the only country where the shrink rate (loss of stocks because of thefts by customer, employees and supplier) came down this year as reported by the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2011. This is showing that now Indian retailers become more concerned about the safety tagging of stocks and more vigilant to exit points. In India, it covered 100 retailers, of which 60 were part of modern chains and 40 were from the unorganized sector.

In Asia-Pacific, shrinkage was highest among categories like cosmetics, perfumes, health and beauty, and pharmacy; apparel and accessories; and video, music and gaming. The most-stolen items from the cosmetics category globally included shaving products, perfumes, lipsticks, scissors, nail clippers, and tweezers. High quality seafood, alcohol and fresh meat made up the top three most-stolen grocery ‘high-risk’ product lines.

The most stolen merchandise by Indians included electronics, cosmetics, alcohol/food, clothing and jewellery as they are small, lightweight and easy to conceal and transport. Retail Association of India, said the survey is being unfair to India. In India, modern retail is only 5% of the total retail, and 95% is still non-modern retail, the survey is being unfair to the market. Modern retailers who have been in the business for more than three to four year know how to handle shrinkage and have managed to put in place systems that take care of shoplifting and employee shrinkage. The actual shrinkage rate for modern retailers, he said, would be less than half of what the survey found.

To reduce thefts, retailers in the nation are spending more money on security solutions. India’s spends on loss prevention at 0.23% of sales is higher than China and Asia Pacific region but lower than the global spends, which are at 0.35% of sales.

How to spot a shoplifter- a small tip:

While the following characteristics don't necessarily mean the person is a shoplifter but retailers should keep a close eye on them who exhibit the following as the chances are more that the person is a shoplifter:

• 1. Spends more time watching the cashier or sales clerk than actually shopping.
• 2. Wears bulky, heavy clothing during warm weather or coats when unnecessary.
• 3. Walks with short or unnatural steps, which may indicate that they are concealing lifted items.
• 4. Takes several items into dressing room and only leaves with one item.
• 5. Seems nervous and possibly picks up random items with no interest.
• 6. Frequently enters store and never makes a purchase.
• 7. Enters dressing room or rest rooms with merchandise and exits with none.
• 8. Large group entering the store at one time, especially juveniles. A member of the group causes a disturbance to distract sales staff.

STORE OPENING PREPERATION-Something to keep in mind.

STORE OPENING PREPERATION

Zoning, recovery, straightening--call it what you will--is simply the act of getting a retail store ready for customers. It is the combination of several processes to make the store look great, ease store operations and it should be done on a daily basis.

Store recovery is a continual process but the majority of it should be done either just before closing or opening of the store. While part of store recovery can be started during store hours, retailers may find it easier to be done with the doors locked. This way the staff can safely complete their tasks without interfering with shoppers.

Make your store recovery go by quickly and efficiently with the following tips.

Checkout Area

This is the place where customers are most likely to receive their last impression of the store. It is also where the financial transactions take place and should always be kept neat and orderly.

* Refill bag areas at the checkouts.
* Any merchandise in the register area should be restocked to the correct location on the sales floor.
* Clean doors, glass cases, register stands and any other surfaces the customer may come in contact.
* Sweep and/or vacuum entryway, including mats.

Sales Floor

By straightening items in our selling area, we're not only giving our store a neat, full appearance, we're deterring theft. When a shoplifter opens a package and takes the merchandise, he/she generally discards the packaging in the first available empty space. Filling those spaces during our store recovery will add a few more seconds to the shoplifter's act and hopefully give the employee more time to catch the thief.

* Fill up empty spaces with overstock and back-stock.
* Straighten all merchandise on the sales floor. Bring all products to the front edge of the shelf or move peg hook items forward to maintain a full appearance. Use both hands as you move along straightening each item.
* Don't stop what you’re doing to return mis-shelved items. Collect the merchandise in a shopping basket or cart and return each item to its correct location as you move around the store.
* Collect any damaged or opened packaging, and other trash, that has been discarded.
* Check expiration dates on perishables and other consumable items.
* Check all signage and replace any missing tags, labels or signs.
* Dust the tops of racks, cases and other fixtures with a clean dust rag.
* Don’t forget to clean the base shelves and the bottom of fixtures.
* Sweep the aisles, vacuum carpet and mop the floor.

Stock Room

We all get busy taking care of business and may easily neglect this area of the retail store. As the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind”. The time to pay attention to the stock room is during store recovery.

