Our Point of Sale software can help retailers protect against customer fraud.  Using our software, our retail customers are able to better protect against common fraud conducted at the counter by skilled criminals.

Here are just some of the ways our software is helping retailers reduce the cost of customer fraud.

1. Receipt checking.  By scanning a receipt, a past sale is immediately brought up for verification before a refund is considered.
2. Refund management.  Thanks to clever search tools, retail employees are able to verify when an item was sold – in case a receipt is not returned with the goods.
3. Checking change.  Users can setup the system to require that receipts always show change.
4. Security controls.  Sophisticated security facilities within our software deny employees the ability to process a refund unless they have been explicitly granted security clearance.
5. Eftpos integration.  Using the integrated Tyro broadband eftpos solution, a processing step is eliminated, meaning an opportunity for fraud is eliminated.

The most important way to protect against customer fraud is to have well defined and understood operational processes at the retail sales counter.  These processes can be better managed and driven thanks to facilities in our Point of Sale software.

Retail businesses hit by customer fraud tend to have a lazy approach to managing the sales counter, inviting financial harm to the business.

We were recently asked to write an article about how retailers can cut theft using good Point of Sale software because of the considerable work we have done in this area helping customers, the police and insurance companies.  We though the atricle may also interest readers of this blog…

Cutting employee theft and customer theft in your retail business starts with commitment from the business owners and managers to this goal.

Too often, retailers accept that a certain level of theft will occur and think that it is not as bad in their store as it is in others.

Here are three steps for cutting the cost of theft in any retail business.

Step one: understand the problem.

The first step to dealing with theft, by employees or customers, is to understand the value of theft.

You can understand the value of most customer theft by undertaking either a full business stock take or spot stock takes. The stock your Point of Sale system thinks should be on hand compared to what is on hand reflects the value of stock theft, usually by customers. Good POS software offers stock take facilities designed to track theft.

Understanding the value of employee theft is more difficult since it can involve cash not even put through the computer system.

Step two: get serious about business processes.

Theft occurs usually because of weak business processes. Strengthen a few of your business processes and you dramatically cut the cost of theft.

Sales. Have every sale tracked by an employee code. This brings discipline to the sales process.

Refunds. Only allow a manager to do these.

Deleting sales. Ensure that only the most senior people in the retail business have permission through the POS software to do this.

Discounting. Setup rules in your POS software on the volume of discounting which is permitted.

Cash balancing. Establish rules for end of shift cash balancing. Make all sales employees accountable to a zero tolerance target.

Use security reporting tools. Good POS software will take you behind the scenes in the business and report on concerning behaviour such as selling items below cost, cancelling sales, deleting sales or adjusting customer account balances. These are all indicators of employee fraud.

Step three: act on evidence.

Thanks to reporting from your Point of sale software you ought to gain a good understanding of the scope of theft in your retail business. Embrace this information for the benefit of the business and all who rely on it, make decisions.

If stock is being stolen off the shop floor, understand which stock is affected and either increase security or move the stock to a better location. The more likely someone stealing feels they could be caught the lower the chance they will actually steal from the business.

If employees are taking even small amounts of cash from the business, act immediately within the law to protect the business. This removes the problem from the business and it sends a message to others in the business that you will act on evidence of theft.

Use your Point of Sale software to its fullest to help cut the cost of theft in your business. Imagine how much better off the business would be with an additional three percentage points of net profit. That is your motivator - a healthier profit for the business and therefore a more sustainable business.

Cutting employee and customer theft can be achieved. Us your Point of Sale system to understand the problem and then help manage it.

We are often asked for advice on how to cut employee theft in retail – because of the theft management in our Point of Sale software and the work we have done with police and other investigators in several states on this issue.

To help retailers cut the cost of employee theft we created some guidelines which we have found useful. These are shared at various training forums and workshops in which we participate. We felt they would be useful to the broader audience here.

