Extreme shoplifting – fight back.

As we reported in our first article on extreme shoplifting, according to the British Retail Consortium’s Crime Report 2021, the cost to retail of criminal incidents has risen to more than £1billion for the first time. And with the high street under immense pressure, few can afford that figure to increase any further.

Extreme shoplifting – where organised gangs quickly swipe dozens of products off shelves into large bags – may not have reached these shores in earnest yet, but it often doesn’t take long for trends seen on the other side of the Atlantic to reach the UK. That’s why it is important for retailers to be proactive and prepare to counter the problem before it becomes too late.

At Checkpoint, we have been working with our partners to develop a range of solutions, responding to events in the US where some retailers have been forced to simply close their doors to stop gangs of organised shoplifters.1  As a truly global retail solutions provider, we’re in a fortunate position to be able to share local knowledge with customers around the world, enabling them to get ahead of the latest trends when it comes to shrink management.

Complementing our broad range of Alpha High Theft loss prevention solutions, we are now able to offer our retail customers even more options to protect their merchandise.

One such product is the Anti-Sweep Hook. Its design only allows one item to be removed at a time, while giving customers direct and easy access to the front item on the hook. Simple but highly effective, it stops dishonest shoppers from quickly removing an entire rail of products.

These individual solutions are valuable additions to our offering. Our own Alpha High Theft solutions are also a proven theft deterrent with specialised on-shelf systems that allow shoppers to touch and pick up products while making it much more difficult to either steal individual items or ‘sweep’ multiple high-value products off the shelf.

To further optimise your in-store security, it is key to ensure that staff also have the knowledge and insights on the product solutions used. This is recognised to not only optimise product protection but improve the customer experience.

Audit, Train & Maintain

Here, guided and focused training that is customised to your store environment and the products used can be provided through Checkpoint’s Check&Secure programme. It means retailers can get the best continuous performance, and by ensuring that every element of the store is primed to help reduce theft and increase sales potential.

By thinking about the solutions that will work for your store now, and ensuring store staff have the knowledge and insights to enhance your loss prevention strategy, you’ll avoid having to close your doors should extreme shoplifters target you in the future.

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/san-francisco-shoplifting-walgreens-closing-b1852470.html