* Clear work areas, empty trash cans and dispose of empty boxes.
* Work out any merchandise in the stock room to the correct location on the sales floor if possible.
* Organize hangers, pricing guns, tagging guns and all other store supplies.
* Keep emergency exits free of clutter.

Office

Because this location is usually out of sight from the customer, retailers may neglect this area as well. Plan a few minutes in the store recovery process to clean up the office.

* Secure deposits, petty cash and any other monies.
* File invoices, receipts, bills of lading along with all other paperwork for the day.
* Create computer backups, if necessary.

Other Areas for Recovery

Store recovery should also include cleaning areas such as restrooms, the break room and fitting rooms. There should be no merchandise any of these areas and each area should be spotless.

The time spent on store recovery will vary by the size of the retail store and the number of employees. Keep a checklist of the process handy to make sure each area has been completed. Consider assigning one person for each task and rotate assignments for better accountability. Remember, the more often store recovery is done, the less there is to do.

POWER FALURE

We all hope we're never faced with having to operate a retail store without electricity but acts of nature, mechanical problems and other emergency situations could result in power failure at your store.

So what do you do when the lights go out during store hours? Start by preparing a power loss procedure before it happens. Keep this plan in your store policy manual and be sure to communicate the plan with all store personnel. Having a solid plan in place can help ease the hassle of doing business without power.

Place flashlights under each checkout, in the office and one in the stockroom. Be sure to periodically check and/or replace the batteries. These flashlights can be used to provide security for the customers and staff.

In the event of a power failure, staff should immediately lock the front door and place a sign on the door explaining why the store is closed during regular business hours.

If there are any customers in the store when the power goes out, finish checking out the customer as quickly as possible. Cash registers and POS systems on a backup uninterrupted power supply (UPS) will have time to finish the transaction and properly shut the system down.

If your registers are not on a backup system and no longer operate without power, use a battery-powered calculator to total the sale, if possible. Many cash registers can be opened with a key for cash and check tendered sales. Keep good written records in order to add these transactions to the register later. Use the flashlights to escort customers out of the store.

Contact the utility company to report the power outage and to determine how long the power will be off. If the power will not be restored within 30 minutes to an hour, consider dismissing hourly employees and have them call, or return, at a specified time. Store management will need to handwrite the time off on time cards as most time clocks will be inoperable.

Retail stores that keep track of daily sales in a Beat Yesterday book, or other log for comparing sales history, should document the power failure and the length of time the store was closed.

Global Retail Theft Barometer 2010

Key Findings from the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2010

The 2010 edition of the Global Barometer covers 42 countries, including the U.S., China, Australia, France, Germany, Brazil, UK, South Africa, Turkey, and India. New for 2010 is Russia, the first time retail crime data has been collected there. They had 1,103 respondents from the largest retail corporations with combined sales of US $874 billion. Checkpoint Systems, Inc. has supported this independent survey.

Key results

* Cover of 2010 GRTB Shrinkage down. One year after the sharp 2009 spike in shrinkage, shrinkage has fallen by -5.6% as retailers put almost 10% more funds into security and loss prevention. Total global shrinkage (stock loss from crime or waste expressed as a percentage of retail sales) cost retailers and the public US$ 107.3 billion, equivalent to 1.36% of their retail sales.

* Global cost of crime per family (household) was $185.59.

* Crime Increased. Shrinkage fell, although crime continued to rise across the world. 31% of retailers declared that shoplifting had increased compared to the previous year, when 41% had found that shoplifting attempts had increased. Note that this proportion is not the increase in net shoplifting but the percentage of store groups affected.

* Shoplifting Impacts. The main crime problem that retailers faced was shoplifting, accounting for 42.4% of shrinkage or $45.5 billion. Retailers were organised enough to prevent the increase in shoplifting from pushing up shrinkage.

But in the US, Canada, and Australia employee theft was estimated to be greater than shoplifting losses. In the U.S., shoplifting counted for 'only' 34.9% ($13.7 billion) of shrink and employee fraud 43.7% ($17.2 billion).

* Employee theft. Disloyal employees accounted for 35.3% of shrinkage or $37.8 billion.

* Internal error and administrative failure (e.g. pricing or accounting mistakes) was 16.9% ($18.1 billion), and supplier or vendor theft and fraud was 5.4% of shrinkage ($5.8 billion). Both these totals had improved over the previous year.

* Numbers of thieves. Retailers apprehended 6.2 million store thieves in 2010, more than the population of many countries with UN membership.

* Global loss prevention costs. An increase to $26.8 billion (0.34% of retail sales) compared to last year's fall of $1 billion. Capital costs including investment in new technology, EAS, CCTV and other security equipment were $8.3 billion.

