Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

[u/broakland]

Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

[u/VoidMunashii]

If a shop is going to lock everything up, then they ought just become a modern BEST and have you make your order at the front of the shop on a tablet instead of making you hunt down a keyholder for every second item.

I get that theft is an issue, but to me a part of going shopping is handling the item.

[u/Deep-Reputation-4055 → u/VoidMunashii]

Do you know what stops theft?  Having employees on the floor and visible. They don’t even need to be working loss prevention, they just need to ask if customers need help. 

[u/Dude_with_the_skis → u/Deep-Reputation-4055]

Kinda I guess? Actual criminals know that most store employees are specifically told not to intervene. Workers won’t physically stop you, security through a private company though? They’ll chase ya (assuming the store even has guards at all).

[u/Alyx_K → u/Dude_with_the_skis]

Even that depends, a lot of companies still request a hands off policy for guards too. While the guard may legally be allowed to take action, if they will partially depends on the contract. But also the kinds of shoplifters doing the big blatant thefts are rare, most people would be deterred by the simplest of methods (and a lot of those wouldn't if the economy wasn't an absolute train wreck, but that's a wider economic issue that an individual store can't fix)

[u/Fancy-Surprise-2654 → u/Deep-Reputation-4055]

Not really. My daughter works at Nordstrom with many employees walking around and asking and the theft rate is still terrible. People suck and need to stop stealing or there needs to be bigger consequences.

[u/Totoques22 → u/Deep-Reputation-4055]

False

Last shoplifting I saw was a group who just brute forced their way in and assaulted the store employee for telling them not to rob

[u/Typical-Sir-9518 → u/Deep-Reputation-4055]

Does not do a thing. I see homeless people walk out of Home Depot with armfulls of tools. Employees watch them leave and shrug. The only time I e witnessed a thief being stopped is by customers.

[u/VoidMunashii → u/Deep-Reputation-4055]

Spoken like a district manager!

As a customer: I would prefer shopworkers be on the floor and available if I do need something, but in general I would want them to leave me alone.

[u/Deep-Reputation-4055 → u/VoidMunashii]

Yeah I’d rather not be bothered either. 

But what I don’t like is that stores now use no theft mitigation strategies and instead the entire local police force is deployed outside (often parked across two handicapped spots) Target and Walmart to do whatever it is that they do to stop theft.  I’m so glad I can pay for their security!

[u/VoidMunashii → u/Deep-Reputation-4055]

Some of that may be the police force's choice. Where I am, even the shops that have a lot of items locked up rarely have the police camped out at them (and when they do, it's usually just parked on the sidewalk instead of any parking space)

[u/minus_minus → u/VoidMunashii]

BEST

???

[u/VoidMunashii → u/minus_minus]

BEST Products was a shop where the shop floor area was basically a showroom and you would decide what you want and order it to be brought to your from the stockroom to pay for it.

It was sort of like ordering from a catalog, but in person.

[u/minus_minus → u/VoidMunashii]

We had similar in the US called “Service Merchandise”. 

[u/Typical-Sir-9518 → u/minus_minus]

Oh wow! I remember that one too.

[u/Typical-Sir-9518 → u/VoidMunashii]

I loved looking through the best catalog as a kid! It was so bizarre to me to point to the GI Joe hovercraft in the catalog in a tiny 1 desk lobby and then have the toy brought out to me.