Do you own a retail business in Alberta? If so, you’ll probably know just how important it is to implement a security plan that properly protects your assets, your employees and your livelihood from theft.

This is even more important after new figures from Statistics Canada found a surge in shoplifting in Calgary - part of a growing trend across Alberta and Canada as a whole. In fact, shoplifting was largely responsible for Calgary’s growing crime rate last year.

Across the whole of Alberta, the incidence of shoplifting (including theft both below and above $5,000) climbed by 23 per cent in a year - from 17,673 total incidents in 2017 to 21,802 in 2018.

According to Statistics Canada, in the five years since 2014 - when oil prices bottomed out and sent the provincial economy into recession - the incidents of shoplifting surged by 82 per cent.

In Calgary alone, the number of shoplifting incidents has risen steadily by 62 per cent - from 3,715 incidents in 2014 to 6,012 in 2018. Since 2017, incidents have grown 30 per cent.

So, with shoplifting on the rise, how do you ensure that your retail business is secure from theft? Sonitrol Western Canada has listed three key tips here to help protect your company’s assets:

1 - Implement managed access control

Locks aren’t as secure as many people think they are, especially when you take into account lost keys. That’s why managed access control - or keyless entry - will properly secure your retail business.

Through the use of access cards, badges or fobs to unlock doors that use electric locks, your business will remove the need for a physical key while significantly improving security at the same time.

Through managed access control you’ll be able to restrict your most valuable rooms to authorized individuals, have the ability to track which employees are in which room at any given time, as well as ensuring criminals can’t access your property.

2 - Limit the amount of cash you keep on-site

While criminals will take any of the items in your shop that they can get their hands on, their main incentive for being in your store will be to get away with cash. That’s why you should reduce the amount of money you keep on your premises.

By minimizing the amount of cash kept in your tills and your store in general, as well as increasing cash pickups or deposit runs - you’ll be able to minimize the damage that shoplifters can do, even if the worst-case scenario was to happen.

3 - Install verified video security

If you have never heard of a verified security system before or your retail business doesn’t use one, then now is the time to start!

Verified alarms are one of the best ways to protect your retail store from theft, vandalism and any other criminals acts. That’s because verified alarms use innovative audio detection and heat/motion sensors to send a live stream broadcast directly to a remote monitoring station - which is then able to either verify that the alarm is real or if it’s a false alarm.

If the alarm is a real security threat then a remote security professional will provide real-time information to the police, significantly improving the rate of apprehension and saving your business money.

If the alarm is false, security professionals will simply not call the police - significantly reducing the rate of false alarms compared with conventional CCTV systems.

Want to learn more about how verified video works and how it can be used to secure the unique needs of your retail store? Contact Sonitrol Western Canada today, we would be more than happy to answer any questions you have.