Micro markets are an amazing growth opportunity for operators in the vending or convenience services industry. They enable operators in closed-loop environments to build a profitable business by selling a wide variety of products and to offer their consumers a seamless and convenient shopping experience.
But, if there’s something that holds operators back from taking the leap, it’s the risk of micro market theft. Operators are used to seeing their products secured behind glass, but in micro markets, they’re easily accessible to consumers, allowing them to just grab and go. Micro markets are based on a system of honesty, and are usually placed in secure environments such as office buildings or hotel lobbies. Despite this, there is still a risk of theft. Below, we’ll highlight some steps you can take to prevent micro market theft.
Micro Market Location
First and foremost, you’ll want to make sure that your micro market is located at a secure location such as an office building, a hospital, a university, or a factory. These locations are not open to the broader public, and tend to have security cameras around. Building management is usually in charge of security, and can help you understand the building’s situation, where security cameras are already set up, which building location would be ideal for a micro market, and more.
Remote Monitoring
Micro markets require regular visits, whether it be to restock your products or just to check in on your business. However, you may not be able to visit as much as you would like, which is why you should also monitor your sales and inventory remotely using a mobile management app. Monitoring inventory on a daily basis will help you understand how your business is doing and identify if there is a problem. If your inventory monitoring tool says one thing, and your visit shows another product count, you’ll quickly be able to understand if there’s an issue and address it in a timely manner.
Signage
Adding a sign at checkout to indicate where the self-checkout kiosk is located will help customers understand that they need to pay and where to do so.
Pricing
Taking potential theft into account will help you plan your pricing better. Operators can experience around 2-4% theft, depending on their location type, so raising your prices a bit to take this into account will help you keep a healthy profit margin.
Go 100% Cashless
Accepting only cashless payment methods means that you won’t have any cash on site for anyone to steal. When choosing a cashless payment provider, you’ll want to make sure that they accept any type of cashless payment, from credit and debit cards to mobile wallets to prepaid cards. This allows your customers to choose how they pay, and gives them multiple options which means that you’ll never miss out on a sale.
Micro Market Security Systems
Having security cameras installed and signs that indicate that the micro market is under surveillance will help deter most thieves. And showing a live stream of the video surveillance on a monitor on one of the shelves can be even more effective.
Checkout Screen on Your Self-Checkout Kiosk
Nayax’s Nova Market self-checkout kiosk will display a yellow screen when a transaction is completed. If a transaction is canceled or isn’t successfully completed, a red screen will appear. Make sure your security camera has a clear view of the checkout screen to help you notice if a consumer leaves the micro market without completing the checkout process when you review the security cameras.
On top of the red and yellow screens, Nova Market also logs stopped, interrupted, or incomplete transactions, allowing operators to gain a certain level of control over “accidental” theft.
Now that you’re armed with the proper knowledge about how to prevent theft at your micro market, you can come up with a plan. Though there will never be a 100% foolproof way to prevent theft, taking these measures will greatly reduce the risk and will help you protect your micro market profits.
Ready to get started with micro markets? Contact us today.