Shrink rarely starts at the till — it starts at the door nobody watches. Across the retail parks we cover, the single biggest drop in loss comes from one change: a visible, alert officer in the first three metres of the store.
Position Beats Numbers
Two officers hidden in corners deter less than one officer greeting every tenth customer. We place guards where sightlines cross — entrance, high-value aisle ends and the blind corner by the fitting rooms — and rotate every 40 minutes so attention never fades.
Log Everything, Share Weekly
Each shift ends with a photo log: incidents, near-misses and suspicious behaviour patterns. Managers get a one-page Friday summary showing hot hours and hot spots, so staffing follows the data instead of guesswork.
The Deterrent Curve
Most clients see attempted theft fall within three weeks. Professionals move on to easier stores; opportunists stop trying when they know the same officer remembers faces. Guarding does not just catch loss — it relocates it away from you.