Loss Control & Retail Loss Prevention

Before deploying anyone, it helps to know what kind of loss you are dealing with. In retail, wholesale and distribution, shrinkage usually comes from a mix of:

• External theft, from opportunistic shoplifters to organised groups targeting high-value lines.
• Internal theft, such as sweethearting at tills, goods hidden in refuse or staff bags, and fraudulent refunds.
• Supplier and delivery losses, where short deliveries are signed for or goods leave on the wrong vehicle.
• Administrative errors, including incorrect stock counts and pricing mistakes that hide real losses.

Our first job is to help you separate these so effort goes where it counts.

Depending on the site, we deploy a combination of uniformed and plain-clothes personnel.

Uniformed loss control officers

Positioned at entrances, exits, receiving bays and staff gates to conduct agreed bag and parcel checks, check goods against invoices, and act as a visible deterrent.

Store detectives

Plain-clothes officers who move through the store, watch high-risk areas and alert uniformed staff or management when theft is in progress. For longer-term observation of suspected internal theft, see our undercover security service.

All officers are PSIRA-registered and screened. They are briefed on your search policy, how to handle suspects respectfully and when to involve SAPS. Any detention is limited to what the law allows for a citizen's arrest.

Officers on the floor catch theft; good procedures prevent it. As part of a loss control assignment we review how your site handles the moments where stock and cash change hands, and recommend practical fixes such as:

• receiving procedures that check counts and seals before signatures;
• separating staff entrances from goods exits and controlling refuse removal;
• staff bag and locker rules applied consistently at shift change;
• till, refund and void controls that management actually reviews;
• positioning of high-value stock and CCTV coverage of key points, alongside our CCTV services.

We keep recommendations proportionate to your business, so they are followed rather than ignored after a month.

Loss control should show up in your numbers. Our officers keep incident logs, and supervisors summarise trends: when incidents happen, which lines are targeted and where procedures were bypassed. We review these with you regularly and compare them with your own stock-count and shrinkage figures.

When an incident involves a staff member, we provide factual statements to support your internal process; the disciplinary decision remains yours. Where the evidence points to a wider problem, our investigations team can take the matter further.

Contracts may be ongoing or for a defined period, such as the festive season, stock-take or a new store opening, and are confirmed after assessment.