Combating Employee Theft At The Point Of Sale

Each year, retailers lose more merchandise to employee theft than to any other cause. In 2006, employee theft accounted for 47% of all shrink that year – more than traditional shoplifting or organized retail crime – according to the National Retail Security Survey.

This threat from within costs retailers billions of dollars. Common forms of employee theft include simple cash theft, credit or gift card fraud, and various forms of sweethearting (giving free or discounted merchandise to friends or family). Whether through voided transactions, false ringups, passing of merchandise with no register transaction, or any other method, sweethearting is a major problem for retailers, from grocery stores to specialty retailers. And it can be very difficult to detect.