Crime

Retail theft and pilferage can be serious issues for businesses, but maintaining a balance between loss prevention and the customer experience is essential for businesses, especially at travel centers where speed is a priority.

“We know our customers are time starved,” said Darren Schulte, NATSO’s vice president of membership. “In my opinion, we have swung so far to one side of loss prevention that it is negatively affecting our sales and impacting our customer experience.”

“We don’t seem to be doing anything about it other than locking up merchandise,” he said, adding that locks create friction for customers, which discourages sales and creates frustration.

So, if locking up merchandise isn’t the answer, what can operators do instead?