IKEA is known worldwide for their low prices and great selection, but a big part of keeping the prices down is loss prevention, which deals with minimizing employee theft, shipping theft, and shoplifting. So, what is the IKEA shoplifting policy?
IKEA is most likely to press charges if you are caught shoplifting or at the bare minimum, may issue a ban for ALL IKEA stores. Civil damages may also be sought for the item and the estimated costs for catching the shoplifter, as well. As far as the ban, failure to respect this could result in misdemeanor trespassing charges – IKEA is definitely not ‘messing around’.
To better understand IKEA’s security profile and how it deters shoplifters, we really need to take a closer look, so read on and we’ll tell you what we know and can surmise about the IKEA shoplifting policy.
Understanding IKEA’s Loss prevention strategies
Loss prevention is standard with any large business and it really HAS to be this way. Billions are lost each year from businesses in the United States alone, and as an international company, IKEA is going to have more extensive loss prevention policies in place by necessity.
In the sections below we’ll outline the basics, just keep in mind that a lot will vary based on local laws where each store resides.
Video surveillance with software enhancements
As early as 2005, IKEA began implementing a strategy that combines video surveillance with integrated software for more granular control over store security.
This gives us a baseline that we’ve compared with more modern sources and firsthand reports from employees, but at its most basic what you’ve got are surveillance cameras that can work with security tagging so that items that move around the store may be tracked in real-time.
Further, this integrates with point of sale (smart cash register) data, so that it may be instantly noticed if something passes a pay kiosk without being paid for.
The employee ringing items up is also noted, which helps in two ways: First if there aren’t enough cashiers for a particular time, this may be noted and corrected to ensure that sales are not being lost due to insufficient cashiers to handle them.
Secondly, if a suspicious number of items are passing through a particular cashier’s line, then they may be flagged for review to determine if they are purposefully allowing this. In this fashion, not only may shoplifters be caught, but employees that might be working with them.
Aside from this, the footage will be maintained and kept for a period of time based on the business’s corporate data retention policies – this could mean keeping footage for as little as 90 days or even as long as 1-5 years.
Thus a shoplifter or a complicit employee’s actions could be potentially ‘backtracked’ in order to determine if there is a pattern to their behavior and if more charges may be in order to be reported to local police.
Simply put, if a shoplifter is caught, any previous shoplifting attempts may be searched for and prosecuted, and if an employee helped them then they will be in trouble too!
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Security tagging transponders
Security transponders are pretty basic and you’ll find them just about everywhere, typically it is a plastic piece that is attached to packaging or even hidden inside it so that an item may be identified and in IKEA’s case, literally followed by surveillance cams wherever it goes in the store.
This helps to prevent items being hidden or ‘re-priced’ in real time, so it’s not just about whether or not the item passes the security arches on the way out – IKEA can watch exactly wherever a tagged item goes throughout the store.
24/7 security staff
IKEA employs 24-7 security staff and since they are a worldwide vendor, some locations might be hiring off-duty police officers.
Furthermore, not all security is going to be wearing a uniform, so a nearby shopper might really be security staff keeping an eye on you in areas where the camera coverage might be a little compromised.
At night, security staff will be present to make sure that no one is in IKEA after hours, so it’s some pretty thorough coverage that you just don’t see at every big retail store.
Employees are trained to be security- conscious
IKEA further strengthens their security by specifically training their staff to be security conscious. This works in their favor in two main ways – first, employees are less likely to steal when they are aware of how many strategies are in place to catch them and secondly, it means employees are also looking for shoplifting-type behaviors.
This includes moving items from their area to another one that is perceived to be less monitored. Shoplifters often work in teams, with one person moving the item so that another might remove a security tag or simply reprice the item with the code of a cheaper item with a similar description.
Potential shoplifters should be aware that ‘concealing is stealing’ if the item isn’t put somewhere highly visible, but rather ‘hidden’ behind other boxes or in a place that a camera might have a harder time ‘seeing’.
This behavior will typically be noticed by surveillance and the software it uses anyway, but employees are also trained to look for this and may inform security on their own if they see it.
Employees in the store may or may not also speak with a suspected shoplifter, not to confront them, but to say something like ‘I see that you decided not to buy this, can I help you find a cheaper ‘insert item here’ as a way to be helpful and also to passively inform a person that their behavior has been noticed.
This further increases the risk that a shoplifter will be caught – employees are trained to look out for them and to make it known that this is the case.
It’s subtle from a customer or shoplifter’s viewpoint, but the message is pretty clear – employees are watching you and what you do.
Will IKEA press charges if I am caught shoplifting?
In most cases, yes, although minors or customers that haven’t been seen before might simply be asked to leave the store and banned from returning for a set amount of time.
Usually, though, the police will be contacted, a ban will be issued for one or even ALL stores, and their photos sent to security staff so that they will know to look for them.
If a ban is ignored, the police may be contacted, and the suspected shoplifter may be charged with trespassing. Furthermore, once a shoplifter has been identified, they may receive a letter in the mail where IKEA is asking for ‘civil recovery’.
This means repayment for the item (if the shoplifting charge comes from surveillance where the shoplifter made it out of the store with the item) and further fees may be assessed to reflect security hours reviewing footage, restock fees, and more.
In cases where civil recovery is requested, usually, it will be stated that charges will be pressed with the local police if these fees are not paid.
Thus the shoplifter has a choice – pay the fees or risk the police becoming involved and without knowing what is on those surveillance tapes, heavy fines and substantial jail time may be involved.
This is just a hypothetical scenario but it DOES happen – so potential shoplifters would do well to leave IKEA alone.
Some closing comments
In this article, we’ve given you a taste of the IKEA shoplifting policy and their aggressive loss prevention policies. By utilizing a software-driven combination of video surveillance and security tagging, the movement of items and the person carrying them may be followed real-time around the store.
Any ‘holes’ in this surveillance are ‘cemented-up’ by employees who are trained to watch for suspicious behaviors as well, and also by guards at the door and patrolling the store who may be dressed like customers or may not – you never know.
When shoplifters are caught, they will likely be charged to the extent of local law or simply banned and previous footage may be reviewed and the costs assessed and simply mailed to the shoplifter’s home.
This means that anyone else living there will know that they are housing a suspected shoplifter and if these fines are not paid, the law might get involved.
All in all, IKEA has a pretty solid security strategy for loss prevention, so anyone thinking about shoplifting should do themselves a favor and steer clear of IKEA – the odds are that if they don’t, they will definitely be caught.
Reference Sources
https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/367620-caught-shoplifting-in-ikea/?sfw=pass1687303936