Stuff arranged outside big supermarkets/DIY stores. Do they care expect it to get stolen?

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potato_merchant@reddit

My issue is they locate it somewhere shit, like I've already paid for my shopping and now walking past a bunch of crap after the checkouts that I have no intention of going back in to pay for.

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mousey76397@reddit

They intend for you to get it on the way in I think.

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potato_merchant@reddit

Of course, but a number of stores have it in a weird location that you only pass after the checkouts

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

I take a photo of the barcode, so I can pay for it at the till with my regular shopping then collect it on my way out. They've always been OK with that (Aldi, B&M).

(I buy big bags of compost fairly often.)

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fuck_peeps_not_sheep@reddit

Home bargins puts the soil past the counter by the out door but theres a big yellow line that says “tell us how much you need at the till and grab it on the way out”

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mousey76397@reddit

Ooh that's nice, then I don't have to cart it round the shop.

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NatoXemus@reddit

They generally have barcodes they scan for the on the till station somewhere and operate on the honour system that you'll take just what you paid for.

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romeo__golf@reddit

A lot less gets stolen than you'd think, most people are honest.

Most theft tends to be items which are high value and quick to move on. The occasional bag of missing charcoal or tub of screen wash barely registers.

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I do inventory management. You're right about the charcoal, you're wrong about everything else. They are stealing everything that fits in a pocket or handbag. Mostly luxuries. Will see thousands of pounds in shrink on sweets and chocolates weekly, not as much on dried pulses. Branded products are the most likely to be stolen, i.e. Will regularly take shrink on neurofen or big brand vitamin gummies, but the inventory on own brand generics (exact same medical benefit) is usually safe from corruption.

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SamVimesBootTheory@reddit

Yeah I work in an outdoor clothing shop we get a fair bit of shoplifting and most of it is fairly lightweight/small stuff and people are probably either shoving things into bags or wearing items out so you don't realise

We did have someone steal shoes once by switching theirs into the box

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fiendofecology@reddit

Used to work for a pricey outdoor clothing shop. People would run in, grab a rail of North Face fleeces/coats, and run out. Once had two young lads steal something and walk out and when I walked out and tried to grab his bag (which by the way was foil lined - still set off the alarm though lmao) he tried to smack me with his crutches! Who goes shoplifting in crutches! Mental.

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Any-Pattern8246@reddit

The one who is pretending to have an injury on their leg just use it as an excuse of "you think an injured person like me would steal? I'm on crutches lady/guy (delete where appropriate to the gender of the person who is trying to save their shop's products)

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DameKumquat@reddit

Large heavy items (charcoal, compost) and awkward items (plants) don't get shoplifted much as they can't be slipped under a coat and there's a limit to how many you can carry and still run fast.

As opposed to steaks, razor blades, chocolate bars etc.

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firefly232@reddit

Lol now I am imagining a bunch of elderly gardeners commissioning youngsters to pinch the compost and they paid in crocheted blankets, cups of tea, and life advice....

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phatboi23@reddit

paid in crocheted blankets, cups of tea, and life advice....

solid trade haha

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MrPogoUK@reddit

Which always makes me wonder what’s going on when items with a poor size to value ratio have special security measures. They must have been targeted at some point for them to now be locked in a plastic box etc, but there are dozens of more expensive and smaller things in the supermarket that are simply out on the shelves.

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Crazyh@reddit

There is a breed of shoplifter whose entire MO is quantity over quality, they sweep an entire armful of stuff from a shelf into a bag and leg it. Sticking the small objects in big plastic boxes limits how much they can nick in one go.

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More-Yard5742@reddit

I don't run when shoplifting, the staff don't care or challenge you so just casually walk out. Who wants compost when I can have Glade plug ins and bags of coffee beans for my grinder :)

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Who’s gonna pinch the £5 bottle of screenwash when they can slip £40 in their pocket easily with other products

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the01li3@reddit

The thing I found to be most "stolen" was anything that was weighed that was large. And that was mainly cos people weighed the leeks, or leg of lamb or something with one side of it leaning against something, intentionally or not I'm not sure.

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Boboshady@reddit

It's usually bulky and with very little resale value, so hard to nick, easy to get caught with if someone does decide to challenge you (or you have to dump it to get away), and then you don't make much money on it anyway.

So high risk, low reward - this is not what most people are looking for when they're stealing stuff.

I'm absolutely sure some people do steal stuff for themselves, but people are more honest than the news would have you think, certainly those who are looking to re-compost their borders.

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fuck_peeps_not_sheep@reddit

The only time it bothers me is when you take one bag, but ask the staff to ring you up for 5 and grab the rest on the way to you car because i feel sketchy doing that even tho ive paied for it

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bacon_cake@reddit

I think moments like that make you realise just how much of the world runs on the honour system.

I mean bricks and mortar retail is mad when you think about it; a company fills their warehouse with expensive stock and just lets the general public walk around, pick it themselves, touch it, break it, nick it. Madness!

