Take Charge of Loss Prevention using a Customizable POS System

There are several ways you can maximize your return on investment on a POS system by simply following loss prevention techniques and strategies.

Reducing inventory shrinkage can dramatically increase a store's profit. A customizable inventory management and reporting system can identify high risk transactions, missing inventory and training problems which can be associated with inventory shrinkage.

For example high risk transactions can differ depending on the type of operation. A $200 transaction could be labeled high risk at a discount store but be common practice at a furniture store. Other high risk transactions could include over-rides and large discounts and exceptions. With this information on hand managers can identify problem situations. Customizable reports can list all transactions from select cashiers to identify problems with training.

An easy way to prevent theft is to print barcoded receipts. Printing barcodes on receipts is an extremely effective way of boosting loss prevention on returns. Barcodes are extremely difficult to forge. If you print barcodes on receipts, each receipt will bear a unique identifier which links it to a specific transaction.

When customers return an item and present the barcoded receipts, sales clerks simply scan the receipt barcode to bring up the transaction. All details of the transaction are brought up on the point of sale system. Staff can use this information to ensure that the correct amount is refunded; the method of payment is pre-selected. Barcoded receipts also prevent duplicate returns because once an item is returned it is removed from the list of returnable items.

To learn more about loss prevention check out the Retail Loss Prevention Conference on September 18 in Toronto hosted by The Retail Council of Canada.