The most-stolen items of retail merchandise within the 41 countries included branded and expensive products: cosmetics and skincare, alcohol, womenswear/ladies' apparel, perfume and fine fragrances, and designerwear. Other highly stolen lines included razor blades, DVDs/CDs, video games and video consoles, small electric items, and fashion accessories.

Source: www.retailresearch.org

Importance Of Communication in Retail Store.

Confusing and badly timed communications from head office are the last thing disturbs busy shopfloor staffs. Pathetic staff and bad service can often be a direct result of head office’s failure to engage shopfloor staff with its vision. In the current climate, communication between head office and stores is more important than ever.

When it comes to the motivation to achieve sales or to ensure the best customer service, effective communication between head office and staff on the front line is critical because they have to deliver the brand promise that the retailer may communicate externally via its marketing communications.

Of course, the best method is direct and one-to-one dialogue with their line managers. It helps to know how changes impact on them, so by having the dialogue they can ask the questions. That’s the most effective way of communicating. However, in a busy trading environment where shift patterns and circumstances as well as sheer scale of the business can prevent that happening, a retailer needs other methods of communicating.

Its store intranet system that allows content such as store management tool, newsletters and in-store marketing information to be accessed through an internet browser, either in the back office, at the till or a hand-held device. It has enabled store managers to spend more time on the shopfloor serving customers and driving sales. It has also helped to gain a consistent execution of tasks across all stores.

Ensuring a message has been received and understood is vital.

At shop/stores they haven’t got time to read reams of information so it has to be slick.

Choose the way in which we communicate with store teams very carefully depending on the audience. If intend for issuing communication to all store staff it should be done through staffroom poster or newsletter to ensure everyone could receive the message. If the communication is aimed at store management teams this would be done through a store management tool or internal mail service. Even some has their own radio stations it is a channel for staff news, views and dedications, while during trading hours the station broadcasts music and customer messages & on non-trading hours broadcast news for staffs.

Ensuring store colleagues not only listen to you but that you also listen to them means you are one step closer to not only being heard, but understood.

Steps to successful communication

• Purpose or Objective.

Decide if it is to inform, get a response or generate an outcome.

• Message Type & How It Should Be Perceived.

Often retailers know the message they want to communicate, but they don’t tend to give as much thought to how they want it to be received. A communication about restructuring can send out a very negative message, but if it is accompanied by a statement of how this will safeguard jobs in the longer term and make the business stronger, it can limit concern.

• Target Audience & Media Type.

This is one of the great challenges in retail. There are many locations and people of differing backgrounds and seniority in the business, which means there may need to be different levels of communication to address specific layers of the organization. Similarly, change may affect each level differently and the channels of communication open to them will be different too. Management may have e-mail access when shopfloor staff do not, so picking the right message and the right method of communication is vital.

• The Perfect Time.

Of course, sometimes you can’t choose the timing of a message, but where there is some control it is best to avoid times when the business is already implementing a lot of change, such as a new season launch, a Sale, and so on.

Now, no more free plastic carry bags

Consumers are all set to lose the luxury of getting a free plastic carry bag from shopkeepers after buying grocery or green vegetables. They will have to shell out extra money from their pocket for the plastic carry bag.

The Central government on Monday notified the plastic waste (management and handling) rules, 2011, that stipulated “no carry bags shall be made available free of cost to consumers.” The cost of individual carry bag, however, would be deduced by the local municipality.

The new rules, devised by the Union Environment Ministry with the intention of getting rid of plastics chocking drains and water-bodies, will replace the recycled plastics manufacture and usage rules, 1999, which was amended four years later.

Besides discouraging the consumers, the new rule bans using plastic materials in sachets for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala. Municipal authorities have been advised to constructively engage rag-pickers to isolate plastic waste from garbage.

Foodstuffs, too, will not be allowed to be packed in recycled plastics or compostable plastics as per the new law. “It is impractical and undesirable to impose a blanket ban on the use of plastic all over the country. The real challenge is to improve municipal solid waste management systems,” said Union Minister Jairam Ramesh.

Plastic bags shall either be white or can be made only with those pigments and colours, approved in the Bureau of Indian Standards. The bags should not be less than 40 microns in thickness whereas under the earlier rules, the minimum thickness was 20 microns. With several states allowing plastic bags of various minimum thickness, it is now expected that 40 microns norms will become the uniform standard to be followed across the country.

Source: DECCAN HERALD, New Delhi.