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phatboi23@reddit

The only time it bothers me is when you take one bag, but ask the staff to ring you up for 5

i've been lazy/smart before.

took a picture of the barcode and gone to the till and said "we're having 6 of the compost, didn't want to lug it the other side of the building..."

they just scanned my phone and let me and my mate get on with it.

we were extra smart and brought our own wheelbarrow to move them haha

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Boboshady@reddit

This. It's up there with going retrieving a parcel from a neighbour's porch when they're not in themselves. It's mine, it has my name and address on it. I still like like the entire street must be watching me, and I put a proper show on of checking the address properly, in view of everyone, and being overly deliberately NOT sneaky (which must actually look as sus AF).

Oh, and in your example, don't forget the "don't worry, I've paid for them hahahaha" to anyone who even remotely looks in your direction, even though they definitely didn't ask.

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fuck_peeps_not_sheep@reddit

I have the receipt in my hand and im ready to wave it anyone who thinks im theif lol

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

That covers pretty much exactly what I was gonna write.

It's just not worth the hassle (to shoplifters).

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Unable_Obligation_73@reddit

Have you been doing some research

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sihasihasi@reddit

It's pretty obvious, TBF.

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aggromidg3t@reddit

They put this stuff at my local lidl and it gets ransacked in the space of an hour, people will steal anything, we had to move the same sort of stuff inside to minimise theft when I worked at Asda

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Boboshady@reddit

Scrotery does tend to congregate, like any other demographic, so it wouldn't surprise me that there's some shops that have to nail everything down, regardless of how worthless it is to sell on.

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Mission_Beach_7098@reddit

Not the same product but I used to run a convenience store and we had a newspaper stand in front of the entrance. My area manager was convinced they would be stolen and got me to move them inside. Sales fell about a third so I ran the numbers and found we'd never had a single copy stolen when they were sat outside.

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emergencyexit@reddit

I heard an Arab proverb or something about books not needing to be locked up because thieves don't read

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surfermark99@reddit

Cheap, bulky and heavy.

The intention is you see it on the way in. Pay for it at the till. Then pick it up once outside on the way to your car. You're not expected to carry 20kg of soil around the supermarket.

Yes, a couple bags get stolen sometimes. They make up for it with increased sales from the high visibility, rather than Thousands of kilos of stock sitting in the 'seasonal aisle' that everyone misses on their weekly shop.

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New_Libran@reddit

As someone who's done retail loss prevention before, absolutely no shoplifter gives af about those items. Alcohol, meat, razors, things like that, now you're talking

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fuck_peeps_not_sheep@reddit

And cheese… seriously cheese is stolen a lot in the uk

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New_Libran@reddit

Yes, deli stuff - cheese, seafood platters can be easily sold in dodgy pubs

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KingForceHundred@reddit

Customers in flat-roof pubs love sushi.

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markvauxhall@reddit

Nobody has ever tried to sell me a sack of compost in the pub

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spikewilliams2@reddit

There's a pub near me called the gardener's arms, you should try there.

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spikewilliams2@reddit

I always think the bigger question is who buys it? I'm not going through the tills again for that.

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No-Information4986@reddit

You planning on a spree?

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castielsbitch@reddit

The plants get nicked quite a lot but for the amount they're worth it's not seen as a big deal, and they're only on sale for a few months a year. It's all the steak and alcohol that gets stolen we're more worried about because it happens everyday all year round.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

More effort for them to stack it inside with lost floor space than they lose in theft. Charcoal is the only one I'd have thought would be worth it to anyone. Do a big shop, get your trolley out, you could even load up in plain sight and I'd probably assume they pre-paid for it at the till or something.

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DeifniteProfessional@reddit

Being lower value bulky items is a key thing here. A few bags of charcoal definitely go missing. Someone walks through and swipes one all the time, I'm sure, but the risk>reward value is low, so anyone with a low moral compass but any shred of self preservation won't try it, and stealing enough (by loading up a trolley or something) just takes far too long

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

My local Aldi has a load of van dwellers living opposite which often have fires going. I don't want to automatically accuse but it seems something that must be awfully tempting if reliant on it for warmth. Rather than say someone buying it for a future barbecue.

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DeifniteProfessional@reddit

Wouldn't want to accuse, but sometimes assumptions and stereotypes write themselves

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loveswimmingpools@reddit

They put the alcohol far away from the entrances for the reason that it's valuable.

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chennypear@reddit

Ive noticed supermarkets selling plants and they dont water them so they die. What a waste

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Specialist_Emu7274@reddit

Not a supermarket but used to work in a garden centre so we had a lot of stuff outside, and naturally we were usually understaffed. Stuff got stolen but it was rarely plants/compost, kids toys were stolen literally all the time. To the point someone was always standing in that area and extra cameras were put up. I generally think stuff like that is too big and/or has limited resale value

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