TIE A RIBBON

Tie a Ribbon or other small promotional item in an area where known items of stock are repeatedly targeted and tell staff to look at it whenever they pass! To the thief or customer the ‘Ribbon’ or ‘Balloon’ looks like any other promotional display whilst giving the staff a reason and focal point to observe for suspicious activity! (Keep up staff interest by changing the type or colour of the item regularly).

MY SPACE

Give staff members a definitive area to police for suspicious activity (most shops are too busy and too large to hold a staff member’s full concentration). When used with ‘Talk Talk’ can be very effective.

TALK TALK

This is a ‘Buddy’ system which raises the confidence of individual staff members by pairing them up and encouraging them to share any concerns about suspicious activity. Tell them at all times to know where their ‘buddy’ is and to arrange a signal between themselves for alerting each other of possible incidents i.e.; ‘do we have this item in blue’. They can then assess together whether they should raise the alarm and if necessary leave one to watch the suspects until help arrives.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Many young shop staff are understandably nervous about approaching anyone acting suspiciously (particularly teams) and will often avoid eye contact (this is what the criminals rely on). However if given a reason to approach the area where the suspicious activity is taking place a staff member will feel more confident in doing so! To help them; keep an item such as a clipboard with random data on i.e a size chart or product count (a few labels/barcodes adds to the effect) and tell them if they see any persons of concern to collect the board and move to the vicinity and carry out a mock action. An innocent customer won’t notice, whilst this will often deter a suspect and give the staff member a reason to be there without the threat of conflict. Also any other staff member, seeing the clipboard in use will be alerted to a possible incident and can summon help.