In the introduction to this program (Get Your Hands Outta My Pockets), we talked about the significance of the regular customer on your bottom line as a retailer. The idea that high profile theft is more of a problem than regular customers is easily dispelled by data from apprehensions for shoplifting.
There are many other “myths” surrounding shoplifting, too. Perhaps the most damaging myth is the label, “shoplifting,” which diminishes the seriousness of a problem that has caused innumerable bankruptcies in the retail world.
Many studies and even popular belief suggest that a lot of theft (and in particular shoplifting) occurs through need. However, that is not the case. Need rarely plays a role in the decision to shoplift. In fact, a study of over 11,000 shoplifters over a period of eight years showed that less than 1/4 of 1% did not have access to the amount of money needed to pay for the items stolen. Instead of need perhaps we should be identifying greed as the primary motivator for theft. Yet it is epitome of all memes that seniors who are desperate even steal cat food because they’re starving. Or the caricature of a single mother who is stealing diapers. These are not your typical thieves rather they are the aberration, if they exist at all.
There is very little difference between the number of males or the number of females that shoplift or steal. Again, a myth rather than reality. The determinant is less which sex steals as which sex makes up the bulk of either the shopping population or the employee population. If you have 2/3 female, you’ll likely have 2/3 of your thieves being female. If you have 2/3 male, the reverse is true.
Similar to the statistics on either sex or age, race plays very little role in determining who will shoplift. While there are statistical differences based on the race of the individuals who shoplift, those often can be attributed not to the racial difference but the cultural or the income differences. Of course, if you watch all native, all black or all white, the shoplifters and the thieves that you will detect will be predominantly from those groups. The on-site study that was conducted for the Frank McShane / Barry Noonan psychological report on shoplifter behavior found that when you eliminate arbitrary observation patterns, and reduce the bias as to who you watched, the race differences as to who steals were minimal.
In a blind study of shoplifters and shoplifter behaviour, as well as employees and employee behaviors, after factoring in the distribution of age, race and sex of the participants that were tested, age did play as a slightly statistically significant role in the difference between shoplifting and theft behaviors versus non shoplifting or non theft behaviors. Oddly, though, the the predominant group of shoplifters were people over the age of 55 followed by teenagers or youth. There is a slight skew in the middle years in the 35 to 45 range, but it is contrary to the accepted belief that teenagers are more likely to steal. In fact, seniors will steal more frequently, but it is the youth that are observed more and therefore caught more. Yes youth do shoplift more frequently than the general population but again it is the seniors that are the predominant group, exceeding the rate of theft of all groups.
The days of the week during which theft will occur depends upon the volume of traffic. For example, Saturday afternoon, just after lunch when the shopping volume peaks in a grocery store, is when theft rates drop off. Although there are more customers there’s less opportunity. However, as the rush tails off (e.g. 3:30 until 4:30) there is an increase in theft activity (high traffic but more opportunity than when the store is packed with shoppers). Yet, many big stores increase surveillance and deterrence efforts at the wrong times, coinciding with greatest shopping volume but not greatest theft volume.
During a two-month period, I recently shopped at a large grocery chain at varying times of the day. On more than 20% of the visits, I observed (and reported) shoplifting events, recording some of them. None occurred during peak shopping volume.
Times of day impact on shoplifting. Many of the heavy-duty shoplifters who are stealing to resell items do not arise prior to 10 a.m. and become active in the stores after that time. However, while 8 pm is generally a low-customer period in a store, many professional thieves are active at that time. However, regular customers may shoplift early in the day or late afternoon, when the opportunity arises.
Recognizing the key times and days when shoplifters may be present will enable you to develop a cost-effective strategy for deterrence and detection.
Other key times to be extra vigilant include during special events (fairs, festivals, holidays), when thrill-seeking and opportunistic non-regular customers descend on a retailer. These likely will be impulse thefts of items from sunscreen to alcohol, sunglasses to snacks, and often involve younger adults. Peer pressure, perceived need, being in a hurry and other contributors may lead the impulse shoplifter to steal from you.
Seasonal peaks also occur. Just prior to Christmas, after Black Friday and before the final mad few days preceding December 25, theft spikes for a variety of reasons.
Cooler weather means people wear heavier, bulkier clothing, which increases the opportunity for concealing goods.
Shoplifting is more than merely taking an item out of a store without paying. It involves a series of steps and decisions that, while fluid, are distinct. These preparatory steps often provide real clues as to what is about to transpire.
First, unless it is a pure impulse theft, the shoplifter must decide what they are intending to steal. That, too, involves steps that signals an impending problem.
