3 Tips For Keeping Your Retail Store Safe

It’s no secret how damaging theft can be to a retail store. If you’re a store owner you may have experienced that pernicious eating in to your bottom line that theft can produce.

Shoplifters can walk out with hundreds or even thousands of pounds worth of merchandise during each theft, especially if you sell high value merchandise. And while these thieves are making off with your products, the chances of them being caught are dishearteningly low. These are people who make it their business to get away with theft.

Luckily, you can make it your business to stop them. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. Read on for advice on deterring and catching thieves, as well as how you can take steps now to protect your store from damage and destruction.

1. Make effective use of cameras and video analytics

Theft is a crime as old as humanity, but in the 21st century we have new tools to combat this theft that are improving every day. Make use of this new technology to fight these old problems.

If you don’t already have them, set up cameras both inside and outside your retail store. By setting up cameras at key locations, you can monitor your store and get any thieves on tape.

However, modern technology goes beyond just recording footage. Make use of software that analyzes the video for suspicious activity. You can even get an alert sent to you when a customer acts in a way that indicates there may be theft going on. Facial recognition can also identify thieves that already have a record, and even match them against databases of criminals. By combining cameras with video analytics, you can effectively decrease the amount of theft you experience.

2. Use parking bollards

Don’t overlook physical barriers as an important part of story security. Bollards from a company like Barriers Direct, placed strategically in front of the store and in the car park can stop accidents, preventing damage to your store from careless or impaired drivers.

Their usefulness doesn’t stop there, however. The right bollard will be strong enough to prevent vehicle-based thefts, in which criminals ram their car through the front of the store. While a frightening possibility, this crime is easily prevented by properly placed security bollards, keeping your store safe.

3. Let the thieves know you’re onto them

A big part of preventing theft is letting potential thieves know they’re being watched. Your new cameras will be even more effective if you also make use of anti-theft signage. As an added bonus, anti-theft signs are usually quite cheap, so you can get a fair number of them without cutting overmuch into your budget.

Simply buy several signs letting criminals know that they’re being watched or are on camera, and let them know what will happen if they are caught (usually something along the lines of being turned over to the police). If you have changing rooms in your store, it can be a good idea to put these signs inside them. It’s also a good idea to put them inside toilet stalls, since these are two common places where a thief might try to hide what they have lifted on their person in order to make it out the front door without being noticed.

Preventing theft may seem daunting, but by making use of these simple tools you can go a long way toward keeping your store sage, deterring crime, and protecting your bottom line. In the end your investment in security should pay for itself many times over.