Employees can steal from retail businesses in a variety of ways. Often, such theft goes undetected because of poor or unmonitored business processes.
The best way to cut employee theft or fraud is to commit to a consistent approach to theft management:

• Ask prospective employees if they object to a police check. Those with something to hide will let you know they have found a job elsewhere.
• Implement zero tolerance for abuse of systems. For example, ensure that every item sold is scanned.
• Implement zero tolerance for an end of shift discrepancy of, say, $5.00 or more. Once employees know you will be fierce about this sales will be more accurate.
• Reduce manual eftpos transactions – connect your eftpos terminal to your point of sale.
• Change responsibilities – sometimes changing who handles money can uncover fraudulent behavior.
• Change your timing. Habits are what allow people to think they can get away with theft.
• Modify your counter policies:No refunds;  No credits without management approval;  No employee bags at the counter;  No jackets or cardigans with pockets;  No calculators with memories – I have seen these used to record how much cash in the register is theirs.
• Track every sale by employees – using a card with an employee barcode and making it harder for an employee to use the system as someone else.
• Track all cash movements from the sale through to your bank account. Many retailers do not do this and open themselves to blatant and regular theft.
• Employees do it because they know they can get away with it.

Employees do it because they know they can get away with it

Cutting employee theft can be achieved with vigilance. A small time investment in developing and following processes will find you with more money in your bank account.

Retailers get swamped this time of the year with people returning gifts and pre Christmas purchases. We help our retail partners cope with the challenge of checking returns thanks to some cool facilities in our software.

It is easy to find a sale based on the item – this can be useful if the customer does not have the receipt.

We can also provide a fence around refunds – enabling retail employees to say that they do not have the authority to process the refund.

Our software can create a credit to be held in the system for future use – rather than giving a cash refund.

Our retailers can also very quickly find the sale by scanning the receipt – this immediately takes them to the sale and from there they have a range of options.

While it is up to retailers to decide how they want to handle refund requests, our point of sale software stands ready to help through the process and to provide certainty for front line retail staff.

The photo shows the use of an iPhone to connect to our Tower Systems point of sale software running in a retail business to query a suspicious sale.  The warning about the sale was generated by our software by way of a secret text message, sent without the knowledge of the employees working in the retail business.  In a couple of quick clicks, the business owner can be in the software and checking the sale out - all from their iPhone.

Talk about management on the run.  This is a great tool for the mobile manager or owner.

It is tools like these for the iPhone which enable retailers using our POS software to leave their businesses knowing that they can easily connect when the need arises.

The ability to connect to the iPhone and similarly enabled devices is available to our customers for no additional cost.  We see it as a key tool for smart business management. It has many benefits beyond theft reduction.

As retailers using our software ourselves,  we know the value of mobile access back to the software running at the retail business.

Security of POS software is key to cutting employee theft.  Next week, we are running a free online training event for owners of businesses using our software which will outline the security options and guide how to make the system - and the data it holds - more secure.

This training event will be on October 15, 2009 14:00. To participate you will need access to a computer with broadband and a phone from which to make a toll free call.

Retailers wanting to protect against theft should consider this training event.

We know from various reports that employee theft is a high-cost problem in retail.  We help retailers using our Point of Sale softare to cut employee theft with facilities such as:

• Employee sales tracking.  Using employee codes and or staff cards, every sales is easily tracked back to an employee.  This makes them accountable.
• Cash out management.  The til draw cannot be opened without appropriate permission.
• Owner controlled password protection. Retail owners have the ability to set passwords to control access to any function and thereby restrict what employees can access.
• Maintenance of an audit log.  We keep evidence of any potential fraudulent behaviour such as deleting sales (if permitted).
• TXT warnings of bad behaviour.  Our software can automatically send text messages to owners if behaviour has been detected which may indicate theft.
• Cash management. We carefully manage cash transactionally during the day and at the end of the day.
• Video integration.  We integrate with DVR technology to overlay counter activity with sales processes.  This makes tracking what happens to cash easier.
• Tighter EFTPOS integration. Facilities like Tyro cut employee activity when processing sales and this provides fewer opportunities for fraud.

Cutting employee theft in retail starts with the business owners making good decisions around business management.  Once you decide to run a tight ship, the day to day decisions become easier and your core goal has been set.

We have seen businesses add 2% and even more to the net profit of their business as a result of a good theft management policy.

