Loss Prevention Checklist

Walk associates through the current shoplifting, refund-fraud, and sweethearting scenarios using last quarter's incidents from the LP log. Keep the session to 20 minutes on the floor before open; longer sessions in the back office disengage seasonal staff.

Cover booster-bag indicators, fitting-room ticket-switching, and cashier-assisted discounts to known associates. Pull two real CCTV clips from the last 90 days so the patterns are concrete, not abstract.

Open the Verkada or Solink console and confirm every camera is recording, time-synced, and unobstructed. Pay attention to register-facing cameras, fitting-room corridor, receiving door, and the safe.

Log the camera ID, the time the view was lost, and any incidents that occurred during the gap. Escalate to the LP manager if a primary register or safe camera is offline more than 24 hours.

Coordinate a test signal with the monitoring company. Verify every perimeter door contact, motion sensor, and panic button. Confirm the central station received and logged the test within five minutes.

Pull the top 25 shrink SKUs from the last cycle count and verify each unit on the floor carries an active Sensormatic or Checkpoint hard tag. Test the gates with a live tag and confirm the alarm fires.

Count the high-shrink categories first (small electronics, fragrance, denim, accessories). Use the POS or Lightspeed cycle-count tool to capture BOH vs. counted on-hand by SKU.

Flag any SKU with a variance over $250 retail or 5% of units. Do not blanket-adjust — variance masking is how shrink trends go undetected for quarters.

Trace the SKU history: receiving errors (PO vs. ASN), RTV not posted, mis-scans at the register, sweethearting on refunds, or external theft from CCTV review. Document the cause before approving any adjustment.

Common confusions: dropship orders posted as in-store sales, transfer-out not received at the destination store, or a vendor return-to-vendor that was paid but the units left the building.

Run the cashier exception report for the last 30 days. Look for cashiers in the top 10% on no-sales, post-voids, refunds over $50, and manual price overrides — these are the classic sweethearting and refund-fraud signals.

Pick a register mid-shift, count the drawer against the X-report, and reconcile to start-of-shift float plus net sales. Variances over $5 get re-counted; over $20 trigger a cashier interview.

Compare the active keyholder list to the current roster in the workforce system (Homebase, Deputy, UKG). Any card or key issued to a separated associate is a finding.

Schedule the locksmith for back-office and stockroom doors, change the burglar-alarm master code, and reissue access cards to current keyholders only. Document the new code distribution in the access log.

Verify each register has a working counterfeit-detection pen or UV light and that cashiers know the prompt sequence for bills over $50. Replace dried-out pens immediately.

Pull the chargeback report from Shopify or Stripe Terminal for the prior month. Cluster by reason code — friendly fraud, item-not-received on BOPIS, and counterfeit-card patterns each call for different controls.

Check the POS console for the firmware and OS version on every terminal. Unpatched Windows POS terminals are a known vector for RAM-scraper malware — a PCI DSS finding waiting to happen.