Like every other retail position, there are more duties for Loss Prevention/Asset Protection (LP/AP) than there are people to get the tasks done. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering labor is consistently the greatest expense for retailers. Getting capital approval to hire more staff is extremely difficult to do for LP/AP executives. The work still needs to get done, so what are the options?
Reallocating Labor
Over the last decade some solutions providers have come to the realization that they need to have their own infrastructure in place to better serve LP/AP teams. This is a very important change that allows only solutions providers with the right infrastructure to step in and support these retail LP/AP teams.
Gone are the days when LP/AP teams had a “fixer” on staff, traveling from store to store doing everything from CCTV and alarm system repairs to adding more cameras and changing safe combinations. LP/AP executives learned that outsourcing those types of projects allowed them to reallocate that “fixer labor” to more productive assignments, such as ORC investigators or analysts.
Partnering Up
Due to tight project deadlines and limited budgets, there is little margin for error on the part of the LP/AP executives. For those LP/AP departments being forced to streamline their deliverables to their respective retail organizations, finding the right solutions providers with whom to partner can be a daunting task.
This is where a solutions provider’s reputation comes in to play. The LP/AP industry is made up of a tight-knit group. Even though LP/AP executives may not all know each other, that certainly doesn’t preclude them from contacting other LP/AP executives to obtain references on solutions providers and their products. The best solutions providers are well aware of this, which is why they put reputation before profits.
Extending Your Staff…For Free
The fact is, when an LP/AP executive finds the right solution provider, retailers will realize many of the same benefits they would have obtained had they actually added another employee. Some solution providers are so embedded in their retail clients’ daily LP/AP program that they are given a desk at the retailer’s corporate office to work from. This is especially common with larger retailers.
It is extremely important that before beginning a long-term service-related relationship with a solutions provider, the solutions provider should be vetted. As mentioned above, the most accurate vetting occurs when LP/AP executives reach out to one another and communicate their experiences. Reputation is key and only a solid reputation of fanatical customer service should be acceptable to the retailer. At Gatekeeper Systems, we have found that to truly be an extension of an LP/AP team, we must take on that teams’ objectives as if they are our own.
Just like any other LP/AP team member, a solid solutions provider partner will always answer the phone when it rings, regardless of the day or hour. LP/AP executives should expect nothing less.
About Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper Systems’ expanded product suite of intelligent cart solutions offers solutions for EVERY retailer’s needs to minimize merchandise loss and reduce asset and labor expenditures.
Gatekeeper’s loss prevention, retail analytics, and cart containment solutions utilize patented locking wheel technology to put an end to cart-based shoplifting, shopping cart loss, and uninformed decision-making. Cart management solutions increase safety and reduce labor costs by maximizing productivity while simultaneously resulting in a positive store image.
Intelligent pushout theft prevention solutions stop thieves and their cart full of unpaid merchandise from leaving the store. Customizable wheel technology allows retailers to defend their entire store or just a high loss department based on the store’s unique layout.
NEW Retail Analytics solutions provide increased visibility for informed decision making. Increase efficiency, optimize fleet size, and perfect the entire customer shopping experience with store and enterprise-level analytics.
Find out why 19 of the top 20 retailers that use shopping carts rely on Gatekeeper solutions.
To learn more or to schedule a free consultation, click here.
