Your company's success depends on its products and customers. Without them, it'd be hard to continue on. Unfortunately, theft makes it difficult to keep valuable money in your business banking account. Companies lose nearly $10 million annually to shoplifters, according to Staples. Without proper loss prevention policies in place, your business could be one of the casualties.
Loss prevention systems protect merchandise
Shoplifters will most likely always exist, but that doesn't mean you have to make it easy for them. There are plenty of ways – both free and costly – you can prevent people from stealing from your store. It all starts with training your employees, the Houston Chronicle explained. This includes showing them what to do if someone suspicious is on-site or if they've caught a person red-handed. Your employees should greet everyone who walks in the store and they should make rounds. When potential shoplifters know that someone is always around, they're less likely to try and slip something by you. Staff should always be on the lookout.
The location should also be set up to make it easy to see the entire floor, according to the source. This could require you to switch up the layout of racks or it could simply mean cleaning up. If your racks and displays are organized neatly, you'll notice when something is out of place. It will also deter shoplifters.
If possible, you should work security measures into your financial plan. Cameras, bells, sensors and mirrors set up around the store will ensure no corner goes unseen. Attaching anti-theft tags to products also keeps people from walking out with items without paying.
Digital attacks endanger businesses, consumers
Unfortunately, loss prevention doesn't only apply to physical objects. Data breaches can also result in monetary harm. When hackers take private and sensitive information from your servers, they also gain access to your contacts and clients, My Digital Shield reported. This may be more serious than shoplifting. It can be hard to identify the attackers and more than your company will be at risk.
You need to have proper cyber security procedures and systems in place to protect both you and your customers. Their credit card information, addresses and phone numbers are all in danger during data breaches. Approximately 98 percent of these attacks on businesses occur because computer users open and download malware from unknown sources, according to the source.
You should have data loss prevention tools in place to counteract cyber attacks. These systems prevent private information from being accessed or transferred out of your network without authorization, My Digital Shield explained. Virus and malware protection and firewalls should be installed on every computer connected to the server and policies and procedures should be established for you and your employees.
Businesses rely on their customers and the success of their merchandise. However, if people are stealing both physical items and data, their revenue is going to gradually disappear. By installing loss prevention systems in stores and on servers, companies can protect themselves from theft.