Types of Employee Theft in Retail Business in Kenya

When thinking about threats to your retail store, shoplifting is probably number one, right? The idea of someone sneaking thousands of shillings worth of products into a giant bag and walking out with them is horrifying, isn’t it? Well, unfortunately, there’s a threat that might be even higher on your list: your employees. Whether you’re running a mini-supermarket, a wines & spirits outlet, hardware or any other form of retail/wholesale business- employee theft in retail business in Kenya is a REAL THREAT.

Whether you’re running a mini-supermarket, a wines & spirits outlet, hardware or any other form of retail/wholesale business-employee theft in retail business in Kenya is a REAL THREAT.

A local study of retail theft found that employees who steal from retailers average Ksh 15,800 in theft, while the average shoplifter will only take about Ksh 550. That’s pretty shocking. Of course, it should be emphasized that it is only a small minority of your employees who will actively steal from you. I would also like to add that many of your well-meaning employees may accidentally contribute to your losses by making errors during inventory count or misunderstanding policies or discounts and giving them at the wrong time.

Types of employee theft in retail business in Kenya

There are numerous ways an employee can actively steal from a retailer these days, but here are few main ones:

Stealing products

Employees might steal products from you, whether to keep for themselves or to sell somewhere on the internet. One classic method for stealing products is to hide something in the trash when they take it out, which they will retrieve from the dumpster later. Employees may also hide small items on their person or in their bags. This is one of the most rampant type of employee theft in retail business in Kenya

Gift card theft

Gift card theft is very popular these days, largely because it’s difficult to detect. There are various methods to pull off this scam, but typically, employees will issue fake refunds to gift cards they will keep. They may also give a customer purchasing a gift card a blank gift card while keeping the loaded one. This form of employee theft in retail business in Kenya is dangerous.

Employees may also hide small items on their person or in their bags. This is one of the most rampant type of employee theft in retail business in Kenya

“Sweethearting”

“Sweethearting” is when a cashier will opt to not ring up goods that a friend or family member wishes to take from the store. It can also be when a cashier falsely gives their store discount to their friends or family members.

Skimming

Employees have been skimming off the top of the cash drawer for years. Employees who know that you won’t care about a discrepancy of a few hundreds in the cash drawer may take advantage of you by slowly skimming quite a large amount of cash over time.

Why do employees steal?

There are likely as many reasons as there are thieves but often, it’s a disgruntled employee. Perhaps they’re stealing for revenge on the store for some reason. Perhaps it’s because they think they deserve a raise that they haven’t gotten. Perhaps it’s because they are in a bad way financially and really need help. But not all employees steal for these reasons either. Some, like those who participate in “sweethearting,” may believe that they’re just helping out a friend with their employment perks.

Check out next article on HOW TO STOP EMPLOYEE THEFT IN RETAIL BUSINESS IN KENYA with #SimbaPOS Retail Software