Racetrack

Here is one of the most effective ways of walking your store to find shoplifters: WALK THE RACETRACK

The goal is to be able to move through the store and be able to make out those that might be stealing. Many of the agents today will rely solely on their camera systems to accomplish this. Walking the store gives the agent a ground-level perspective and affords them with much more information than just watching the floor with cameras.

The way that someone walks their store is very important. Many agents will walk their stores by following the main aisles through the center. This is not only a making more work for themselves, it can also let shoplifters identify them as security.

Most agents will walk down the major aisles located in the center of their store. When they do this, they have to keep their head on a swivel to observe the areas around them. This constant looking around can be picked up on by those who are stealing. It also often happens that the agent is looking in the wrong direction half of the time.

This technique is more effective:

Utilize the store’s outside aisle, known as the “racetrack”. By this I mean, the aisle that encircles the store and runs along it’s outer edge. When this path is followed, the agent can look into the interior of the store without making their presence known to most. They only have to look in one direction as they follow this route and one complete circuit gives them a very clear picture of what activity is going on. This technique is quite effective regardless of the shape or size of the store.

Another benefit of this is that the shoplifters will often use this outlying aisle to steal. They like the privacy that it affords them and it often happens that an agent will run smack dab into them. This is definitely a tool that requires the Loss Prevention personnel to get out of the camera room and walk their floor.