We are helping a retail business cut theft by installing two in-store screens showing live surveillance footage in more than one location.  We are feeding the vision to one of the screens wirelessly - this enables us to place the screen in a location which might otherwise not be accessible by cable.

We know from theft reduction specialists that the risk of identification and or capture will deter many criminals.  These screens show that you have vision of them.

The DVR unit which manages vision from all of the cameras overlays this data with sales data from our point of sale software.

The work we are doing for our customer is crucial because of a serious theft problem which is hurting the business.

Our Point of Sale software can help retail businesses like newsagents, gift shops, jewellers and bike retailers reduce shoplifting.  This is achieved by providing the business with accurate data about what is being stolen.  Knowing this makes it easier to make business decisions which can reduce theft.

We have seen this happen many times.  Retailers are often surprised to discover what is stolen compared to what they think is stolen.

Data wins out every time.  Data which proves the popular theft items.  Data which drives better business decisions.  Good business data cuts theft.

The key to accessing good data is the facilities availabel to track this.  This is where our POS software steps in.  We provide an insight into theft which drives better business decisions.

For businesses which want more hands-on help, we offer a service to guide the process of reducing theft.

Our POS software integrated security camera system has helped another of our customers address a theft problem.  While many systems claim to be integtrated with point of sale software, few are.

In this latest incident, we were able to help our customer catch someone scamming the business with bogus refund requests.  While the amount involved this time was relatively small, providing a consistent process for retail staff to follow can save a business thousands of dollars a year.

We are close to releasing an enhanced security bridge between our retail management software and the security camera system with which we link which will enhance further the Tower Systems security offer.

We are about to start live testing of a significantly enhanced security bridge.  This bridge between our software and smart image recording technology is exclusive in our software - it enables our retailers to search image footage by transaction type, content and staff member.  This reduces the time spend reviewing footage in search on any event of concern.

We first released our secruity bridge six years ago and it has undergone significant change since.  The latest changes take the marriage of security management facilities and point of sale facilities to a new level.  We are grateful to technology developers overseas who have provided deep access to their image capturing systemto enable our new bridge to be built.

Once the in-field tests are completed we will release the bridge for general use.

Following successful use in several locations and good data to support efficiency and other benefits, we are actively promoting the Tyro integrated broadband based eftpos link with our retail management software. We use this in our own retail businesses and therefore have first-hand knowledge of the benefits.

Tyro is a terrific help for retailers because eftpos processing is faster, more accurate and time saving at the back end (end of day and back office).  We have put together a cost comparison for ourusers who express interest.

The idea of “managing” theft makes me smile because who wants to manage such a negative part of retail? No one. Shop lifting and employee theft are among the most ignored business challenges based on my experience. Every week or two we work with another customer, helping them get evidence of illegal behaviour in their business. Our sense, based on recent work, is that theft in retail is on the rise. Either that or retailers are being more vigilant an therefore catching what they were previously ignoring.

We have some excellent free theft reduction tips available for any retailer at our website. Since we make money from theft management through our smart point of sale / camera system software interface, we felt compelled to publish the tips we know can help cut theft. This is part of our commitment to small business, to help where we can. The thanks for people who have embraced our advice from Australia and beyond is reward enough.

The PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) camera is a popular component of our point of sale integrated camera security system. It can be accessed and manipulated from anywhere in the world by anyone with an appropriate security clearance for access through the internet to the business. From a remote location you can see into the shop, pan to 360 degrees and zoom to ten times. This is fantastic flexibility. Customers who install the PTZ camera enjoy the flexibility they have in watching the business at key times when they are unable to be in-store live.

Our software allows you to get straight to video of specific transactions based on date and time, items sold, staff member or other criteria. This flexibility can save hours of time you might otherwise spend looking at video footage. We are enhancing our video links to further improve these facilities - these latest changes are on the back of advice from our users.

We were the first to introduce point of sale / security linked facilities years ago and to offer data driven video search capabilities.

We are excited by the new print advertisement prepared by our marketing team for several trade journals and direct mail to promote our point of sale / security camera integrated theft management solution.

We have had this integrated solution for years and have excellent success stories providing evidence of where this works well. The latest version leverages advances in camera and vision management technology.

