Anti-Theft Strategies for Retailers and Businesses
For retailers who utilize in-store display setups to showcase their product lines, security should be a top priority. However, you’d be surprised at the sheer number of stores that fail to employ even the most basic of security strategies.
Theft is a serious concern for retailers in all industries, but especially for those that operate in electronics. Just one stolen item can have a massive impact on your business’s revenue.
Laptops, tablets, and smartphones are some of the most pricy products that stores carry, and that’s why they’re so heavily targeted by thieves and shoplifters. Theft doesn’t just occur at the retail level either, but it also occurs across countless businesses, organizations, and agencies throughout the entire US (on a daily basis).
If you’re looking for actionable tips that can help secure your devices from theft, the sections below cover some of the best ways to increase your product lineup’s security (or your organization’s property).
Sobering Realities of Retail and Employee Theft
Shoplifting has been around since people started selling products in stores, and it will probably never completely go away. The cost of shoplifting directly affects the bottom line of businesses (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year).
Apart from shoplifting, another aspect to consider when it comes to securing your organization’s electronic device inventory is theft by employees. This is something that a lot of businesses fail to recognize, plan for, or even stop once they know it’s happening. Employee theft is a major concern not only for electronics retailers, but for any business that has a large inventory of laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
This brings us to the next part of the equation: solutions. How can organizations and retailers stop theft from occurring? Is it even possible? What are some basic security strategies that should be employed? Are there any specific methods that should be used from a risk management standpoint?
These are all basic questions that any retailer, business, or organization should be asking. If you don’t know the answers, or don’t even know where to start, keep on reading. Below we cover some of the best ways to mitigate the risk of device theft.
Physically Securing Your Devices With Lock Systems
If your retail store, or business, uses display stands for certain types of products/devices (i.e. tablets), one of the best ways to enhance your security is by using a lock system. There are many different types of locks/lock systems on the market. The way most of these systems work is by securing a cable to the actual device, and then tethering that cable to an anchor point (in the same way that a bike lock works).
The tablet display stand by Maclocks is an excellent example of such a system. If your organization/store is looking to effectively stop thieves in their tracks, you should really be using a system like this. Otherwise, what’s stopping a thief from simply walking out the store with your device?
Magnetic alarm strips (and similar methods) should, of course, be used as well, but the primary line of defense against theft should be a solid locking system. The best security strategy is one that uses a variety of methods. Having a more comprehensive approach to physical security is the best way to protect your business’s products/devices.
Other Methods to Strategically Reduce Theft
Physical security is without a doubt the most important aspect of any business’s risk mitigation plan (when it comes to theft). However, one of the more overlooked aspects of security is proper inventory management.
If you operate a large-scale retail business (or an enterprise-level organization), you know first-hand exactly how complicated (and sometimes convoluted) inventory management can be. Not being able to track every single piece of your inventory (in real-time) poses a giant risk to your business’s security operations.
Besides physically securing your devices with a lock system, one of the best ways to stop theft is by keeping excellent track of your inventory. If you don’t know exactly how many items you have in stock, how will you know whether or not one has been stolen? This is retail 101, but you’d be surprised by how many businesses fail to properly track their inventory.
Inventory management isn’t just limited to retailers, either. Businesses and other organizations that have large amounts of company-owned devices need to have a detailed inventory management system/plan in place. Device security comes down to locking your devices, tracking their usage, and following proper inventory management practices.