Every 4 seconds some kind of theft occurs. Theft is a problem that directly affects the retail storeowners’ bottom line and sense of security. Imagine in the time it takes to write this sentence, 3 thefts have occurred in the United States. That is why it is more important than ever that business owners protect themselves and their property with safe, non-lethal protection.
When a storeowner is thinking about securing their place of business they have to be aware of the different types of danger facing them. They face threats from the inside: from employee theft of merchandise and stolen cash from the register. They face threats from the outside: break-ins, robberies, shoplifting. Each one of these threats requires a different kind of protection.
Imagine a storeowner or manager, alone, busy at work in the back room counting stock and a person enters though the front door. It could be just a customer, but it could also be someone with bad intentions. A simple and inexpensive way not to be caught off guard is to install wireless door entry alert. There are a variety of models; a magnetic, passive infrared, light sensing, motion activated, but they all to the same thing: they let you know when someone enters your store or business with an adjustable chime tone. Door chime alerts are also great for letting you know when a customer enters your store or business so you or your employees can be ready to assist them.
Having excess, unsecured currency in the cash register in your place of business is a recipe for disaster. That is why a cash drop box is a necessity for anyone dealing with any amount of money on a day-to-day basis. It is not just a hold ups that are a danger, but large amounts of unsecured cash is a temptation to any clerk or stock person. The best solution for both these situations it to get the excess monies under lock and key and away from temptation and view. Cash drop boxes come in a variety of sizes and can be bolted to floors or counters.
Imagine a storeowner is robbed, but there are no witnesses or imagine thousands of dollars in merchandise suddenly “disappears” what are they going to do? It they had a DVR based video security system they would have proof of the crime to take all the way to the courthouse. Digital video recorders are now eclipsing VHS tapes as the optimum way to record thousands of hours of activity. The best thing about DVRs is that there are no VHS tapes to worry about. Storeowners should install a multi-camera system all around their stores: at the cash register, front and back door, and wherever they need to watch what is going on. Instead of tapes the DVR records directly to a hard drive which can be swapped out and stored for future viewing.
Store security is more important than ever, that is why storeowners need to take steps to secure their places of business and their hard earned profits. Solutions range from inexpensive door chime alerts to high-end multi-camera DVR based video security systems. No matter what the threat, either from employee theft or robbery, a store owners best strategy is having a great defense by using door chime alerts, cash drop boxes, and DVR-based video surveillance systems.
We are putting the finishing touches on a small security/cash handling catalog. It will feature our customer favorites in those categories. I think the benefit of a smaller catalog is that in a bigger catalog sometimes it is easy to overlook categories, especially in our media/video retailing catalog. We have a great line up of security and cash handling products that can help business and others protect themselves and their investments. Items such as currency counters, video security systems, safes, cash drops, security mirrors and door chimes. Don’t look for it in your mailbox, this catalog will be sent to our customers as a box-stuffer with every order we send out.
There always is a discussion around here about the impact of box-stuffers. I know when I get my credit card bills there are always “extra” items in there selling stuff like ceramic figurines to term life insurance. I guess it works or they would not do it, right?
One new item that is not making it into this security/cash handling catalog is a complete Point of Sale (P.O.S.) system. It is pretty sweet in that all you have to do is plug it in and start using it. Most times systems like this are not sold together; where the hardware and software are sold separately. The best thing about the system is that it electronically keeps tabs on all your inventory and sales.
I imagine that I will title a lot of blog entries ‘Interesting’, but one of my co-workers gave me an article out of a magazine called “EdDealer.” The article is called “21 tips for a better store experience” by a guy named Doug Fleener.
The 21st tip is “Smile!” and on the surface it seems silly, like a throw away feel good kind of a thing, but if you think about it, it really makes sense. I mean, how many times have you gone into a store and behind the counter was a grim-faced teen greeting you with a scowl? One time my wife and I went to the movie and they had a place to buy ice cream. My wife wanted a milk shake so we went to the counter and asked for one. The 2 girls behind the counter were talking and looking at their cell phones (I think cell phone should be banned from the place of business, but that is for another discussion).
The FMI show was in town over the weeked, May 5-9th. It is a huge trade show, mostly aimed at grocery and food specialty stores. It is necessary to go hungry because everyone is handing out FREE samples of food. I stayed away from all the snack foods and cakes due to the fact that my wife and I have been on the South Beach Diet for the last month(I lost 10 pounds), but I made up for it by eating more than my weight in cheese. I did try some aloe vera juice which was good. Apart from the food there were all the newest models of grocery carts and anti-bacterial wipes for carts. I knew 2 people who say they got seriously ill from touching grocery cart push rails. So if you have carts, get the wipes, because I think your customers would really appreciate them.
A few of us went to the show to look for interesting new products for the catalog and website. We found some great new stuff, but I have to keep it under wraps until we finalize the deals. You’ll probably see them in our Fall 2007 Specialty Store Services catalogs. Trade shows and suggestions from our customers is how we keep bringing our customers the best and newest items from around the world.
I would also like to thank Aruba Networks for my $50.00 Amex gift card. They were doing a promotion at the show to get people into thier booth. I walked by and a woman asked me if i’d like to win a trip to Aruba. I didn’t win the trip or the $5000.00 gift card, but $50.00 is a nice dinner.