A challenge how to pitch theft management since many small business owners do not believe theft is a problem in their business - regardless of Australian and overseas studies which provide evidence of otherwise.

The latest ads will start appearing in the next week. Our message is simple - retailers can cut the cost of theft. All it takes is the right tools backed by appropriate management support.

As far as I know, we are the only one to offer a fully integrated computer and security camera surveillance in retail anywhere.

This is Bernard Zimmermann writing at his POS Solutions blog tonight. Bernard knows that what he has written is not true. I know he knows we delivered Australia’s first point of sale security camera integration more than four years ago. He and I discussed this some time back. Bernard has read my posts here about it. He has seen it demonstrated at newsagency trade shows on each of the last three years. So, yes, Bernard knew he was lying when he published his post today.

Bernard has published his post today about an integrated security solution to try and win a sale. POS Solutions has been asked about this by a newsagent who likes what we do. o Bernard has done what POS Solutions has done for years, he has played the game of smoke and mirrors - being loose with the truth to trick trusting folk into believing that what his company offers is cutting edge.

If it were cutting edge it would be POS Solutions engaged in the five exclusive newsagent industry supplier trials and not Tower Systems is the case. If POS Solutions was the innovator he would not still be struggling to get his DOS software compliant when the leaders in this channel switched to Windows technology eight years ago. If his company was the leader he tries to paint his company as being in his blog posts, POS Solutions would not have received the damning result in the ANF newsagent computer system poll conducted late last year.

I could go on. POS Solutions does not innovate. It copies which, in itself would not be bad if the copies were good. They are not. POS Solutions offers newsagents poor software backed by poor support. That’s what I think and it’s what the many newsagents think who switch to Tower Systems.

Trawl back through Bernard’s blog posts and then check back here and you will soon see on the public record how blatant Bernard is at his copying.

Sometimes it makes me laugh, other times it makes me angry.

Bernard and the POS Solutions use this blog and my Newsagency Blog as their business guide book. I should charge them a royalty on our ideas.

I shouldn’t worry, we have three times more newsagents using our software than they do. We’re growing faster and we have more exclusive supplier projects on the go. But I do worry because even one newsagent going with software which is but a shadow of ours is a newsagent letting their business down.

It is difficult to engage retailers in a discussion about theft. Most prefer to think it is not happening in their business. Our theft management marketing is multi layered and ranges from a public service announcement approach to a focus on strength. here is the cover of our latest postcard:

The security bridge, the link between our software and the CCTV technology is exclusive to our software. It is the smart way to bring vision and data together in a form which reduces the time managers and owners spend on managing theft in a retail business.

In addition to the theft management enhancements I blogged about earlier this week, we are close to finalising an enhanced link with the security camera (CCTV) software our point of Sale software exclusively links with.

This interface dramatically cuts the time it takes to uncover customer and employee fraud since you can navigate the footage by event, in-store and remotely if you’re not running the business locally.

We were the first software company in each of our markets to provide such a smart and direct CCTV link. The power for the retailer is obvious from the first incident checked. From tracking change given to when an item was last bought to who handled the end of shift balancing, this link makes it easy for the retailer to see who did what and when.

Key to the link is that it can be accessed from anywhere.

we are proud to bring bring business theft management tools to small business retailers. Much of what we have developed here has grown out of our own experience operating six retail businesses.

Thanks to feedback from several of our customers who have experience theft in their businesses we are strengthening our retail theft management tools.

From managing a robbery through to managing employee fraud we are enhancing our retail software offering.

Each case of theft is different and it is through talking with people who have experienced this that we are able to find ways to improve how we help our customers manage this if it happens to them.

I am not about to blog details here of the changes since some are so advanced that we want to enjoy the benefits of being first to market.  Also, one change involves interaction outside the retail business and a joint announcement will be more appropriate.

Our current theft tools are robust and proven – we have some convictions in the bag – the next generation of enhancements will take is to a new place and better equip our retailers to hand le situations in ways designed to minimize their losses and to bring the perpetrators to account.

