Normal Shopping Behavior

Every person  shops  differently based on a number of factors. These factors include things like age, sex and number of people present. For instance: A male by himself will most likely shop differently by himself than if one or more people are with him. Likewise, a female shopper will behave differently based on the same factors.  Juveniles without adult supervision follow similar shopping patterns overall, but throw an adult into the mix and things change. It is important to understand this because these factors change the dynamic of the situation. The understanding of these factors can allow the LP agent to almost “anticipate” the actions of the shoplifter. Daily practice and experience will help the agent get stronger at this skill.

There are some truisms about shoppers that exist regardless of the above mentioned factors.

It is a fact that most people in society are right handed. The way that this translates into shopping is that because the majority of people are right-handed, most normal shoppers that you observe will generally use their right hands to manipulate merchandise and their left hands to carry things.

Example: You’re watching the sales floor and you observe a subject enter the area. They will approach a display that interests them and stop. They will then use their right hand to sort through the various sizes until they reach their own. They would then pick up the item and look at it for a while. At this point they will either replace the item or, place the item in their left hand and continue. This pattern is followed for the duration of their time in the location.

Of course different factors affect this pattern but are just as evident.

Women will generally be carrying a purse and if they follow this pattern, most of them will be carrying it on their left side to allow use of the right hand.

Stacked and folded merchandise will alter this pattern

These types of merchandise displays do not usually allow for one-handed manipulation. The subject must use two hands to maneuver through the product and they end up breaking the pattern. This is the first and single most important thing to focus on in order to become good at identifying theft. Within a matter of minutes, the good LP agent can identify a customer’s shopping pattern. Once this pattern is established, any deviation from that person’s pattern and/or the pattern of people in general, is what’s called the “alert signal”. And the alert signals are the bread and butter of the LP professional. When they become experts at this, it is very easy for them to consistently resolve shoplifting cases.

These patterns extend to every aspect of the person’s shopping behavior

Some people will fall into the norm as described above. But as said earlier, there is an unlimited amount of variations. The person being watched may begin selecting items in the “normal” fashion and proceed to remove hangers from the hanging items. While this in itself is not an indication of theft, if it’s a deviation from that person’s pattern, it could be. To know the difference, here’s an example:

You’re watching someone; they enter into an area and begin to select hanging items. As they move through the location, they leave all the hangers on the items and do not attempt to remove and discard them. This is normal to someone who is interested in the merchandise itself. Nothing unusual here.

Here is another example:

A person comes into an area and selects items. After each selection, they remove the item from its hanger, hold up the item and replace it back onto the hanger. While this seems to be more work for them, this is simply that person’s shopping pattern.

Now what does this mean for shoplifting?

The hands are by far the most important thing to watch when observing and detecting shoplifters. In order for anyone to steal they have to use their hands to do it. There’s no way around it. If you key onto the hands you can’t really go wrong. The topic of the hands will be a common theme throughout.

Remember that these are not absolutes but rather generalities. The key to being able to develop these skills is patience. Every aspect of these tools must be used over and over again despite any difficulties. Just accept the fact that most of the people you’re going to watch are going to be honest. It is important not to get frustrated. Or rather, don’t hold on to the frustration, it’s a normal part of the business. Accept it and use it to build your confidence and become much more effective.