Holiday Retail Shoplifting

‘Tis the season…for shoplifting. That’s right; just like holiday shoppers, shoplifters have already started emerging to get a jump on the holiday season.

National Retail Federation spokesman Joseph LaRocca confirmed that prime shoplifting season is starting. “Everyone’s getting ready for the holidays earlier this year,” he said. “We see an increase in thefts in October and November because, like stores, shoplifting professionals are stocking their shelves, too. They are getting ready for the holidays so they can supply flea markets, pawn shops and online outlets.”

According to Lt. William Kushina of the Cherry Hill, NJ Police Department, the department is seeing a more organized effort at making off with big-ticket items. “It’s not just kids. When someone is stealing 10 pairs of jeans, that is organized retail theft,” Kushina said. “The economy has a lot to do with it, but we do see an uptick before the holidays.”

Shoplifters seek safety in numbers. Now that more people are out shopping it is harder for sales staff to keep an eye on everyone at all times, giving an opening to thieves. Sales staff does not have the time to stick like glue to everyone that comes through the door but following are some things to look for that may indicated that your “customer” may not be on the up-and-up.

    • Large open bags. When a shoplifter is examining merchandise, the bag is placed open on the floor and merchandise dropped into it. Also keep an eye out for dirty, wrinkle paper shopping bags; this can be a tool of the trade that they carry with them and not a bag that came with a purchase that day. This shoplifting technique can be combated by stapling bags shut at the entrance or checking them in behind the counter to prevent anything from “accidentally” falling into them.

 

  • Women with large purses or people with baby strollers. There is nothing you can do to prevent people from using purses or strollers but be sure to pay attention to these customers. Items can be dropped into a purse while allegedly digging around for lipstick or can be quickly hidden under baby blankets.

 

 

  • Customers walking with short awkward steps. This may be an indicator that items have been shoved into clothing and the shoplifter is trying to keep them in place. This is especially true with skirt-wearing female thieves who will put merchandise up their skirts and clench it between their thighs.

 

 

  • Newspaper. Small items can be slipped into a folded up newspaper so pay special attention to those strolling around the store with a newspaper under their arm.
  • Shoppers with large coats who keeps their hands in their pockets. Some shoplifters will cut a hole in the lining of their coat so, while examining an item with their free hand, they can reach out and grab merchandise through the hole with the other hand.
  • Be aware of those shopping in pairs or groups. Sometimes one shoplifter will distract the sales clerk with a question while the other grabs the merchandise.

 

 

  • Return shoppers who don’t shop. People who keep returning to the store without purchasing may be scoping out the store and checking the level of attention paid to them. If they keep coming back without purchasing, they may be walking out with unpaid merchandise.

 

Now that you know some things to look for, how about an ounce or two of prevention? While shoplifting can be curtailed by employing security cameras (or simulated cameras), security tags with alarms and by monitoring fitting rooms, nothing beats attentive customer service. Greet all shoppers with eye contact and a warm welcome so that everyone knows that they are on your radar. Also….

  • Alternate the direction of hangers. Some thieves are fans of the “grab and run” technique but if they try to do that when the hanger directions are alternated, the hangers will lock up and won’t come off the rail.
  • Check employee bags when they leave. We’d all love to think we can trust those we employ but the reality is that employee theft is a big problem. If employees know that their bags will be checked they will be less likely to chance stealing.
  • Watch the “no sales”. Employees will occasionally need to do a “no sale” but if the numbers are high for particular employees then you may want to look into why that is. The average is 4 “no sales” per day so keep an eye on higher instances.

I know you want to keep shoplifting down to a minimum but please do be safe. Never try to physically stop a shoplifter; call security instead. Also, do not outright accuse someone of shoplifting. If you feel certain that someone has taken merchandise, give them the opportunity to purchase the items they “forgot” to pay for. If they refuse or become aggressive, let security handle the situation.

Holiday Retail Sale Ideas and Tips

The crazy holiday shopping season is pretty much here! Hooray! This is when many retailers make up for a slow year and, if you’re one of those retailers, then read on for some tips to maximize your profits.

“This is the time of the year when great service counts,” states John Tschohl, president of Minneapolis-based Service Quality Institute. “Competition is everywhere so you have to do the job better and better. Amazon increased sales 40% last year and will do the same this year. You are a click away from your competition.” That being said, how can you set yourself apart from your competitors? How can you generate just a little more profit on each sale?

