Discussion: Scenario – Terry and Lori
The following is an excerpt from a conversation between the store manager of Brothers Grocery Stores, Lori Colburn, and Terry Whipple, president of Yoder Brothers Grocery Stores.
Terry: Lori, I’m concerned about this new scanning system.
Lori: What’s the problem?
Terry: Well, how do we know the clerks are ringing up all the merchandise?
Lori: That’s one of the strong points about the system. The scanner automatically rings up each item, based on its barcode. We update the prices daily, so we’re sure that the sale is rung up for the right price.
Terry: That’s not my concern. What keeps a clerk from pretending to scan items and then simply not charging his friends? If his friends were buying 10–15 items, it would be easy for the clerk to pass through several items with his finger over the bar code or just pass the merchandise through the scanner with the wrong side showing. It would look normal for anyone observing. In the old days, we at least could hear the cash register ringing up each sale.
Lori: I see your point.
Suggest ways that Yoder Brothers Grocery Stores could prevent or detect the theft of merchandise as described.
Just do response each posted # 1 to 3 down below only
Posted 1
There are a few options available to try and keep items from leaving the store unpaid for. First is to have a system that has the items tracked by there code to know if they have the left the store and compare that to inventory. Then have a routine inventory check to determine if theft is occuring. Another sytem would be to implement cameras at the register the show the items as be they are being scanned to help deter the left. The cameras will watch every item that goes thru the scanner and will be able to detect if the item was scanned or if the item was taken without pay.
Posted 2
I can see both view points in this scenario. Ensuring items being scanned for the sale is always a top priority in stores but some times the sale doesn’t recognize on the item(s). The other side of this which happens a lot is when an employee pretends to scan items. So either way the company is losing out from sales or inventory loss. The best options that I think could benefit is having a better security measure in place. I know it would be extremely tedious to put chips and sensors on these items like you would see at high end stores or clothing retailers, things of that nature. Something this store could possibly do is have the store incorporate some of the features implemented from the Amazon Go store. This store has features that allows the wallet on one’s phone to be charged for the items the customer grabs. More than likely the store would need more cameras for this to play out correctly. Most of the world runs on technology now why not update the grocery stores. It cost more in the beginning for a starting market but allows for better control of inventory. Another thought process would be to randomly do inventory control with certain people working different shifts, doing this would allow a company to precisely figure out where loss could be occurring and keep a better eye on said employee(s).
Posted 3
Hello Class and Professor,
Yoder Brothers could invest in a camera system at the registers. It would let the employee know they are being watched and customers would be less likely to try to attempt at any theft. Yoder brothers could also take a recording of inventory daily and make an a counting for items sold then check inventory and items sold daily to make sure nothing has been stolen. The grocery store could also start checkin receipts at the door.