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Although Wal-Mart will not be prosecuting shoplifters at its stores who steal less than $25 worth of merchandise, the global retailer is still serious about preventing shoplifting in any form. In fact, Wal-Mart is probably the recipient of most of the world's shoplifting, just due to its global scale and the vast amount of huge stores with millions in open inventory in just about every town in the U.S.What is Wal-Mart and competitors like Target doing to curb more shoplifting, though? State-of-the-art surveillance and fraud prevention equipment are making many inroads to the larger discount chains. It's hard to pick up an item at Wal-Mart these days, especially in the pharmacy and electronics departments, without finding several RFID tags embedded into the packaging or even hidden inside the product itself. These radio tags cause sensors to activate and alarms to go off should a shoplifter walk out with a product that still contains an activated radio tag.
Then there's standard video surveillance and teams of loss prevention specialists who can peek into almost every nook and cranny in a big box to view shoppers who may be acting suspiciously. Zoom lenses are now commonplace, so even sticking a tube of Chapstick into a purse could be viewed in full color and with perfect clarity these days. With newer, artificially-intelligent monitoring systems that require no human interaction until suspicious activity is logged, and with RFID-equipped shopping cart locking wheels on some shopping carts these days, the professional shoplifter may be up against all kinds of new toys.
These toys are meant to reduce the $30 billion annual shoplifting tab that takes a toll on all stores, shrinking profits and causing loss among just a few things. With Wal-Mart being the world retail leader, I hope the company is taking the lead in all the new avenues available to them to thwart the billion-dollar shoplifting problem. You, as a WMT shareholder, should be demanding the same.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-05-2006 @ 4:57PM
Jon Osborne said...
Part of the problem is the judicial system. There are shoplifters who literally make their living by stealing. I've seen shoplifters utilize children as assistants. I've had shoplifters complain that I was cutting into their "rent money". With the ease of liquidating stolen goods via channels such as eBay, shop lifting has become more lucrative, and the thieves aren't afraid of the consequences.
As a society, we're too soft on criminals, and we pay the cost, and in more than high prices. Yes, it would cost more to punish criminals sufficiently to deter them from repeating their crimes, but if we don't then what is the cost when they graduate from shoplifting to armed robbery and kill someone?
9-06-2006 @ 2:30PM
Jim Schrmack said...
I think the entire problem is in the judicial.If we make the punishment fit the crime and make it severe enough then people would think before stealing.This applys to not only shoplifting but to drug dealers,users,etc.You don't see much drug drug business in Turkey because of the severe punishment.
9-06-2006 @ 12:23AM
walmartmanager said...
the problem with Wal-Mart is that there has to be effective solutions for specific stores, they have the same programs for every store and that does that not work, for big problems there has to be big solutions, eliminate the people greeters and have effective security asset protection personnel at the doors, have police sub stations inside stores where the crime is alive and the safety of customers and employees are poor. what is wrong with wal-mart wake-up to the real world.
9-06-2006 @ 9:57AM
Jake said...
I would tell you to check your facts. Many of these things you call RFID aren't RFID. These are RFA tags. These Radio Frequency Activation tags only activate due to a frequency break between a transmitter and receiver. An RFID tag actually contains item level information. These are smart tags and are currently not being used directly on merchandise due to cost issues. A RFA tag cost $.03 for large customers. A RFID tag cost $.75-5.00 depending on the sophistication of the tag.
And the locking wheel carts are there to protect the cart from being stolen, not the products in the cart.
Research!!!!
9-06-2006 @ 2:06PM
john target assets protection executive said...
I have been with Target for over 5 years and can tell you that the laws concerning shoplifting are getting stricker ,but i have can tell you that the real problem is within your own operation 50% of all theft is fro your own employees. And let me tell you they can hurt you more then a shoplifter....they work in teams and send in "salts " to learn your systems ...they are often your best employees , after all they dont want to make themselves noticed as a problem. The other part are your boosters that hit you for thousands at a pop.
9-25-2006 @ 6:27AM
Scott Newland said...
In all cases of shoplifting there should be consequence, if not prosecution then limited identification. By that I mean getting rid of anonimity. In New Zealand we have launched www.sharedfaces.co.nz . It works well as an advance warning system of "faces", a deterent to those caught and a system of instant communication between retailer without waiting for the courts. We should be in the US, anybody looking for a business?
7-09-2010 @ 11:26AM
rfid tag cost said...
RFID tags are becoming very popular now days especially for security reasons as you can see in this article. It's a pretty advanced technology. The military actually uses it when they ship their products. Very awesome!
http://www.dsclabel.com
11-04-2007 @ 10:33PM
Darlene said...
I must agree that retail stores must curtail shoplifters. The prices just keep rising. I also think that Wal-Mart should handle things in a different manner. My son-in-law was accused of shoplifting in the Southtown Wal-Mart in Fort Wayne IN on friday morning, 11/2/07. A store personnel stopped and told him that they needed to search his small backpack. They searched it, found nothing in it not belonging to wal-mart. He was stopped again when he got beeped going out. They once again searched his backpack, removed his coat and searched it, they patted him down, and after all that and still not finding anything, they yelled at him telling him that they knew he was a shoplifter and toi leave the store and never come back. ALL of this happened in front of customers coming and going from the store. Is there not another way to do this without humiliating the innocent.