Wrap it up. Save your customers time by wrapping some of your best-selling items for instant ready-to-give gifts. Keep some unwrapped samples on the display so that customers can examine the merchandise. Make sure you color code the wrapping paper so everyone knows what’s inside. For example, lotion set in red gift wrap, cupcake cookbook in green gift wrap, picture frame in blue gift wrap, etc. Don’t forget to stick a name tag on the pre-wrapped gifts so your customers can label them before they forget what’s inside.

Stuff those stockings. Offer stocking stuffers right next to your register to stimulate impulse sales. We all need little last-minute gifts so offer some small items at checkout to capture the customers’ attention and jog their memory of “Oh yeah, I need a little something for so-and-so at work/school/church, etc. and this would be perfect.” There are many attractive and functional impulse displays that can help you generate impulse sales all year round, not just during the holidays.

Send holiday cheer. Send a holiday card to your regular customers and offer them specials not available to the rest of the public. Invite your best customers to an after-hours party to show your appreciation.

I love you, man. Treat everyone who walks through your door as if they are truly special. Because they are! They could go to any other store but they chose to enter yours so make them feel welcome. Help take the edge off all the stress and craziness of the season by giving a genuine smile, offering to help them find gifts, complimenting them on their cute reindeer antlers (What? Some of us are very festive), scarf or whatever else is nice.

So. Very. Late! If your shoppers are anything like me, they wait until the last minute to shop so make sure you have a display that features last minute gift ideas in varying price ranges. If you have the room, separate categories such as “Gifts Under $20”, “For Him”, “For Her”, etc.

Holiday bonus. Everyone loves free gifts! During the last week or two before Christmas, offer bonus gifts to customers who spend a certain amount, like $75 or more. Let them choose a gift from a variety of free items that you select.

Slippery when wet. Keep your floor clean and dry so it looks nice and so people don’t fall and break their…holiday cheer.

Take care of yourself. The holiday season can be a challenge so make sure you get enough rest and healthy food to keep your batteries charged; it’s hard to be nice to customers and coworkers if you’re feeling icky. Don’t forget how much fun it can be to create events and promos and then help them succeed.

Please let me know what promos you’ve tried and how they went. Have a great holiday sale season…and have fun!

Halloween Retail Sale Ideas

Wow, this year is speeding by! Halloween is just around the corner and, in case you weren’t aware, it is the second most popular holiday, Christmas being the first. Do not let the opportunity of cashing in on this holiday pass you by. Check out this Tip of the Week from WhizBang! Training for some facts, figures and ideas on how to turn customers’ quest for fun and treats into profit. Read on:

Dear Tip of the Weeker,

This week’s Tip is a reprint from 2007 that included some interesting facts and figures about the Halloween shopping season.

We thought it would be fun to run this Tip again, updating the figures, to see how things have changed in the past couple of years.

(2007 figures are represented in parentheses.)

——————————————————————————–

According to our good friend Don Morgan at Party Club of America, the world’s largest buying group of party and Halloween merchandise, Halloween is now the number two holiday and it’s getting bigger every year.

Consider this…

Last year’s Halloween retail sales including advertising, exceeded an unprecedented $5.8 billion ($5.5 billion.)

A partial breakdown includes:
Candy: $1.8 billion, ($2 billion – ’07 was a record-breaking candy holiday);
Home Decorating: $1.6 billion ($.659 billion) remains second only to the Christmas holiday season;
Costumes: $2 billion ($1.3 billion;) interesting breakdown…
– Children’s Costumes = $.8 billion
– Adult Costumes = $1 billion
– Pet Costumes = $.2 billion!
Greeting Cards: $.3 billion ($.06 billion.)
According to the National Retail Federation’s 2010 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, American consumers planned to spend more money in all major Halloween categories in 2010 compared to the spending previous years, and 63.8% of those surveyed planned to celebrate Halloween or participate in Halloween activities!

In a nutshell, you still can’t afford to miss this opportunity.

At the very least you can stock and sell Halloween merchandise – costumes, home accessories, scary music etc. – and decorate your store and windows.

That’s a no-brainer.

But to take full advantage of the holiday you should throw yourself into it whole hog…

Here are a couple of ideas to get your juices flowing…

– You can have an after hours Halloween Party for your best customers.

