It's kind of wild when you think about how much money
just vanishes from stores every single year.
Yeah, it's crazy.
We're talking billions.
Billions.
With a bee.
It's an insane amount.
Just gone.
And I think a lot of people,
when they think about this problem,
they jump immediately to shoplifting.
Right.
But it's so much bigger than that.
Oh, absolutely.
It's like a, it's shrink.
Shrink, yeah.
That's the word, right?
The big scary word that encompasses everything.
Yeah.
So we're talking, you know, theft.
Of course.
Damage.
Like what happened to it?
Where'd it go?
Yeah.
Those inventory issues that drive you crazy.
Makes you want to pull your hair out.
And you shared some really interesting stuff about this.
Yeah, I hope so.
Particularly this platform called Insight.
So you ready to take a deep dive into this?
Let's do it.
All right.
So Insight.
They're approaching this whole shrink thing
a little differently.
Yeah, they have a pretty unique angle.
They're really focused on employees.
Employees, exactly.
And I got to be honest.
When I first heard that, I was like, really?
I can see why you'd say that.
That's the solution.
It doesn't sound as exciting as like,
I don't know, some high tech AI security system.
Right, like lasers and stuff.
Like something out of a movie.
But, and here's the thing.
Okay.
When you actually think about it,
it's the employees who are on the front lines
every single day.
That's true.
They're the eyes and ears of your store.
Okay, yeah.
So it makes sense.
Yeah.
Give them the tools and the knowledge
to really combat this.
To be like, I don't know, empowered or something.
Empowered, that's the perfect word.
It's about more than just empowerment though, right?
It's about giving them the knowledge
to actually spot the problems
before they become, you know, major issues.
So like training.
Training, exactly.
Okay, so give me an example.
All right, so let's talk inventory.
Okay.
Cause that's another thing
that the insight material really emphasized.
See, now that's where I'm surprised.
Really?
Yeah, because I think shrink.
I'm thinking like shoplifters.
Yeah, the classic image.
Exactly.
Someone's sneaking out with a, I don't know,
a TV in their jacket.
Right, right.
But inventory.
Inventory can be a silent killer, honestly.
What do you mean?
Well, think about it.
You've got thousands of products, right?
Yeah.
Maybe tens of thousands, depending on the store.
Oh, for sure.
And if just a handful of those
are consistently misplaced during stocking
or, you know, mislabeled or whatever.
Like it out airs.
Exactly.
And over time, that adds up.
That makes sense.
And suddenly you're not talking
about a few misplaced items.
You're talking about a significant chunk
of your inventory, just gone.
Wow.
And it's not just the lost merchandise itself, right?
I don't.
Think about the customer's experience.
Okay.
They come in looking for a specific item
and they can't find it.
Out of stock?
Exactly.
Yeah.
But it's not actually out of stock.
It's just misplaced somewhere
in the labyrinthine back room of the store.
Oh, so frustrating.
Right.
The customer's frustrated.
They might go somewhere else next time.
You lose the sale.
Exactly.
And you've still got that item
taking up space in your inventory.
So you're losing twice.
You got it.
It's a double whammy.
Wow.
Okay, I'm seeing the light here.
Good, good.
But I gotta be honest.
There's one more connection in here
that's really throwing me.
What's that?
Customer service.
Ah, yeah.
How does that play into this whole shrink thing?
Well, it's all about creating an environment, right?
Okay.
You want your store to be a place
where people are less likely to even think about stealing.
Okay.
And a big part of that is having employees
who are engaged.
With customers.
Exactly.
They're interacting with customers.
They're visible on the sales floor.
So it's like someone walks in,
they're thinking about maybe pocketing something.
Right.
But then they see employees everywhere.
And suddenly it feels riskier.
Right.
Stealing.
Exactly.
Like, it's not worth it.
Hmm, interesting.
It's kind of like that eyes on the street idea.
Oh, yeah, I've heard of that.
Right.
Like a well-maintained, lively street
is naturally going to deter crime.
Right, right, because it feels safer.
Exactly.
And it's the same principle in a store.
Wow, I never thought of it that way,
but that makes total sense.
And on top of that,
good customer service can actually make customers
less likely to rationalize stealing in the first place.
Really?
How so?
Think about it.
If you walk into a store and you feel valued,
if you have a positive interaction with an employee,
you're probably not going to turn around
and try to steal from them, are you?
No, probably not.
It's about building relationships,
not just transactions.
Yeah, that makes sense.
A happy customer is much less likely
to become a shrink statistic.
That's a really good point.
So yeah, customer service can be a surprisingly powerful tool
in the fight against shrink.
Huh, who knew?
All right, so we've talked about employees,
we've talked about inventory,
we've talked about customer service.
The trifecta.
Right, but what about the tech?
Ah, the fancy gadget.
Exactly, because I know a lot of companies
are investing in all sorts of security systems.
Oh yeah, the cameras, the alarms, the whole nine yards.
Right, but the source material we have here,
it doesn't really dwell on that stuff.
No, it doesn't.
It's almost like those things are just a given, you know?
That's because they are just a part of the equation,
not the whole solution.
Okay, I think I see where you're going with this.
It's like this, you can have the most sophisticated
top of the line security system in the world.
Yeah.
But if your employees don't know how to use it,
if they're not trained to respond effectively.
It's useless.
Exactly, you're basically just throwing money away
at that point.
It's like, what's that saying?
You can lead a horse to water.
But you can't make it drink.
Exactly, you can have all the fancy tech in the world.
All the bells and whistles.
But if your employees aren't empowered to use it.
To really take ownership.
Then it's just, I don't know, for show.
It's window dressing, basically.
Right, and that kind of leads into something else,
the source material highlighted.
Okay, what's that?
Company culture.
Ah, the ever important company culture.
Because it's not enough to just tell your employees
don't steal.
Right, it has to go deeper than that.
Yeah, like how do you actually build an environment
where people want to do the right thing?
Where they feel invested in the success of the business.
Exactly.
Because if they care about the place they work.
If they feel respected and valued.
They're less likely to steal from it, right?
Absolutely, they see it as like stealing
from themselves almost.
Right, it's like, hey, this is my place.
I'm helping to build this.
Exactly, it becomes personal.
Okay, so how do we do that?
How do we build that kind of culture?
Well, it's not a one size fits all answer, unfortunately.
Right, because every workplace is different.
Exactly, but it starts with communication.
Okay, so talking to your employees.
Talking with them, not at them.
Right, having those open lines of communication.
Exactly, and then it's about creating a culture of trust.
Trust, okay, so how do you do that?
By actually trusting your employees.
Give them responsibility.
You empower them.
Exactly, empower them to make decisions to take ownership.
Because if you treat them like they're part of the solution.
They'll start to act like it.
That makes sense.
And when you have that kind of culture,
that's when you see the real magic happen.
The shrink just disappears.
Well, it doesn't disappear entirely,
but it becomes much less of a problem.
Right, because everyone's invested in preventing it.
Exactly, and that's the beauty
of this holistic approach, you know?
It's not just about one thing.
It's about everything working together.
The training, the culture, the technology.
It's about creating an environment
where shrink doesn't stand a chance.
I like the sound of that.
Me too, is a win-win for everyone involved.
So if you're listening out there
and you're dealing with shrink in your own workplace.
Take a look at your own company culture.
Talk to your employees, invest in training.
And don't be afraid to think outside the box.
Because the solution might be simpler than you think.
It might just be a matter of
entowering the people around you.
Great advice to end on.
Thanks for taking this deep dive with me.
Anytime.
This was fun.