New NRHA Communication – January 2014

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Four Ways to Prevent Shoplifting:

• Have good customer service. This is the single most effective way to prevent shoplifting from happening in your store. Shoplifters want to be left alone, but showing you are constantly present will discourage them.
• Train your employees on how to spot shoplifters. Send them through NRHA’s Loss Prevention course in External Theft. This will alert them to the various ways shoplifters try to conceal products and will tell them what they should do to prevent theft before it happens.
• Refine your store layout. As much as it is within your power, arrange store fixtures to prevent blind spots that are difficult for you to see as you walk down main aisles. Use bright lighting to maximize visibility. Place theft-prone merchandise, like power tools and accessories, near the front of the store.
• Use deterrents. Have visible deterrents around the store that let customers know you take a proactive approach to shoplifting. Signs warning against shoplifting, cameras, mirrors and locked cases for theft-prone merchandise are all ways to send the message that you are watching.

A Plan for Philanthropy
Credit card readers are down; a cashier is late; and what’s that little Post-it note on your door say? Just that your lead sales associate quit without notice. As retailers, everyone has had these days—when you just want to pack up and go home, yet you don’t even have time for lunch, let alone one more thing on your calendar.

But it is an important decision to decide to make time for helping your community. It creates more purpose to cut through the day-to-day chaos that comes with your line of business. The important thing to remember is that the people in your community support your business, but what are you doing to support them? Even though a lot of the time it doesn’t seem like you have it in you to give any more of yourself, making time will provide a payback that is beyond measure.

The reward will be when you know that you have helped the community that supports your business. It’s a great way to show your customers that you are committed not only to servicing them but to being an active participant in your community.

WRLA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NRHA
The goal of the North American Retail Hardware Association is to help independent hardware and home improvement retailers become better and more profitable merchants through a wide array of educational and training programs, financial management resources, and human resource tools that are all available online. WRLA members get unlimited access to a full range of training and management services when they join NRHA through the WRLA. 

Visit www.wrla.org or CLICK HERE for more information about NRHA.