– If you sell to children you can have a Halloween coloring contest for school children.

– If you are a running store or fitness center you can sponsor a Halloween Fun Run and give special prizes for people who run in costume.

– You can partner with your favorite non-profits and donate a percentage of the sales that come from their supporters who shop at your store.
The list goes on and on!

One of the best ways for you, as a small businessperson, to really distinguish yourself from the competition is to create a memorable experience for your customers.

Halloween presents you with the perfect opportunity to do something cool, fun, creative and unforgettable.

Retail Holiday Gift Wrap

Did you know that Specialty Store Services carries a full line of gift wrap, both for special occasions and for the holidays? It’s true! Did you also know that some people hhhhaaaaate to wrap gifts? That’s true, as well, but beyond my comprehension because I think wrapping gifts is fun. In fact, I once took a part time job at a department store during the holiday season just so I could wrap gifts all day (don’t judge me). But anyway, wouldn’t it be a great idea to offer a gift wrapping service to your customers to save them some time and hassle?

If you have some spare counter space or the room for a little work table, you can wrap your customers’ purchases for them. Many customers will appreciate not having to spend the time wrapping those gifts, even if you decide to charge a small gift wrapping fee, say $1 – $3 per package. You don’t even need to decorate the packages so the bows won’t get smushed in transit. You can offer simple package wrapping and the customers can add their bows (whether you provide them or not) and name tags later; just put a post-it note on the packages with the recipients’ names or write the names in small print on the bottom of the packages to keep them all straight . Let people know up front, though, if you plan on going the simple, no-frills package wrapping route so there are no misunderstandings.

Another way to spread the holiday hope and cheer is to wrap the packages for free but to put out a little donation box and let people know that the proceeds will go to a local non-profit organization, such as a food pantry, children’s hospital, veteran’s service or animal shelter. This way, customers get their packages wrapped and an organization doing good work in your community gets some much-needed help. Win-win!

Specialty Store Services has the gift wrap, gift wrap holder, tissue paper, ribbons, bows and boxes you need for your gift wrapping service. And don’t forget to order your gift certificates, gift cards and gift card pouches!

Get wrapping and have some fun!

Getting Ready for the Retail Holiday Season

It’s never too early to start planning your holiday season strategies. No, I’m not saying to decorate your store with snowmen and twinkle lights right this minute since it’s not even Halloween yet, for Pete’s sake (yes, I’m talking to you, the one who decorated for the winter holidays in August). But you might want to freshen up your store and fine tune your operations to get ready for the shoppers who will be looking for your great deals and services. Check out these previous blogs to help you get a jump start on the busiest shopping season of the year.

Hiring Temporary Employees. If you need help for the holiday season then you’ll want to make sure you hire the right people for your particular business. And why not bring them in a week or two early to help you get ready for the season? Read on….

Retail Store Presentation: What is Your Store Saying and Spruce Up Your Retail Store. Helpful hints to get your store in tip-top shape. Make sure your retail store is looking spiffy and sparkling clean because people want shop in a pleasant environment where they feel comfortable.

Retail Training Classes. So you’ve got your new employees and the store is looking good. Why not give your staff more tools to help them make the upcoming season a huge success?

Pump up the Volume of Impulse Purchases. Offer your customers a variety of little items that they can’t resist to help increase your bottom line.

Budget Conscious Shoplifting Prevention. You don’t have to spend a fortune to protect your investment.

Counterfeit Detectors. A counterfeit detector can protect you against hundreds, if not thousands of dollars lost due to counterfeit bills.

Effective Retail Lighting. You’ve got your products set up and the store looks good. Now make sure that your displays are shown to full advantage with the appropriate lighting.

Retail In-Store Event Ideas. They will come for the event and stay for your terrific customer service and great merchandise.

Improve your Retail Sales, Promotions and In-store Events. When the sales are over and the dust settles go ahead and take a deep breath. Then get your staff together to review the season and promotions, and to discuss what worked and what could be improved. You will be able to use these findings to help you throughout the year.

Good luck and have fun!

Hiring Temporary Employees

It’s on the way. The busy summer season! Are you ready for the influx of customers that the nice weather will bring? One thing that will make your summer season flow smoothly is a dynamic, friendly and helpful staff, and this includes your seasonal employees. Here are some helpful hints to make sure you find the temporary employees that are right for your business.

