Reduce Theft In Retail…Lets Chat With Sebastian Brown RCPA

Theft is a big issue in retail today. Wanting to know more about how retailers can reduce theft in a cost effective way without security systems costing exorbitant amounts of money, I chatted with Sebastian Brown from RCPA.

 Sebastian, could you please share the background story of RCPA?

 I started in Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) with one of the larger companies, and I’ve been in the retail security industry for almost seven years. In that time I built a big client-base and developed relationships with clients such as Chemist Warehouse and Cotton on Clothing. When it was time for me to go out on my own, I had built such a strong relationship with many of my clients over the years that they were happy to support me in my new venture.

 I’ve been in business for two years now, and it’s been growing rapidly. I am always looking for products that will reduce shrinkage and running costs, allowing us to offer a total package. For example, now we also offer LED lights.

 How can you help retailers stay profitable through loss prevention?

As things are getting a lot tougher in retail, we want an increase in our sales because retailers start looking at other ways to save money. On average about 7 – 12 % of the gross turnover in Australia is lost in theft, which is big. For a million dollar turnaround business, you’re looking at $120,000.

 Sixty percent of theft in retail is external and 40% is internal. For about 60% of EAS systems, you can reduce theft for about 70-80% of retail by the deterrent factor. With house burglaries, thieves go to the homes with no alarms. With retail it’s the same—thieves go into places without security gates.

 Cameras are more for your internal theft. They keep an eye on your staff. The camera can be accessed with your smartphones wherever you are in the world. You no longer need to be in the store or the country to know what’s going on in your business.

 We find that up to 40% is internal theft, such as someone’s friend coming in and getting three shirts for the price of one. It also can help with OH&S issues. CCTV and EAS work really well together because if someone does steal your stock, you will have the footage.

 Security systems traditionally have been expensive. Since going out on my own, I have been able to design my own systems and have them manufactured overseas. This keeps the costs down and makes them affordable. Retailers can start with an Electronic Article Surveillance, renting for as little as $19 a week.

 We want the best outcome for all our clients so we work closely with clients to get the package that suits them and their budget.

Can you please share with us one trade secret every retailer must know to help decrease theft in retail stores?

If you do nothing, you are going to get pillaged. Have confidence in your staff and train them to deal with theft situations. Having the EAS or CCTV system will help deter people from actually attempting to steal.

 What is the minimum security equipment every retailer must have?

It depends on the type of store. For clothing and giftware I’d say any EAS system can work because just by having it at the door visually, theft can be reduced by 60%. Security gates also help deter thieves, so you can take products out of cabinets where your customers can look at them, freely touch them, and try them on. Customers are more likely to buy this way.

Sebastian, can you please take us through the steps from consultation to installation if a company wants to employ you?

 Our salespeople go out and do a free measure (Australia-wide).  We’ll give the client an estimate of what it costs to do the EAS, CCTV, Alarm, or whatever goes together as one package. We can even give a rental price. We give lots of options. We can usually install in 5 – 10 days. With every installation, we give a full training session. We train the client about loss prevention as well. It’s not just about systems; it’s how to manage and use it to your advantage. If anything goes wrong, we have service agents throughout much of Australia with a 24-hour turnaround time for the service assistant. Once your system’s installed, it generally runs on its own pretty well.  We don’t charge extraordinary amounts for the equipment considering there are no moving parts. We also give a replacement warranty option to the client. After that, we can service, maintain or upgrade their warranty.

Visit http://www.rcpa.net.au for book an appointment and for more information.