Employee theft in retail tends to cost more than customer theft. It is also the type of theft in retail that is less likely to be uncovered and accurately costed.
Here are 12 steps to cut employee theft in any retail business:
- Scan everything you sell.
- Spot stock take items in high demand.
- Use your POS software to balance at the end of shift every day.
- Have a security camera over each register.
- Check GP by department. If GP is falling outside what you expect, research it further.
- Have a no employee bags at the counter policy. This makes it harder for them to hide your cash.
- Beware employees who carry folded paper or small notepads. These can be used for them to keep track of how much cash is in the register that is theirs – i.e. not rung up in the software.
- Beware of calculators with memories at the counter. One retail business employee used the memory function to track how much cash had to be stolen prior to balancing for the day – cash from sales not rung up.
- Do spot cash balancing. Unexpected checks can uncover surprises. One retailer needing to do a banking during the day uncovered a $350 discrepancy that lead to discovery of systematic theft.
- Setup a theft policy. Put this on a noticeboard in the back room. Get staff to read it and sign up to it.
- Do not let employees sell to themselves. If they want to purchase something make them purchase it from the other side of the counter.
- Be professional in your management of the business. The more professional your approach they less likely your employees will steal as they will see the risk of being caught as high.
Of course, there are more than 12 steps you can take. These are, in our opinion, the best. We say this based on years of experience helping local indie retailers, especially helping to reduce employee theft.
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