Don’t delay when getting your summer staff roster in order. Start scouting for your talented staff early, before your competition snatches them up. Giving yourself enough time to interview, hire and train your new crew will mean you won’t be flustered when the busy season sneaks up on you, like it’s apt to do.

Check work references. Starting your screening process early also gives you ample time to verify employment and run background checks on your potential temporary employees. Applicants should have previous employers who can attest to their work ethic, reliability and character. Remember, Federal laws prohibit potential employers from asking the applicant, or references, about certain topics that could be used as a basis for discrimination including age, race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, color, pregnancy, marital status, citizenship or disability, along with others.

Dip into the applicant pool. College students and retirees make fantastic employees. The college students’ flexible schedules while on school break coupled with their energy make them ideal candidates for temporary employment. Retirees possess years of work and life experience that can be valuable to your company and, like college students, retirees also have flexible schedules.

Get your ducks in a row. What positions are you looking to fill? What skills are you willing teach and what skills do you need your new employee to possess right off the bat? What sort of personality best fits with your business’ culture? Think about what you need and then ask the same questions of every applicant so you can measure them all with the same yardstick. Develop a scoring system to help you score various areas of expertise and then tally the scores to help you keep track of and compare applicants.

Don’t lead the way. Asking “Can you do ____?” leads the applicant to tell you what you want to hear, not what they have to say. Asking broad questions will lead to more insightful answers. For instance, “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer or coworker” gives you insight into how they would handle a difficult situation and is more telling than a simple yes or no question.

Think team player, not temp. Hiring seasonal help with the “I just need them to get through the next couple months” attitude can trick you into lowering your standards. You want an employee who will be a positive addition to your company, whether as a temporary or permanent employee. Treat your temp employees with the same respect and consideration that you would your permanent staff. If you like what you see during the summer season, you can always invite your temporary employees back for the holiday season, or even as a permanent team members.

Good luck on your search!

Mother’s Day Sale Signage

The day honoring Mom is coming. The woman who tucked us in at night, kissed our owies, grounded us just because she didn’t like how the dog looked after he was shaved and colored in with marker. She may not have an artistic bone in her body, but she’s Mom. And people are going to be crawling out of the woodwork to purchase her yearly “Thanks for not strangling me when I was a mouthy teenager” gift. You’ve probably got all your sale ideas in place but make sure people know that you’re even having a sale.
A beautiful sign in your window will draw attention, remind people that Mom’s day is coming and get them in the store to take advantage of your fantastic sale. Your Mother’s Day Sale sign will be shipped out the day after you order so it will be hanging in your window in no time. You can see our sale sign above and, as you can see, I wasn’t lying when I said it was beautiful.
Have a great sale! And give Mom a hug for me.

Holiday Sales Promotion and Supplies Ideas



Yes the Holidays are upon us, and it looks like the sales numbers are not that bad, in fact it appears that consumer spending is increasing according to some sources. Not time to lose since there are less than 15 shopping days left. Don’t send your customers home with a plain old ‘Thank You” bag, send them home with holiday cheer with the “Happy Holidays” printed T-Shirt Bag. Add some cheer to your storefront or windows with some Illuminated Holiday Window Decorations. I especially like the Lighted Snow Flakes. For those last minute shoppers who can’t make up their minds, preprinted and custom gift certificates are the perfect gift.

If you are looking for a great gift yourself check out www.activeandable.com for some gifts that people can actually use. One of my favorites is the Atomic Talking Watch. It speaks the time and you never have to set the time. How is that for convenience!

Check out The Sale section a www.SpeciatyStoreServices.com for some great last minute store supply bargins.

 

Merry Christmas from Specialty Store Services

It is 12:30 on Friday the 21st of December and we are about to start our Christmas Party. In years passed we used to have the party at a hotel or a restaurant, but now we have it in the showroom. It is a lot less formal, in fact when the party was at a hotel everyone used to dress up and make a night of it. We even had dancing and a 3 course meal!

Today’s party is a more relaxed affair, last year one of the call center managers brought his guitar and played a few songs. It was fun. I am sure this years party will have plenty of fun in store for everyone!

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
May there be peace on earth.

Your friends at Specialty Store Services