Newsagents need to approach their roster with care since labour can account for between 30% and 50% of all gross profit earned in the business. Too often I see newsagents staff for comfort and out of fear of shopper theft and thereby cost the business more than if shopper theft had occured.
It’s a calculation you need to make on your situation. I’d say saving money off the roster will deliver a more beneficial outcome than paying more in labour and reducing theft – if your shop layout is good and if you have good theft management and mitigation processes in place.
This is on my mind today as I have been in a couple of newsagencies where the roster carried extra hours because of fear of theft. The roster cost several hundred dollars a week more than necessary in my view.
The other note I’d make is that the more employees the greater the risk of employee theft.
Well said. We have been going with less staff and it is working. In the past we have had managers whom performed poorly and did not perform compared to their pays. We are better off without staff that do not perform. Keep to the old saying, hire slow and fire fast!!
Too often retailers approach theft reduction from an emotional perspective. They feel wronged and subsequently go down the path of taking on customer theft, regardless of the cost, to sate their need to feel that justice is being done.
It’s a hard pill for many to swallow that customer theft is simply one of the negatives that come with retail. That’s not to say it shouldn’t be prevented or dealt with if it occurs – but the resources allocated to those functions need to provide a positive financial return (assuming that is why one is in business – to make money).
Sometimes it just makes financial sense to let people steal … as crazy at that sounds.
It’s not crazy Jarryd. Sometimes customer theft costs less than staffing to stop the theft.
Some wise words. Shrink needs to be viewed as a complete package, shrink plus cost of shrink prevention.
In short people are ineffective as they’re only on guard for short periods and they’re easily distracted. Technology can help if store discipline is in place and you mess with the psychology of a potential shoplifter.
The ongoing cost of technology as a full time deterrent versus labour is a very easy win for technology.