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Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

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Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#101

Post by vel0city »

consteval wrote: post #100
vel0city wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You've taken my points backwards, again, for some reason. Because your entire premise makes little sense to me. You're acting like these things save money somehow outside of shoplifting (which according to you just doesn't happen ). > They don't _experience_ competition so they feel _comfortable_ doing this. But _why_ would they do it? You say "reducing customer service to it's bare minimum", but this increases cus…

> which according to you just doesn't happen It doesn't, at least not on the scale to warrant these responses. Often these are implemented as sweeping policies, affecting stores with virtually no shop lifting. My suburban Walmart in Texas locks up everything. I can guarantee we have extraordinarily small crime. But when the stores in Dallas do it, we do it too. I also highly, highly doubt that shop lifting has gotten…

> But when the stores in Dallas do it, we do it too.

The Plano Walmarts I've shopped at don't. Neither do the Targets in Richardson/Plano. Nor the Walmart in Murphy. I think the Walmart off Forest @ 635 does though. Strange how they don't bother locking it up in the more affluent areas even though supposedly its got virtually nothing to do with shoplifting.

And please, once again, explain what benefit the store gets from locking up merchandise if it has nothing to do with shoplifting? What positive outcomes comes from it from the business' perspective?

> I also highly, highly doubt that shop lifting has gotten particularly worse in the past 20 years.

> 74.1% of retailers report increases in external theft over 5 years (2016 – 2021).

> From 2019 to 2020, the dollar value of retail theft losses increased 47.2%.

> The dollar amount loss per shoplifting incident increased 71.2% YoY.

https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/shoplifting-statisti...

But sure just base your world view off assumptions and conjecture instead of actual statistics.

> I think this was/is an overreaction.

Once again, please give me a single reason why a store would choose to do this. How does it benefit the store outside of reducing shoplifting?

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#102

Post by farnsworth »

vel0city wrote: post #54
farnsworth wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered why all the big chains are closing stores, blaming shoplifting, to the point where Belltown no longer has a single pharmacy. But I haven't seen any of the small independant shops/bodegas close, including a small grocery shop right next to the 3rd/bell bus stop. I can't imagine that nobody is shoplifting from those. I'm no expert but it's never added up to me.

I steal a bunch of candybars from a convenience store. What am I going to do, sell them for $1-2/ea just like the bodega? The high-margin goods like beer and wine require licenses to sell; I lose any benefit of plausible deniability in where I got these goods when I try and fence these on the street or online. Selling them without proper license is always a crime and practically impossible online. Meanwhile I steal a…

The shops I'm talking about have vitamins and OTC drugs

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#103

Post by consteval »

vel0city wrote: post #101
consteval wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> which according to you just doesn't happen It doesn't, at least not on the scale to warrant these responses. Often these are implemented as sweeping policies, affecting stores with virtually no shop lifting. My suburban Walmart in Texas locks up everything. I can guarantee we have extraordinarily small crime. But when the stores in Dallas do it, we do it too. I also highly, highly doubt that shop lifting has gotten…

> But when the stores in Dallas do it, we do it too. The Plano Walmarts I've shopped at don't. Neither do the Targets in Richardson/Plano. Nor the Walmart in Murphy. I think the Walmart off Forest @ 635 does though. Strange how they don't bother locking it up in the more affluent areas even though supposedly its got virtually nothing to do with shoplifting. And please, once again, explain what benefit the store gets…

> Neither do the Targets in Richardson/Plano

Ooo, I was just at the Target in Richardson Monday and yes, yes they do. Razor blades are 100% locked up, the electronics sections is more or less for show, and whitening strips are in prison.

> And please, once again, explain what benefit the store gets from locking up merchandise if it has nothing to do with shoplifting? What positive outcomes comes from it from the business' perspective?

Probably none. But I'm saying they may believe they're preventing shop lifting, but they're not.

They're not doing it thinking "oh this locking up is good outside of shoplifting". No, they think "this will prevent shoplifting" - and it does. But is it on a scale worth preventing? Depends on store to store and area to area.

> 74.1% of retailers report increases in external theft over 5 years

To be completely fair, a lot of this is 100% their own fault. At this point the customers are employees. They have to find everything themselves and they have to check-out and bag themselves. Naturally less employee intervention means more stealing.

I could've told you that 10 years ago, but these retailers are so short-sighted and greedy they don't care. My local walmart ONLY has self-check lanes. That's 1 employee per, like, 20 people checking out at the same time. Versus 1-1 before.

A 20 times reduction in oversight, of course shit gets stolen. After a certain point we have to come back down to Earth and acknowledge the human condition.

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#104

Post by red-iron-pine »

neilv wrote: post #64

> National chains including Target have put much of their inventory behind glass in recent years as a response to what they call organized retail crime The Target personnel around here are usually nice, but the stores have the most conspicuous Loss Prevention activity in recent years, especially (besides the locked shelves) with what comes off as LP soft interventions. As a result, despite being a non-shoplifter, I'v…

Target has taken a hard stance on shoplifting for a while, and have invested a lot of money into surveillance, facial recognition, etc. Most major retailers do to some degree but Target led the pack. At some point they had to realize that wasn't going to do much and just called in the Pinkertons to stare everyone down

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#105

Post by red-iron-pine »

vel0city wrote: post #57
joshruby16d wrote: post #30

I was in a CVS where they had all the Tylenol/Advil behind a locked glass display, and all the CVS headache relief on the shelf. I mentioned to an employee that this seemed unfair/illegal, and they responded that "people only steal the brand name Advil, so that's what we lock up". Seems unlikely to me. Anyone else see something like this at CVS?

