This shows where their priorities lie. This is also the same company that got hacked and lost credit card data of customers through their HVAC system. Bet nothing has really changed there as far as cyber security goes.
I was amused finding out that cashiers basically no longer sign onto the registers using the register. They sign onto a myDevice (a Zebra handheld) elsewhere and keep it with them, then use that to scan a rotating PDF417 on screen on the register to complete signon as a 2FA device.
That’s on top of a lot of built in POS restrictions now to limit where certain transactions (like gift card functions) are completable to avoid people trying to swipe devices or signons from outer area unattended registers.
B) such activities can reduce revenues in the first place. For example I don’t even bother going to retailers because they have so many obstacles with locked cabinets that online shopping is just a smoother experience.
I get there are overheads but that’s spread across all products and supermarkets have a lot of products.
So you’d still have to have a lot of theft in a supermarket before you get close to a dent in those 2% margins.
Edit: as an aside, this is also why high value items such as alcohol are usually at the back of the store. It’s easier to identify and catch someone stealing if they’ve attempted to conceal a product for the entirely length of the shop.
A 30% markup spread across 1 product or 3000000 products is still a 30% markup.
I don't think the comment you responded to was arguing that theft was moral or companies were being greedy. Rather, just that 30% markup is typical and it takes a fair bit of theft before that starts closing the gaps on the margins.
Thus what you’re describing simply has no basis in reality.
Furthermore, you’ve completely misread every single comment in this thread and taken the least charitable conclusion from them.
So your figures are flat out wrong.
And I get it’s a gross figure, I was just putting it into simple terms for you because you’ve managed to misunderstand every other comment thus far. I was hoping turning the figure into a fraction might help you understand the ridiculousness of your comments. It was meant as an illustration rather than a literal scenario.
Anyway, like the other guy, I’m done chatting to you now. I’ve done business studies and worked in retail before moving to IT. Clearly you haven’t. And if you’re going to keep repeating incorrect figures then you’re beyond reason anyway.
The part you missed is that supermarkets sell a significant amount of stock.
If shop lifting is a serious enough problem in a particular store to make it financially unprofitable then there’s more at play than just the theft:
1. The store isn’t following best practices of having electronics tagged, and high value items at the back of the store.
2. The store isn’t making enough legal sales. This could be for a multitude of reasons from the stores location to its cleanliness. Or maybe they’re just stocking stuff people don’t want to buy or at the prices they’re advertised for
3. The overheads are unsustainable regardless of the sales. For example the land rental might be so high that the store wouldn’t turn a profit with the types of products they’re trying to sell.
Shops also factor in loss of stock in their margins. Eg spoiled food, damaged products and theft. This actually comes to less than the cost of personal nor rental costs.
There is still value in anti-theft measures. But that doesn’t mean that the GPs comments were correct when they said:
> it doesn’t take much theft to put the business in the red.
…because if you run a supermarket correctly then it does. Despite what the knee jerk reactions to my initial comment suggest.
Let's assume an average marginal loss of 2% of gross sales to theft at a business with a net margin of 4% (typical of retail). Let's also assume wholesale markup of 50%, just to be conservative.
On two million in gross sales, a 2% loss equates to a $40,000. Assuming a 50% markup, the retailer has lost $20,000 in COGs. We'll ignore the other $20,000 for now.
On two million in gross sales, and a 4% net margin, the retailer can expect to make an annualized profit of $80,000.
We deduct the $20,000 in COGs loss, the retailer is now making only $60,000 a year, that's a loss of 25% in profit.
And that's using 50% markup.
In your stated case, with a 30% markup, the retailer would have lost $28,000 dollars in COGs, meaning the retailer is now making only $52,000, a reduction of 35% in net profits.
There is no universe in which this is a non-meaningful amount or to be dismissed as "well, something else has to be going wrong. Theft just isn't that big a deal."
> Theft just isn't that big a deal."
That’s absolutely not what I said and if that’s the message you’re taking then you’re looking for an argument instead of discussing the facts.
So I’m done.