A game show from decades ago involved having shoppers dash through a grocery store, filling their carts with as much as possible within a very limited time. The only preplanning involved was to choose the first aisle where they wanted to gather the most goods: often, the meat aisle.
A shoplifter who opts for this haphazard method of stealing is unlikely to benefit much. Imagine paying for your pricey meat items but opting to steal packages of noodles. Rather, shoplifters generally select items of significance to them, either because they are ego-enhancing items (cosmetics, high resale value, etc.) or high priced relative to size.
Target items also must be able to be concealed easily. Retailers have heard anecdotes about shoplifters walking out of the store with frozen turkeys held under their skirts between their legs. Humourous, but in more than 40 years of retail experience, I have never encountered this scenario.
Concealment does not mean objects must be small. Deception is concealment, too. I have encountered several people who have entered stores, picked up an item or two, and proceeded to Customer Service to claim a return on goods they never purchased. These goods included large televisions, appliances and bulky clothes that could not be concealed easily by hiding them. They were brazenly deceptive.
Two genius thieves actually stole an RV then returned to the dealer two months later to have it serviced. Of course, their deception failed.
Items that the shoplifter targets usually should not be spotlighted, but readily accessible. Front end displays or items behind locked cases are less vulnerable than bulk displays or out-of-the way item stack outs.
Learn which items are more likely to be targeted and take preventive steps.
So, the would-be thief knows what they want to steal. But where are these items located? A major “tell” that a shoplifter is focused on a specific product is how that shoplifter shops. While regular shoppers follow a predictable pattern of shopping, being led by the store layout and the lure of signage or appealing display, a shoplifter first must familiarize themselves with the store layout, then be aware of where staff and potential security is located. Some shoplifters return time and again to an area where their targeted goods are located, checking things out. Others loiter in an area for prolonged periods, without seemingly shopping. Others want to know vulnerable areas, risky areas and presence of staff.
This often requires that they scout the store first, frequently returning to displays of targeted goods.
As a former hunter I often observed prey animals moving cautiously along a perimeter of a field. For example, deer pause at the headlands between bush and open meadow before they enter into the field. They’re doing this to check out to see what dangers may exist. A similar habit with shoppers who move along remote areas of a store and look inward toward the store are providing themselves with a chance to watch what’s happening in the central part of the store without them being observed. Regular customers do not tend to look to the perimeter or the outside of a store. They are more focused on their own shopping. Watch for people that walk around the perimeter of the store a few times or walk into remote areas of the store and then look inward towards theft prone areas.
Now the shoplifter needs to cover their intentions. Obtain a basket or cart, and randomly toss in a few innocuous items, so that they appear to be legitimate. Even here, this customer shops differently. If they do not intend to buy any of these items (opting to discard the partially full basket or cart), they will not examine those items the way a diligent shopper would. They merely grab them and drop them in their basket.
Now, the shoplifter picks up one or more of their targeted theft items. Those are placed more carefully in the cart, sometimes segregated in the main body, sometimes isolated in the carrier portion. These items have value to the thief, so they are more careful. But note how they deal with the items just before placing (not dropping or tossing) them in the cart. Do they look over the top of the item, toward other customers or down the end of the aisles? Do they handle them without seemingly examining them, but not move as quickly as with the decoy items previously selected? There is a host of movements associated with the handling of these goods that should trigger awareness of potential theft.
Most customers stand at a comfortable, bent-arm distance from a display when selecting items to buy legitimately. Shoplifters tend to be more rigid, standing almost to the middle of the aisle or at straight-arm length from the display.
Now, the shoplifter may move to a more secluded area where they can conceal the goods without interruption. Just prior to the intent to conceal, the shopper will move the targeted items from the cart body to the carrier, near a bag or a purse. In a basket, they may shuffle the merchandise so that the targetted items now are more easily grabbed and quickly concealed or removed from packaging.
Most frequently, a shoplifter will not remain in the store long after they have concealed their stolen goods. They want to leave quickly but also want to ensure they are not being followed. They will abandon the cart or basket with other, innocuous goods in the area in which they have concealed the stolen goods or, infrequently, carry the basket to near the checkout area of the store then abandon it as they exit. First, though, they will verify that no one is following them or waiting to apprehend them as they leave.
These are only a few of the tracks left and indications of shoplifter behaviour.
Shoplifters don’t always succeed. Some become quite nervous, taking goods to isolated areas, then abandoning them because they have been spooked by potential risks. Others leave goods in a quite area, then return later in the day.
Clothing stores that see a collection of pricey items on hangers, bunched on a rack distant from where they were originally displayed may be observing a staging of theft that either has been abandoned or that is awaiting the return of the thief (or an accomplice).
Much more to come….