Best deterent...greet a customer as they enter the store. Indifference from employees fosters theft.
Several personal experiences...
A customer who had been coming in for several years browsing for art supplies and asking intelligent questions on their usage would always buy $ 10.00 - $ 20.00 worth of product. One day he was by the Winsor-Newton watercolor rack just after I had pulled all the tubes to the front of the rack. He had a handkerchief he kept wiping his face with and then stuck back in his pocket. When he came to the counter to pay for two tubes, my gut told me he was stealing. I casually walked over to the rack and noticed three tubes were missing as the first slot was empty. I wrote up the sale for five tubes of paint and he asked why I was charging for five when he only had two. I told him I had to charge him for the three in his pocket. He asked "don't you want my business?" I said, "Not if you're going to steal from me." He never denied having the tubes in his pocket, paid for five tubes of paint and never darkened our doorstep again. He had been stealing for years.
Two very different white guys came in seperately and each engaged a clerk and drew them to far corners of the store. A black guy came in with a basketball under his arm and proceeded to the gift section. The basketball had a slit in it and he proceeded to fill it with expensive Italian pewter plates and other items. We didn't realize we were robbed until we noticed the items missing and reviewed our security tape. The police said they were a gang in the area hitting a bunch of retailers. They were never caught. The only reason I pointed out their race was to illustrate how differing these three were. One was well dressed, one was in shorts and a t-shirt and one was in jeans and a polo type shirt. I would never have associated the three together if it wasn't for the tape and police information.
One more true, but sad sad story...
A mom and dad came into the store with their 5 year old son and eight year old daughter. While the parents engaged the sales clerks on the floor, the kids were stealing the most expensive sable brushes we had on display. I noticed them and called the police who came while they were still in the store. The family was arrested and taken away, but I never heard anything about it again.
Professional thieves usually steal by distraction. Most of us tend to trust people and most people are trustworthy. Thieves depend on our trust and good nature to rob us blind.
It's sad, but true.
Dave Makielski
PS I've uncovered more employee theft than customer theft, but that's not the subject of this thread...