I received a call from a retailer today with a dreadful story about employee theft in their business. I’d never spoken with them before and their business is outside our traditional area of interest so I was curious as to how they came to know about Tower Systems and our work on theft eduction. It turns out they read a story online published by Smart Company in which I am quoted.
I recall the interview early last year, it was a robust discussion about the impact of theft on retail businesses.

The issues discussed in the Smart Company article remain relevant today, small business retailers are being ripped off primarily because of poor management control. I learnt my lessons the hard, expensive, way. At least we have been able to reflect the learnings in good theft management facilities in our software.

In checking other content online about theft I came across Retail IQ News & Views where our theft reduction tips are quoted.  I’m happy for the issue of theft in retail to get as much coverage as possible.  It’s a problem which kills many small businesses.

We have taken the opportunity to remind our users, all of whom are retailers, to take care this Christmas. We share this advice here as well for others to consider:

• Bank more regularly.
• Remove cash from the registers more often.
• Take more care to manage customer fraud.
• Ensure staff have time to recharge.
• Step out of the shop and look at it with customer eyes.
• Use the shop to upsell at high traffic areas and keep then up sell offers fresh.

Remember, retail is detail. we know from our own experience with six retail businesses now that the best place to manage a retail business is on the shop floor.

A picture tells a thousand words as they say. It is true in court where you are trying to prove a case of employee theft. Take a look at the image below. Even though we have staged this, it shows the video footage and data from our point of sale software proving what was happening at the time - a canceled sale. This is hard evidence, proof of a crime and it is available directly from within our point of sale software using our exclusive theft bridge technology.

Users of our technology can go into their system, call up a list of canceled sales (ot other suspicious activity) and in an instant have the data and vision marriage on the screen. It’s brilliant. More than that, in most businesses it pays for itself in no time since customer and other disputes are settled quickly and accurately.

Our link was a first and now we are enhancing it, new features will keep us in our own league in the mission to cut the cost of theft in small business.

Yesterday was one of those days when a key issue dominated. The issue was employee theft. Not here, but in businesses in which our software is used and elsewhere among small businesses. It started with a call from a customer concerned that something may not be right.

As is the case with these things, I’d tend to receive the call - an owner to owner call appears less stressful than them discussing what they see as failure with someone on our Help Desk. In a few minutes he had enough evidence from his system to make contact with the police.

Next was a call from a police officer we are helping prepare a case on behalf of a client. There were questions about keystroke patters and how these are reliable indicators of theft or fraud.

In the afternoon I was interviewed for an article about theft in small business and as is often the case with such interviews, one comes away better informed thanks to good questions.

Early in the evening was a call from an employee asking the wrong question of the wrong person - I’ve let the owner know that they need to take control back over their data by protecting high level passwords more.

Theft management tools, while not our core product, are important to what we do. They help our customers reduce the cost of theft in their business. Beyond the tools, however, is the service we provide - encouragement and guidance on addressing the issue. We have learnt from our own experience in retail that theft is part of the turf. How you manage it can make or break you.

Independent retailers are an easy target for people who want/need cash. The more relaxed business processes surrounding cash the better. We get called in when it is too late and a considerable amount of cash has been stolen. Our job is to get the evidence for the police or insurance company as to the quantum. While that’s all well and good, the reality is we would prefer to help with prevention - thus saving businesses tens of thousands of dollars a year. Even without spending money independent small retailers can cut the cost of theft. If they do just these five things they will significantly reduce the chances of employee theft:

1. Background check every new hire.

2. Balance every day - chase down reasons for not balancing.

3. Track every sale back to an employee – any good system will let you do this.

4. Respect employees and pay above base wage.

5. No bags, memory calculators, notepads at the counter.

6. Spend time at the counter and pick up on poor behavior.

7. Track cash and every point between the customer and your bank account.

These will seem like basic advice to most but I have to say that in every instance when we get called in at least several of the items on the list have been ignored.

Cutting employee theft is easy – all it takes is good business management.

Our integrated point of sale and security system played a key role in catching the newspaper insert bandit in our retail store. Armed with the evidence our team pounced today and caught this lady red-handed. Integrating point of sale deeply with a smart camera system is helping our retail store and many others cut the cost of theft and add real dollars top our bottom line.