7A-testing the hypothesis part 1

Shoplifting Prevention:

• Opportunity: Grocery store owners have become frustrated as shoplifting leads to profit loss during peak season (October-April).  
• Who: Food businesses/ grocery stores
• What: They lose profit because of shoplifters
• Why: It is easy for someone to steal a piece or box of food.
• Testing the who: Food businesses are not the only businesses that have fallen victim to the threats of shoplifting.  Businesses everywhere suffer from people who steal.  However, large businesses, especially clothing stores, have the means such as enough money to provide sensors to detect when an item is being stolen.  In contrast, small food businesses do not always have enough money to invest in these sensors.  My opportunity would originally target smaller grocery stores such as family-owned businesses and "mom-and-pop" stores.  Additionally, grocery stores are my targeted business because stealing food has become extremely easy for shoppers.  Having sensors for food products is not as easy as having sensors for clothing.  Small food businesses need an affordable yet effective way to prevent shoplifting.  
• Testing the what: According to statistics, more than thirteen billion dollars worth of goods are stolen from retailers each year, which accounts to more than $35 million dollars a day.  Small food businesses are extremely vulnerable to this and work so hard to make the profit they do.  However, with such high rates of shoplifting, their profits have declined.  When people steal items from grocery stores they are hurting the business' profits as well as the price consumers will have to pay.  If the theft rate continues to increase, grocery stores will have to increase their sales rate to make up for the predicted amount of profit they lose to theft.  
• Testing the why: Stealing from grocery stores has become easier and easier for shoplifters.  It is so simple to stuff an individual apple into a purse.  And to slide a bottle of wine into a reusable bag.  However, once a shoplifter believes that he/she can get away with it, they continue to attempt to steal more.  Studies have even shown that many people shoplift not to get a product for free but just to simply "get away" with the task.               http://www.shopliftingprevention.org/what-we-do/learning-resource-center/statistics/
• Interview #1: 
• For this interview, I questioned my father who started and owns his own grocery store.  In a small market like the one my family owns, it is extremely difficult to be on the lookout 24/7 for shoplifters when there are so many other tasks to be managed.  My dad explained how much theft has affected the company's sales and even his customers.  He explained to me that in order to off-put the loss in sales due to theft, the business has to increase the prices of its goods in order to make up the profit loss.  This then leaves the customers unhappy as well as no one wants to pay more for anything.  My father stated how he prides himself on giving his customers the best quality for the best price and when people shoplift, it really hinders his ability to do so.  He said that as an owner, it is extremely disheartening to dedicate so much time and effort to build a business and make it everything it can be just to have people disrespect it and steal.  He has tried to find an accommodating solution to this problem, but has not found one that is completely effective and affordable.  
• Interview #2:
• I interviewed the bookkeeper of a family-owned grocery store.  She is in charge of payroll, paying checks, making schedules, and much more.  With a job like hers, she believes that it is imperative to take into account the rate of theft.   When she makes schedules for the employees she has to make sure there is enough coverage around the entire store.  This will ensure that there are extra eyes around and when shoplifters see so many employees walking around and checking on the business, they often become intimidated and decide not to steal. 
• Interview #3:
• I interviewed the wine manager at a local family-owned grocery store.  He described how shoplifting can have such a drastic impact in small grocery stores like his, especially in the wine department.  He stated that a shoplifter stole over $800 worth of wine from this grocery store and was never caught.  The wine manager claims that by the time any of the employees noticed, it was too late and the thief was never found.  Small businesses such as this grocery store rely on $800 worth of wine.  He enforces the idea that this business truly works for every penny they can get.  He told me numerous stories about the people he caught stealing wine and the people that were never caught.   He knows that there are sensors out there that help larger businesses such as clothing stores. He thinks it is much simpler for these larger businesses because individual sensors can be put on clothing and products.  However, there needs to be a way for something as simple as an avocado can be detected when being stolen. 
• Interview #4: 
• Next I interviewed the front store manager of this same grocery store and was intrigued when I learned more information than what I had already heard.  This manager told me that often times, the people who shoplift still pay for other items.  He thinks that when shoplifters pay for a certain item, they believe that they are not suspicious anymore.  However, just because someone payed for an item does not mean that there is not a stolen apple hiding in their purse.  I was astonished as the manager told me about the scale of things that people would try to steal from small to large items such as plums, a whole box of cookies, and even filet mignon.  He knows that employees are not going to be able to see every little move of a customer which is why he would take full advantage of an opportunity to prevent shoplifting.  
• Interview #5:
• Next I interviewed the back end manager of this grocery store who does more behind the scenes tasks.  When asking him about the impacts of shoplifting he instantly began stating the harms of shoplifting.  He stated that he has spent hours staring at a computer screen that displays a camera of the entire store.  He has rewinded and sped up tape of customers stealing hundreds of times.  He claims to know the key moment when someone is about to steal or just stole based upon their facials and mannerisms.  He says that shoplifters always look around aggressively before they are about to steal and walk around the same part of the store for a while sort of circling the product that they are planning on stealing.  With so much knowledge on the tactics of theft, this manager wishes to put what he knows into an opportunity that would prevent the outrageous amount of theft his store experiences.  
• Reflection: 
• Based on my interviews, my original belief regarding shoplifting in grocery stores was solidified.  However, I learned a lot regarding how difficult it would be to find a system to prevent shoplifting that is both affordable and effective.  For a food business, the detection of theft would have to put registered within a label or something of that relation as it is not possible to have a scanner on every single item in the store and every single fruit or vegetable.  There are so many single/ loose items that need to be protected from theft.  
• Something intriguing that I learned from my interviewing is that although we know people shoplift and sometimes we catch them, there are hundreds of people who shoplift and never get caught.  It seems like this theft problem could be fixed so simply: have cameras and watch every customer carefully.  But that is not a logical option.  There needs to be a way to detect this theft before it is too late.  Small food businesses need a way to make a profit without falling backwards due to shoplifting.  
• Something else that surprised me from all of my interviews was how common the idea of theft was to each person I interviewed.  This commonality just demonstrates even more so the relevance of shoplifting in today's society and how often it happens on a day-to-day basis.