Retail Rules: I Know You’re Stealing

Shoplifters are one of my least favorite types of people. They’re sneaky and will go to extremes to make sure their five finger discount is successful. Worse, they usually think what they’re doing isn’t wrong. If someone would steal from a store, would they steal from you? Here are some of their popular schemes:

The Distraction Heist – this takes some team work. One shopper will ask me or another associate to help them find an item or “Can you show me where the restroom is?”. While we’re busy or our backs are turned, the other shopper starts stuffing a bag with merchandise. Very tricky, because sometimes the teams don’t enter the store together. At first glance, you’d think they were strangers.

Fitting Room Shenanigans – someones enters the fitting room with a handful of items. They leave, but only give a few back. The rest are being worn! This is a particularly ballsy way to steal – no one is going to believe you “forgot to take it off”. You also risk drawing attention to yourself at the exit thanks to the sensor tags. Which brings us to:

Don’t Leave Home Without Pliers – hard sensor tags aren’t coming off without the special removal tool at the checkout counter. Unless you remember to bring pliers with you to beat the shit out it. Yes, shoplifters actually do this.

The “Exploit Your Baby” Plan – Thief walks into the store pushing a baby stroller. As they pretend to browse merchandise, they’re actually throwing items into the storage area underneath. This is a favorite among the regulars.

Who knew shoplifting came in so many forms? The part that sucks is that company policy limits what we can do. I’d love to just walk up and say “You can put that shirt you stuffed in your bag back on the table.” This is unfortunate, but it can be more fun sometimes to just follow them around until they leave from annoyance. Retail can be boring some times, so you have to find creative ways to entertain yourself and prevent loss.