Despite increased foot traffic and sales, your grocery store’s profits are mysteriously falling.
Sound familiar? You might have a shrinkage problem on your hands.
Left unchecked, shrinkage can clear out your shelves and cash registers, making it nearly impossible to turn a profit.
In this blog, we’ll explore what causes shrinkage in grocery stores, covering the three most common culprits and what to do about them.
Fresh produce, expertly-butchered meats, and mouthwatering bakery treats are your grocery store’s bestsellers, but unfortunately, they’re perishable.
The clock starts ticking from the moment you stock them. If they don’t sell quickly enough, they’ll expire and become a dent in your grocery store’s bottom line.
The best way to combat spoilage is to spruce up your inventory management approach. Here are four best practices to follow:
With these tips, you can earn a reputation as the freshest grocer in town.
Related read: How To Manage Perishable Inventory: 10 Key Tips and Tools
Shoplifting: It’s every retailer’s nightmare.
In grocery stores, shoplifters target high-margin items like meat, cheese, chocolate, and alcohol. They also look for convenience items like cosmetics and over-the-counter medications. These items are your biggest sources of profit, so they significantly shrink your bottom line when they’re stolen.
If your store offers self-checkout, it’s even more important to be on the lookout for tactics like skip scanning and label switching.
Prevention is the most important ingredient in a successful anti-shoplifting strategy. Here’s how:
These methods will make your loyal customers feel safer while deterring potential shoplifters.
Unfortunately, thieves aren’t always strangers. Employee theft can take many forms — from stealing merchandise to mishandling money.
This type of shrinkage is particularly dangerous because it’s tough to identify. You trust your employees, so you likely won’t turn to them when profits are falling.
A grocery store point of sale (POS) system with powerful security features is your best defense against internal theft.
Your POS system should let you set custom permissions for each of your employees, ensuring they only access information needed for their day-to-day responsibilities. It should also keep records of each team member’s activity, helping you spot unusual behavior before it turns into theft.
Outdated inventory management and checkout processes are another common cause of grocery store shrinkage.
Manual counts and inventory spreadsheets aren’t just time-consuming; they leave room for mistakes. Left unchecked, these errors can lead to over-ordering and spoilage.
Old-school checkout technology can also cause grocery store shrinkage. If your cashiers enter the wrong product or pricing during the checkout process, you could undercharge or overcharge customers — decreasing their trust in your business and shrinking your profits.
The best way to prevent these mistakes before they impact your grocery store’s bottom line is to upgrade to a modern grocery store POS system. This tool eliminates manual processes and reduces the likelihood of human error.
You can rely on your POS system to:
These features can save you time, prevent errors, and minimize shrinkage.
Whether you’re struggling with spoilage, shoplifting, or costly inventory management errors, we can help.
IT Retail is an all-in-one POS solution designed with grocery stores in mind. Our software includes all the features you need to manage perishable stock, monitor shrinkage, and protect your grocery store’s bottom line. Plus, we offer sales-boosting features like a built-in customer loyalty program, flexible promotions, and e-commerce integration.
Ready to see how IT Retail can reduce shrinkage and increase your grocery store’s profits? Schedule your live demo with one of our grocery industry experts today.