Customer theft is an issue that most business owners address daily. There are many free tips and tricks, as well as paid services to help prevent customer theft at your facility.
Formalize your customer theft policy
The first step in preventing theft at your facility is to write a customer theft policy and enforce it. When your customers and employees know your expectations on the issue, you will see a decrease in theft. Post signs that state you prosecute shoplifters. Posted signs do prevent theft.
Access control
You can prevent ticket fraud by validating tickets. When a ticket is scanned, your point of sale system should be able to verify if it has been used before. This will prevent a ticket from being sold multiple times by a scalper. When you have access control at your facility you have the ability to prevent this type of theft. Read about how access control has helped this Gatemaster customer.
Check for scalping/ticket fraud
Visit sites like Craigslist and see if any of your tickets are being sold. This is something you will want to do 1-2 times per month. Beware that some customer may honestly sell their tickets through these types of websites. You want to look for any trends like checking to see if the same user is posting your facilities tickets multiple times.
Educate your customers on ticket fraud
On your website or at your facility post information about ticket fraud. Let your customers know the best way to not get scammed is to buy from you directly or through a trusted partner like Groupon.
Hire a Security Guard
Employing a security guard could be costly but it will cut down on theft. If you facility is properly staffed, you could have one of your regular employees work the doors as a greeter. This will also improve your customer satisfaction as well as protecting you from theft.
Is there a trend in what is being stolen?
What are the most commonly stolen items at your facility? Depending on what you facility sells, you may find trends it what is being stolen. If this is the case, place those items closer to the cash register or near an area of the facility that is visible to your employees and cameras. If admission tickets are being fraudulently re-used, consider a new point of sale system like, Gatemaster Point of Sale and Ticketing System, that has tight security and built in theft-reduction features.
Loss prevention techniques
- Greet customers.
- Have your employees walk around your facility.
- Ask customers if they need assistance.
- Have enough employees to service your customers.
- Look for customers who hang out in the same area or who are avoiding eye contact.
Read additional tips for preventing theft.
Relax
Of course you want to take every precaution, but remember not to treat every customer like a thief. The idea of having an employee as a greeter is a favorite because not only are you assisting your customers but you are also protecting your facility. Consider what you are already doing and make adjustments from there.
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