Designer Shoe Warehouse, like many stores, has its own loss prevention strategies that are certainly a little familiar, but with a little twist of their own. If you are wondering what the DSW shoplifting policy is then you’re in luck – you’ve definitely come to the right place.
Designer Show Warehouse has a much friendlier policy. While the usual cameras and security tag measures are definitely in place, their corporate office prefers that employees do not attempt to apprehend customers and must contact management for permission to alert the authorities.
It’s basically designed to help prevent loss while also taking extra steps to ensure that customers aren’t haphazardly accused or otherwise driven away from shopping there.
Today we’ll take a closer look at the security measures so that you can see what we mean!
Understanding Designer Shoe Warehouse’s Loss Prevention Methodology
A solid loss prevention strategy is a must for any business, although Designer Shoe Warehouse also recognizes that pushing too hard in this area can generate the potential of driving customers away.
In order to find a good balance between a firm loss prevention policy and a better customer service experience, you’ll typically see the security measures that we’ll list in the sections below.
Surveillance Cams
Cameras are certainly in place in a DSW store and in this day in age, it’s pretty much the accepted norm. After all, we’ve got some pretty fantastic cameras in our pockets these days, so surveillance cameras are certainly nothing new.
As with all retail stores that employ this strategy, cameras will be monitored at different times, footage will be taken, and that footage is kept for a pre-set amount of time.
Usually, this will be a data retention period of up to one year, but it can really depend on the location, their traffic, as well as the hard drive capacity of the managing servers.
DSW tends to stick with the basics, with only a few cameras in place, so that the shopping environment isn’t spoiled by ‘draconian’ security measures that you’ll see in many other store chains.
RFID Security tagging
Security tags are another commonplace feature that we’re all used to and DSW definitely employs them.
They may or may not be present in any pair of shoes that you pick up and they are sometimes placed in handbags, as these are quite the popular item for shoplifters and so it’s proven prudent to take this precaution.
While some stores have their surveillance cameras work with the RFID security tags to track items throughout their stores, DSW does NOT do this but rather will have security arches so that an alarm will sound if someone goes through them.
DSW has also tried setting up something similar with handbags so that if they are taken too far from the table, then an alarm will result.
No-Apprehension Policy
DSW Shoe Warehouse has a no-apprehension policy that is really something that you don’t see every day. Some stores encourage employees to stop shoplifters or to call the police right away, but DSW is definitely not one of them.
Employees are told not to try to stop shoplifters on their own and they are also not permitted to contact the police or even mall security without first getting approval from the Regional Loss Prevention Manager, except of course in the most extreme cases.
This is something that DSW takes very seriously and in 2015 an assistant manager was actually fired for calling the police without getting permission to do so first. Without this, the closest thing that they can do is have a ‘one on one’ interaction, but even then it will usually be something along the lines of ‘We noticed that you like these shoes, we also have a few more pairs from this company and some handbags that they produce over here’.
This helps to inform the potential shoplifter that they are being watched and is often an effective enough deterrent, but unless the shoplifter has been charged for shoplifting from that store before, this is likely as confrontational as a ‘one-on-one’ will get.
While this certainly helps to encourage employees not to jump to any accusations, it also is a much more relaxed policy than you will see just about anywhere else.
That said, this doesn’t mean that their policy doesn’t work.
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That No-Apprehension policy doesn’t mean you won’t get in trouble
Remember those cameras we talked about? Well, they are constantly recording and retaining footage, so if someone is shoplifting and gets out of the door ‘with the goods’, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be charged later.
Retail stores can contact the police with the Regional Loss Prevention Manager’s approval, submit the footage as evidence, and simply get permission to call the police the next time that person visits.
If they are identified by the footage before that, then a warrant may simply be issued. Keep in mind as well that the security tags in some shoes will very likely set off an alarm on the way out, so people will definitely notice and a mall security guard nearby might well come on their own.
It’s a policy that seems designed to keep their customers comfortable.
By assuming a less aggressive stance and outlining specific behaviors that warrant a ‘one on one’ session where the customer is interfaced with more closely, accusations are minimized and everyone can feel more relaxed.
To give you a better ‘bird’s eye’ view of it, let’s look at some of the industry standards that come into play to help determine if someone is attempting to shoplift.
Actions that DSW might use to determine if someone may be a shoplifter
What a lot of people don’t realize is that there are many loss prevention industry standards that must be followed in order to help ensure that local laws are being followed, customers are not being ‘stressed over suspicions; and that employees are kept safe as well.
For instance, an employee that suspects someone is trying to shoplift an item needs to see them go to where it is kept, then take the item, and attempt to conceal it.
This doesn’t mean just putting it in a bag – some shoplifters simply move the item somewhere easy to get, but out of view, so that they can wait until no one is watching.
The employee needs to watch you from this point on, to see that when you check out that you did not pay for the item, and then witness you leaving the store with it.
During this time, another employee might be contacting the Regional Loss Prevention Manager to determine if Mall Security or the police may be called at this time.
Employees are also subject to scrutiny
Shoplifting isn’t the only kind of theft that security needs to be in place for, so employees are also watched and camera footage from the day or week may be reviewed by their manager.
It is also quite common that bags will be checked at the end of the day before an employee leaves to help ensure that they aren’t leaving with shoes they didn’t pay for, either.
Overall, it’s a lot like the security that you’re used to everywhere else, except it is designed to be more passive to keep the shopping environment, as well as the experience for the customer and the employees as positive as possible.
Some final words
In today’s article, we’ve reviewed the DSF Shoplifting Policy standards so that you can have a unique look at how they’ve tailored their security to enforce loss prevention, but without doing so at the expense of the customer or employee’s comfort.
It’s very different, but a lot of the results are what you would expect from a loss prevention policy. Shoplifters may still be easily prosecuted – after all, there is still footage and a policy-driven checklist of signs to look for – it’s just kept a very low profile so that customers don’t feel accused or frightened and so that employees may also feel safe working at DSW.
By the volume of business that DSW enjoys day after day – we’d have to say that they might just be on to something!