What is the Primary Purpose of Retail Security?

What is the Primary Purpose of Retail Security?

November 10, 2021 Comments Off on What is the Primary Purpose of Retail Security? By admin

Protecting premises is essential, but not every tactic will be suitable and not every individual’s aims will be the same. How do you know what you are trying to achieve with retail security, and if your efforts have been a success? The answer is all in the planning, and in regularly checking in on your aims and goals to ensure your security management processes are working effectively for your retail business.

The primary purpose of retail security is to protect people, allow them to shop safely, make sure staff are safe, and protect stock, i.e. prevent it being stolen or damaged. For this to happen, a thorough plan and full security schedule needs to be properly put in place. However, achieving these aims will look different for every retail business and there may also be additional security aims and targets as well; this will very much depend on a range of factors, such as the size of the retail business, where the premises are located, if there have been any previous break in or incidents of vandalism, if the shop is in a shopping mall or somewhere else (where there may already be a security presence, for example), or if the shop sells particularly expensive or highly desirable products. All of these factors will need to feed into good security planning and be taken into consideration to provide adequate protection for a retail business.

In general security, there are three main aims: to deter criminal activity, to prevent criminal activity and to deal with criminal activity effectively should it occur (or preferably to stop it in its tracks). Deterrence is about making crime associated with a particular retail business seen undesirable, or more difficul; it relies on making potential criminals aware of retail security measures to put them off. Examples could include security shutters, CCTV to monitor the premises at all times, or the presence of a security guard, which may be enough to make someone think again about an attempted break in or theft of goods. Preventing criminal activity uses a similar logic but it relies on having protective measures in place that will make it harder for someone to steal stock or carry out other crimes. For example, methods of security might involve locking valuable stock away, using shutters and locks that will actively prevent break ins, or having security staff protecting particular parts of a shop to stop unauthorised people being able to gain access and steal valuable items. Dealing with crimes in real time is usually something that relies on having a team of security professionals to hand. It might mean that security guards are positioned around the store, ready to intervene should someone try to shoplift. It may also rely on security cameras and round the clock monitoring of the premises, so that if a break in is attempted out of hours, there will always be a trained security guard with keys and access to the premises ready to intervene and preferably stock the attempted crime in its tracks.