Fitting Rooms

Fitting rooms are havens for shoplifters because you're not allowed by law to watch people when they're in there. But you can do two main things to reduce your losses from shoplifters -- restrict access to the fitting rooms, and monitor the clothes going in and coming out.

Restrict Access

Small stores

keep the fitting room doors locked when no one's using them. This way you'll know who is in there.

Big stores

put an attendant in the fitting rooms. This person can assist with customers' selections, and monitor the clothes people take in and out of the fitting rooms.

Monitor Clothes

count how many items someone is taking into the fitting room, and make sure they come out with the same number

if you have a busy store, give customers going into the fitting room a pre-numbered tag corresponding to the number of garments they have. This keeps the attendants from having to remember details about each person.

limit the number of garments that can be taken into the fitting room at one time

be sure to check the fitting rooms frequently for garments left behind. Pay special attention to price tags and hangers left around -- these may be evidence that shoplifting has occurred.