Stop Shoplifting--Real Solutions, Real Confessions

Well, at least you could stop my kind of shoplifting. The main thing I do is that I actually buy stuff and that covers it all up. It explains why I have a large bag and why it's full. I go to the dressing room and mostly do my business there. If it doesn't have a security tag, and it fits me, it's going in my bag. If they don't see anything suspicious, they won't stop me. That could be harassment. Every store knows if you harass your customers, they won't return. The best way to prevent shoplifting is to be proactive.

Keeping a person posted at the dressing room to count items in and out would really help. Then I wouldn't be able to cover it up in there. If I see someone posted at the dressing room, I usually go to another dressing room in a more lenient department.

Put a security tag through all parts of a dress. If it has two layers and I can leave the slip behind, I'm taking the dress. I can always buy a slip somewhere else.

Make sure employees put security tags back on items when they are returned. If it doesn't have a tag, it's going in my bag.

Make sure your employees greet people and are very helpful. Bloomingdales has this down to a science.

Stores should know that if someone is really determined, they are going to be able to pull it off. One time I cut a security tag out of a dress with a pocket knife because it was in an underneath slip. I dropped the security tag randomly on the floor by a rack. Some employee will pick it up and wonder how that happened. It could be from anything, right?

Security cameras can be lied to. It's easy to make it look like you put merchandise back. The racks are so mulled over by so many people that it's impossible to tell who may have done the deed. You can also pretend to drop things and slip some of the things into your bag. People drop things in stores all the time. Things go flying off hangers, hangers go flying all over the place on the way to a dressing room.

You may select merchandise and leave a mess in a dressing room, to include empty hangers but they can't prove which room you were in if they weren't being attentive. It could be that you decided to buy the merchandise but don't need the hanger, so you left it. Besides, who's to say that a shirt disappearing after you walked out of a dressing room wasn't due to employee pilfering?

Have employees check tags on merchandise carefully when it is being returned. Switching tags is very common and alot of people don't realize it is a crime. One store inspected my tags and did a search for a description of the item. That stopped me in my tracks. Of COURSE I blamed it on someone else. It's certainly POSSIBLE that there is someone else out there switching tags. Either way, they wouldn't take the items back even if it WAS someone else. I went to another register within the store and she took it back without doing that search. This kind of checking would be especially helpful when going from one department store to another. There are some department stores in wealthier areas that may have designer items not available at smaller stores in less affluent areas. It's easy to return items from one store to another. They aren't going to be as careful about returns in a less affluent area.

Having more people on the floor and paying them better would save a store at least as much as I have stolen on days I go "shopping". A happy, well-paid employee is a faithful employee. It just seems alot less likely to shoplift successfully at a small designer shop where they know the value of their merchandise ($6000 dress) and they are really trying to help. They approach you so fast you don't know what hit you. Compare that to medium level and lower end department stores where they have a constant flow of new employees. The stakes are low, the interest is low. They are trying so hard to learn how to use the register that they can't possibly pay that much attention.

If a store did all of these things on a consistent basis, many shoplifters would have to go somewhere else. I know I would.