9A- testing the hypothesis

Assignment 9A- Testing the Hypothesis

• Who: 
• As I continued to conduct interviews to refine my product, I learned that although there are many businesses who would use my product, there are also businesses in the same sector who do not have that same unmet need.  As I am targeting smaller grocery stores, I found numerous ones that do not have enough passion against shoplifting to invest in my product.  I interviewed family owned grocery stores in South Florida and came to realize that although most of them, if not all of them, suffer from the impacts of shoplifting.  However, three of the five people I interviewed have cited other business complications to be more pertinent and require more attention.  Therefore, they said that they would not spend money on the product.  Additionally, some of the people I interviewed were skeptical of how effective my product would be.  They feel that "if someone is going to steal something, they will find a way to steal it no matter how many sensors have been put into place." 
• Although I came across some consumers who would not necessarily by my product, I also came across a completely new market that I thought would never be an option: small clothing stores.  In South Florida there are numerous clothing boutiques that line the beach strips and most popular areas.  I unexpectedly interviewed the manager of a small boutique that has three locations in South Florida.  She explained to me that their clothing stores are lucky if they make $2000 a day and cannot afford the costs shoplifters create.  Additionally, they do not want to spend extra money on plastic censors that are expensive and make it difficult for customers to try on clothing.  When talking to the manager of this clothing boutique in Ft. Lauderdale, she was intrigued by my product and thought it would be a great addition to their store as many people have been going into the dressing room, putting the store's clothes on underneath their clothing, and walking out without paying for anything.  This type of shoplifting is also extremely difficult to detect.  Therefore, by having the magnetic ink and undercover censors by the exit, the shoplifters will never expect to be caught and the ink will set off the censor as it was never deactivated from a register.  I found it interesting that these small clothing stores have a similar unmet need as grocery stores do.  
• Next I interviewed another manager in a small grocery store business and asked him if he had this similar unmet need.  He was intrigued by my product idea and thought it has a great purpose.  However, he was skeptical about the effectiveness.  He wondered, "What if the shoplifter removes the label from certain products?  Then the censor will never go off even though they are still shoplifting." Two other people I interviewed came up with this same argument for my product and worried that although they would be investing in a way to limit the amount of theft, there is always going to be someone who finds ways around it.  They believe that because of this, there is no need to pay for the magnetic ink when they can just continue their job and be conscious of people attempting to steal.  
• What:
• As one of the managers of a grocery store expressed, "People who steal are still going to find ways around any system to steal.  So what is the point of investing in something if people are still going to shoplift?" It is true that people will steal or attempt to steal with or without a special sensor.  This point that the manager brought up is valid; however, I hold contrasting beliefs as I feel that if there is a way to limit the problem, we should.  Yes, shoplifting will continue to occur; however, if we have a way to decrease the risk for theft, why not take advantage of it?
• Why: 
• I believe that the underlying cause of the outsider's need is different than that of people inside the boundary because the outsiders feel that there is no reason to attempt to eliminate theft if there is still possibilities for it to happen.  But people inside the boundary believe that if there is an opportunity to decrease the rate of theft, they should because every little bit of theft caught leads to a greater decrease in shoplifting as a whole and to a greater profit for these businesses. 

                          Inside the boundary                                               Outside the boundary

Who:    Small businesses (grocery stores)                         Small businesses who think that theft 

              who want to stop shoplifting in their stores.      will happen no matter what and there is 

              Businesses who are losing a profit due            no point in spending money to try to fix it.

                to theft.                                                            

What:   To reduce the rates of shoplifting.                         To completely eliminate shoplifting. 

              To increase actual sales and profit.                        To detect every single shoplifter.  

              To hold shoplifters accountable for actions. 

Why:   Customers think they can get away                   A business should be able to know what 

             with anything.                                                      is occurring in its store 24/7. 

             Business managers/owners notice a loss in 

             profit.

             A business can never see what is happening 

             in their store 24/7.