People buy Tylenol off Amazon all the time. Who buys CVS brand acetaminophen on Amazon? You really think the market for CVS brand acetaminophen is as big as Tylenol?

buying chems off of Amazon I'd lead to a legit brand too. lord knows what you'd get if you didn't.

reputable first world grocery stores selling their brand are probably fine. on amazon it could be repackaged cornstarch

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#106

Post by giardini »

wccrawford wrote: post #50
AnotherGoodName wrote: post #18

It’s near impossible to buy those things. I live in a region of the world where condoms are locked up at the local mega chemist. Absolutely no embarrassment here on buying them of course. It’s just that pressing the button does nothing. None of the minimum wage staff give a fuck (can’t blame them). You’ll just be standing there waiting in an almost empty store. The sole clerk at the counter can’t really leave their p…

I think this gets to the real reason of why people say they won't buy from the locked cabinets. As someone whose job was to carry that key in an office supply store, I can say that it's awful . We have other things to do, and even if you're acknowledged, you have no idea when that clerk will get to you. (And the clerk doesn't know either.) Aside: I once had a customer snap their fingers at me while I was walking anot…

When a customer interrupts you while you are aiding another customer, merely acknowledge their presence and tell them "Yes, ma'am, I'll help you after I've helped this customer. Thank you!"

I say this b/c not acknowledging someone, even someone who is rude, is also rude.

Manners (etiquette) are the key to civility. Really! They work but few even have heard, much less spoken of, manners or etiquette.

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#107

Post by kortilla »

akira2501 wrote: post #58
kortilla wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re premise doesn’t make sense. When Walgreens left the local retailers should have had no problem picking up the business. But the issue is they can’t because they are also subject to shoplifting problems, shocker. The premise of “this business drove itself into the ground to force itself to eventually have to close” is risible. Why wouldn’t they just close the business and skip all of the loss in between of goin…

> When Walgreens left the local retailers should have had no problem picking up the business. They already closed. > But the issue is they can’t because they are also subject to shoplifting problems, shocker. No, they just don't exist, bad COVID policies and mismanagement of PPP helped with that the most. > The premise of “this business drove itself into the ground to force itself to eventually have to close” is risi…

Senseless babble. You’re not even expressing a basic premise of why a company would spend extra money to go out of business.

PPP is gone and has been gone. If a small business is viable where those businesses have closed, someone would open one. It’s that simple.

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#108

Post by fragmede »

vel0city wrote: post #61
akira2501 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When Walgreens left the local retailers should have had no problem picking up the business. They already closed. > But the issue is they can’t because they are also subject to shoplifting problems, shocker. No, they just don't exist, bad COVID policies and mismanagement of PPP helped with that the most. > The premise of “this business drove itself into the ground to force itself to eventually have to close” is risi…

> so many of you are so eager to shout down what I'm saying Because what you're saying makes little sense. Cabinets increase costs. Why would the retailer willingly increase their costs when they could just not have cabinets and enjoy a better margin and not risk losing customers to internet retailers?

Because their insurance, and anybody else that's going to insure a convenience store after what happened, requires them to do so

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#109

Post by vel0city »

red-iron-pine wrote: post #105
vel0city wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buy Tylenol off Amazon all the time. Who buys CVS brand acetaminophen on Amazon? You really think the market for CVS brand acetaminophen is as big as Tylenol?

buying chems off of Amazon I'd lead to a legit brand too. lord knows what you'd get if you didn't. reputable first world grocery stores selling their brand are probably fine. on amazon it could be repackaged cornstarch

CVS doesn't sell through Amazon though. If you're buying CVS-branded chems off Amazon, its definitely not the reputable first world grocery store selling it. Its a fly-by-night third party seller, probably selling stolen goods.

Re: Two in three shoppers won't buy products in locked display cases

#110

Post by vel0city »

consteval wrote: post #103
vel0city wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But when the stores in Dallas do it, we do it too. The Plano Walmarts I've shopped at don't. Neither do the Targets in Richardson/Plano. Nor the Walmart in Murphy. I think the Walmart off Forest @ 635 does though. Strange how they don't bother locking it up in the more affluent areas even though supposedly its got virtually nothing to do with shoplifting. And please, once again, explain what benefit the store gets…

> Neither do the Targets in Richardson/Plano Ooo, I was just at the Target in Richardson Monday and yes, yes they do. Razor blades are 100% locked up, the electronics sections is more or less for show, and whitening strips are in prison. > And please, once again, explain what benefit the store gets from locking up merchandise if it has nothing to do with shoplifting? What positive outcomes comes from it from the busi…

> Razor blades are 100% locked up, the electronics sections is more or less for show

Ok, but both of those things have been behind cases for a decade+. I remember needing to get an associate to get a Nintendo 64 game from the cabinet at Toys-R-Us. I'm talking about the recent push to put darn near everything in cabinets, not the highest risk things. Cabinets so pervasive you can't even buy socks or Tylenol or toothpaste without getting an associate. Walmart and Target stores where there are turnstiles to get in and out of the store. CVS/Walgreens locations where practically every isle is locked cabinets. I'm talking about the recent push to put far more stuff in cabinets. I don't think you've seen the kinds of stores these people here are actually talking about if you're thinking razorblades in cabinets are the epitome of what people here are complaining about.

> they may believe they're preventing shop lifting, but they're not.

> No, they think "this will prevent shoplifting" - and it does.

So they aren't preventing shoplifting with the cabinets, but the cabinets prevent shoplifting. The mental dissonance here is astounding.

> a lot of this is 100% their own fault.

Blaming the victim here. If they didn't want their stuff stolen they wouldn't have made it so easy to steal!

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