Montreal is one of the oldest cities in Canada. It is rich in history, art, and food. Besides, many of the world’s renowned universities are also established here, making it a perfect place for students. That’s why opening a retail store in Montreal is indeed a great decision.
However, establishing a store is just the beginning. As an entrepreneur, you also need to ensure that it makes profits. Besides that, you also have to keep in mind the security of the store.
Believe it or not, but shoplifting can lose you thousands of dollars. You have made a considerable investment in your store, both financially and emotionally. Obviously, you don’t want it to suffer any kind of loss.
Thus, to prevent shoplifting in your store, you should consider taking the following measures.
Always Keep Your Store Well Organized
The first thing that you need to do is to keep the store clean and tidy. Understand that an unorganized store is usually an easy target for shoplifters. It makes it challenging for the owners to identify if an item is missing or just misplaced.
On the contrary, if every item is well organized, it will be a piece of cake for the staff to locate the theft and even stop it. Moreover, it will also be challenging for thieves to steal something.
A well-organized store is critical during the festive season. As more people will visit the store, it might get difficult for the staff to manage customers as well as products altogether. Thus, make sure your products are well organized.
Learn About the Most Common Shoplifting Tactics
Thieves are getting smarter and coming up with unique ways to steal stuff. Therefore, you should learn about their common tactics to protect your store. Some of the common tricks are as follows:
- Working in pairs or groups
- Hiding product in clothes, strollers, or handbags
- Switching price tag of expensive items with cheaper one
- Grab and run (usually during the busy hours)
Learning about these tactics will help you take preventive measures accordingly. In addition to this, if you get to know about any shoplifting incident nearby you, ask the owner about it. This knowledge will help you safeguard your business.
Pay Attention to Your Store’s Layout
Every store works to provide the utmost comfort to its customers. So, they have a unique way of displaying their products as well as the checkout procedure. For instance, most of the retail stores have a place to check out near the entry/exit doors. It makes it convenient for the customers to leave after shopping. However, this layout also has another benefit.
Do you know what it is? No? That’s all right! This store layout also allows retailers to keep an eye on every customer entering and exiting the store. It helps in ensuring that nobody leaves without paying. Moreover, it helps in reducing any blank spots.
Install Security Cameras and Alarm Systems
Another thing and probably an essential thing you need to do is to install surveillance cameras with alarm systems in the store. It goes without saying that this will act as a deterrent to the thieves and help protect all your business assets from internal and external threats. Thus, you must look for professionals providing Commercial Alarm System In Montreal to give your store the utmost protection. It’ll help you get real-time alerts.
Plus, you’ll be able to keep an eye on every activity of the store. Not to mention, better security in the store will also give your customers a sense of protection. And, you’ll also have peace of mind that everything is going well.
Install Mirrors
In addition to the cameras, you can consider installing mirrors in the store. Yes, you read it right! You might not believe it, but mirrors come in very handy to increase the visibility of the people and products. Also, it helps in eliminating any blind spots. But not just any mirrors; you need to buy anti-theft mirrors of different shapes and sizes.
Install them in different places, especially those which are away from your reach. It will work like a charm to reduce shoplifting. Besides, it is a low-cost measure to minimize threats.
Note: You can also paste signage near the mirrors. These signs include information that the store has CCTV cameras. It will help alert the people that immediate action will be taken in case of any suspicious activity.
Use Customer Service as a Preventive Tool
It is one of the easiest ways to reduce the risk of theft. Moreover, high-quality customer service will also make your target audience happy. But how does it work? Well, all you need to do is to appoint a person to greet every customer. It will imply that you respect all your customers. On the other hand, it’ll leave an impression on the mind of thieves that they are being noticed.
Likewise, you can hire more employees to assist every customer. It will also reduce the chance of stealing. Nonetheless, help genuine customers to find what they came for. The key idea here is to ensure that no area in the store is left unattended.
Train Your Employees
If you are expanding your business and hiring more staff, you must give them proper training to elevate store and customer safety. Teach them about the shoplifter’s tricks, standard anti-theft protocols, and emergency procedures. Also, teach them the “alert” tricks to inform fellow staff members about the suspicious activity.
Besides that, you should also create a store policy. It will include the details of how staff members should behave in case of emergency. Also, it will help in keeping everything well managed and alert the police or security guard if required.
To Sum It All Up
All these measures will ensure that your store is safe. Plus, these are cost-effective measures. Not to forget, a high level of security and good customer service will also leave a great impression on your target audience. Overall, along with preventing shoplifting, it’ll help make your business grow.
