Jonny Harrison is sailing to Australia from the UK via the Panama Canal before he starts work in Sydney on a secondment at his firm PricewaterhouseCoopers »
Andrew Hebden is Assistant Editor (Business) of The Journal »
Katie Pringle has started her own business, Rock, Paper, Scissors »
Andrew Mernin is the Digital Journalist for nebusiness »
Matthew Rippon is an IP lawyer for BHP Law »
Formerly editor of a national business lifestyle magazine, Jez Davison is a business writer for the Evening Gazette in Teesside »
Ross Smith, Head of Policy and Research at the North-East Chamber of Commerce »
Julian Christopher from Footprint Public Relations, on media and marketing »
Norma Foster from the North East Regional Portal writes about e-business »
Ian Brown, Northumberland farmer and businessman writes about the agricultural industry »
Accessibilty Champion Steve Wilkinson on the importance of inclusion »
Andrea Wilkinson of Shared Interest is visiting Rwanda to deliver business training »
Jonathan Wheatley from Stokesley-based MC Ware writes about IT matters »
Paul Williamson from Deloitte »On saturday I was in the co-operative shop I'm a member of doing a duty day. A duty day is basically an un-paid days work in what has become a depressingly quiet shop.*
Quiet that is apart from one distinct group of shoppers.
Several times over the last few weeks the shop has been the target of shop lifters who have stolen then 'returned' items for a full refund.
Bearing in mind we're a co-operative and everyone makes the products we sell, you may be thinking that these people are the lowest of the low but when they're the only potential customers you're getting through the door I think I can be forgiven for trying the hard sell on them as they try to edge their way back out the door.
'Photo-journal to record your most special theiving experiences madam?!'
The knowledge that shop-lifters are about has turned me into some kind of hyper-suspicious Nancy Drew type figure. People who aren't even in the shop become the target of my internal judgement - a man with a large jacket featuring un-zipped pockets (just right for stashing stolen goods) would be ashamed of himself if he knew what I suspected him of as he went innocently about his business.
Of course the problem with this mindset is that you do start to see everyone as a potential shop-lifter and not as a potential customer.
I know as a shopper that one of the most uncomfortable experiences you can have is walking into a shop that is completely bereft of customers and have the shop assistant watch your every nervous move. The result is that you do a quick lap of the shop and then scarper as fast as you can, leaving the shop assistant to sigh knowingly: 'I knew she wasn't here to buy anything.'
I have started to wonder how it is that we have so successfully marketed ourselves to the shop-lifting community and yet been so unsuccessful in targeting the customers we want to attract (mainly paying ones!)
Answers on a postcard please. Or just leave a comment, that's probably easier!
Search: YouTube for: Extreme Shoplifting caught on camera. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpgxVTOmNE
* A co-operative works by having members (in our shop there is about 14 or 15 members) who pay rent to have a space in the shop where they can display their hand-created products and in return any sales go directly to them. The shop is manned by it's members who do days in the shop which aren't paid. There is no shop 'owner' so to speak, and the shop doesn't 'buy' the goods and then mark them up to sell on to customers, instead each member decides how much they want to charge for their products.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »