The modern day retail landscape bears little or no relation to the shopping experiences of even a decade ago.
A great many chain stores and independents alike have now moved towards stocking higher valuable, desirable consumer products. Unless all of that stock is kept under lock and key – hardly a viable option – the chances are that someone will try to steal it. More and more companies are resorting to Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS, or tagging) of goods, but security staff will always be required to monitor activities in and around any store.
Not only is the sheer scale of modern retailing immense – we’ve all been privy to the ubiquitous out-of-town, American-style malls, of course – but along with greater footfall and heightened pressure to market goods comes the inevitable side-effect of stock shrinkage. Not to mention the (socially-related) problem of assaults on staff.
Today, UK retailers are experiencing severe losses. No less than GB pound 1.4 billion in 2000, in fact, as reported in the latest British Retail Consortium ‘Retail Crime Survey’ (‘Stock take’, SMT, October 2001, pp28-30). These losses are attributable to staff (either directly employed by the retailer or those who are on the premises in a temporary capacity), contractors, vendors (those delivering or re-stocking merchandise) or the customer.
For retailers, enhancing their customers’ shopping experience while at the same time providing a safe and comfortable environment is paramount. All of which means the retail guarding function has had to change.
Gone are the days when the security officer sat at the back door acting as little more than a glorified switchboard operator.
Simply prowling for shoplifters is not the role of the modern security officer. What the end user needs is interactive and multi-skilled guards. Individuals capable of interfacing with the general public like never before.
Guarding in a commercial world
Working closely with the client, an officer’s primary characteristic must be the ability to synchronise with – and deliver – the retailer’s requirements for customer service. Ultimately, this calls for understanding, tact and diplomacy on the part of each and every guard, alongside best security practice.
Sometimes, of course, the role will be subject to confrontation, in which case the officer(s) will have to make a judgement call. On any High Street, incidences might include someone having a heart attack on the premises, children disappearing and – all-too-prevalent of late – bomb warnings. All will call for excellent people skills and a collected persona. Close teamwork will be needed, in particular when someone is trying to use stolen credit cards to obtain goods by deception.
In essence, officers are there to deter (rather than react to) any criminal activity.
End users must demand guards who are of a smart appearance, maintain an excellent time-keeping regimen and boast fluent customer services skills. Guards who exhude a positive attitude, an ability to follow instructions to the letter and a devotion to delivering the security function in what is a highly visible environment.
As an end user, you need to ask yourself some fundamental questions before outsourcing your security. What do you want to achieve (eg a reduction in stock loss of 10% over the next 12 months). Where do you want to achieve that reduction? What service level provision is on offer from each contractor?
The contractor should be able to deliver its service to a given standard rather than a given price. A good one will sit down with you and look at the issue of quality security provision in tandem with the allocation of security budgets.
The need for supply chain analysis In the years ahead, the time people will be prepared to spend in shops will change. There will be more impulse buying. Purchasing will also shift to the telephone and the Internet as free time becomes a scarce commodity. More ‘shoppers’ will shop for a purpose. To steal or obtain goods by deception.
E-commerce will continue to shake shopping to its foundations. As you probably know, the criminal fraternity has wasted little time in following retailers into cyberspace. The newspapers carry stories about their ‘exploits’ on a daily basis. In tandem with the fraudulent use of electronic purchasing methods, criminals are now exploiting opportunities to order goods and then intercept them prior to delivery. Sadly, the chances of us catching these thieves are remote to say the least.
The industry must do something, though. Far more rigorous supply chain analysis must surely enter the equation in a bigger way – with specific areas of a retail business requiring an in-depth manned security regimen. Either in the front line within stores, at distribution centres or indeed at any place that falls between the two (from when goods are ordered to the point of sale).
Payback on the investment
Retailers are no different from other companies in the business world. They want to keep their spending within a budget, and there has to be a tangible payback on any investment made. In many cases, the cost of an in-house security team – although possibly essential and necessary – can become a huge burden during holidays and/or sickness periods.
Taking such direct costs out of the headcount and moving them to contract security may be financially beneficial. In addition, the private security company’s wider view of events may help to do away with the closed door psychology prevalent in many areas of the retail sector.
All security providers must strive for an environment in which clients no longer simply assign a portion of their budgets to the vague and somewhat generic category of ‘security’, cross their fingers and hope that – somewhere along the line – stock loss and anti-social behaviour will be mitigated. That’s not how the real world operates.
