According to research published in Forbes Magazine, shrinkage costs American retailers $60 billion annually. Surprisingly, the U.S. Retail Fraud Survey noted that employee theft is the single biggest cause of shrinkage for retailers. Liquor stores can be especially tempting, because they carry high-value inventory and if they sell Lotto, there’s plenty of cash on hand. Fortunately, your point of sale (POS) system has features that can curb these losses. You can decrease employee theft with liquor store POS by following these tips.
1. Employee permissions: The Statistic Brain Research Institute reported that a typical business loses about 7 percent of its annual revenue to employee theft To decrease employee theft with liquor store POS, first limit access to the functions an employee can perform in the POS system to only those necessary for their jobs. Require manager approval for discounts and voids, for
2. Inventory Tracking: Liquor stores stock thousands of bottles and cans, in a variety of sizes and brands. Your store’s inventory is extremely valuable–and tempting. You can decrease employee theft with liquor store POS using real-time inventory counts that will tell you exactly what’s in stock and help keep your employees honest.
3. Audit log: NCC’s Reflection POS® gives you the tools to decrease employee theft with liquor store POS. Its audit logs help you identify if someone is voiding too many transactions, giving discounts and changing prices often. This is a red flag that the employee is stealing from you. Check the audit log from each shift to see how many discounts each employee has given and how many voids were processed. In addition, if there are a lot of coupon redemptions for a single shift, check the drawer to make sure the coupons are being collected and workers aren’t pocketing the discounts for themselves.
4. Video surveillance integration: If you suspect that your employees are stealing, video surveillance integration will record all activity at the POS system. Reflection POS allows liquor store owners to overlay video surveillance with text from customer checks, so you can see exactly what happened in each transaction. The keyword text search function allows owners and managers to quickly audit all the transactions for a shift or search for a specific transaction. Even if a problem hasn’t developed, a surveillance system is a good deterrent.
No one wants to believe the employees they know and trust could be stealing cash or inventory, but it’s a reality. Liquor store owners who want to protect themselves from internal shrinkage should look at ways to tighten up security around the POS system. New features like biometrics, video feed, inventory tracking and more can help reduce the opportunity for theft. A robust system like NCC’s Reflection POS® can help you decrease employee theft with liquor store POS, protecting your business from internal risks.
