In my travels through the retail universe I am

still surprised how many retailers fail to capitalize

on the power of impulse purchases at the cash

desk.

Many believe that impulse shopping is relegated

to grocery stores as well as big box department

type outlets. Actually every retailer should experiment

with Impulse Purchases for many compelling reasons:

The customer is likely at the cash desk ready to

make a purchase. They’re in a mindset to spend

some money.

If they are buying something in your store, they

already view your store with credibility and are

confident in buying from you.

There is an inherent fixed overhead involved in their

store visit. Adding an impulse purchase, even a small

item will dramatically add to the profit generated by the

purchase.

Sometimes customers evoke impulse purchases no matter

how small, because they feel like they “discovered” the item at

a somewhat unlikely moment.

Impulse purchases can be logical add ons to the staple items you

sell. If you sell electronics, common supplies for printers, DVD’s

for DVD players or even reams of paper will surely be fast sellers.

The best thing to do is experiment with what sells well for your genre

of retail as impulse purchases. Fixturing that sits at eye level at the

cash desk is available from suppliers making implementation low

risk and economical.

By the way, if you don’t think Impulse Purchasing is worth the

effort, one Canadian retailer does over $100 million a year just in

Impulse Purchases at the cash desk!

Take Action Today

1. Select an array of products for your stores as the start of your

Impulse Purchasing Program. You may also consider special

purchases, perhaps of a novel nature that customers will be

happy to “discover”. Novelty items like 5 in 1 camping tools in

camping and hiking stores are classic impulse purchases.

2. Get some on-the-counter fixturing from local suppliers as well

as some floor racks you can put at the cash desk.

3. Experiment with new products in the impulse racks on a weekly

basis. Make sure that you do not place items that may be small

high risk for theft items.

4. Monitor sales on a weekly basis. Ideally you should create a

separate Point of Sale department so that you can accurately

isolate impulse purchases.

5. Impulse Purchase programs can be a separate business venture

under the umbrella of the store. Larger organizations should assign

one senior individual to manage and monitor the program.

Learn More About Retail Sales

Retailers Can Build Team Spirit With This Great Concept

By Ron Pawlowski

 Heres a great strategy for any organization that wants to

improve morale and give recognition to the employees who

have demonstrated exemplary customer service or done

great work in some other aspect of their jobs.

The great part of this program is that praise is not given

by the management or senior players of the company.

Praise is given to peers from peers. Coworkers are

encouraged to recognize great work within their team

and share it with the rest of the company.

Those that receive praise get points and those that

give praise also earn points for their unselfish support

of their peers.

The benefits of this program include:

A positive culture for the company where staff

support and praise each other

A reward system that doesn’t need to be costly

to be motivational and effective

Sharing great work with the rest of the employees.

Stories of great work inspire others to try harder.

Take Action Today

Devise a point system for your Employee Commendation

Program. Recipients of praise by peers can get 5 points

for example and those that give praise can get 1 point

as well.

Create a simple form where employees can document and

submit stories of great work to the Home Office.

Share these great stories with all the other employees

across the chain.

Offer rewards when a certain level of points are earned.

These can include gift certificates, prizes or time off for

the recipient.

Learn More About Retail Leadership

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 In the past, compared to other investment options like stocks and options, forex trading had been rather unregulated. Recently, there have been lots of talks, rumors and opinions about the proposed changes to forex trading in US by Commodities Futures Trading Commissions (in other words CFTC). What does it all mean? How can this affect you? Is it a good time to change your broker?

Let us first look at what exactly is included in those panic-creating adjustments:

1. Forex Brokers would be required to register with CFTC as retail foreign exchange dealers.

2. Brokers would have to possess a certain capital to minimize the chance of broker bankruptcy.

3. Introducing brokers would be required to agree to exclusive contracts with the dealers.

4. Last, but not least, the worst case scenario the minimization of the leverage option to 10:1.

Despite the fact that the potential regulation is likely to benefit the traders, since CFTCs watchful eye over brokers will surely minimize fraud, based on the reaction from industry insiders and traders themselves, the majority are opposed to the new proposal. Most traders are planning to, if not already done so, switch to overseas brokers.

Why do US traders turn to off-shore brokers?

Lets recall The NFA regulatory hammer in 2008, which lead to a serious drop in the number of forex brokers operating in US. The lack of choice and forceful unnecessary leverage minimization will force all US traders to move the account offshore. To make things worse, just like with online casinos, the government will most likely to figure out the way to stop US-based traders from trading offshore either.

What does the limit of margin actually mean?

The current leverage standard is 1:100, meaning that a trader borrows 100 times as much money as he/she actually invests in trading. Those who arent closely familiar with forex trading, link it directly gambling, however, US retail forex is not what it used to be few years ago.

If forex is a casino, what is next? Maybe we should add commodities and stock exchanges to gambling category as well! Forex is not gambling it is trading one currency for another. There are economic, political and governmental factors that influence the market movements. Currencies are the basis that holds together the whole trading system this is much more sophisticated than putting down chips on the random number and waiting for the roulette wheel to give you a random answer.

What can you possibly do with 10:1 leverage? Nothing! Seems like the attempt to drastically raise margin is a transparent effort to wipe off retail forex. After all, this is the only way an regular trader like you and I can stay in the game.

We all need 100:1 leverage accounts. This is the only way not only to trade and earn, but also to risk less, since the beginners can learn and practice with smaller accounts.

If government is so desperately hunting down gambling, how come they do not regulate Las Vegas instead? I mean, people lose much larger sums of money in one game of blackjack, for example.

As you can see, it has nothing to do with the gambling. It is all about who is getting the money. In case of Las Vegas, the money stays in States. In case of forex brokers (similar to online casinos), the money is floating out, which is, of course, uncomfortable for the country leaders.

The point is that irresponsible, impulsive traders will blow up their account no matter what margin they choose 400:1, 100:1, 10:1 or even less. Leverage doesnt matter when a trader doesnt know how to minimize the risks and manage the money. The only way to become a professional trader is to learn the market, follow the plan, stay disciplined or otherwise invest in something else!

Forex Brokers

Forex Alerts and Signals

Forex Links

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 Retail Stores and shops merchant business cash business loans and advances, up to $150,000 with interest rates starting as little as 15% are obtainable in nowadayss lending markets. These merchant retail store and shop cash loans are obtainable for a large amount of businesses in service for one year or more.

A retail store business cash loan or merchant cash might be remedy your small business needs for an infusion of working capital. As the economy has weakened, numerous businesses have a require of a cash infusion and/or working capital to obtain them through these hard times.

As lending has tightended its credit principles and less money is out there small businesses have to obtain alternative ways of obtaining credit. In the prior, the spread in real estate prices and easy credit was a way countless small businesses were obtaining capital. Due to the real estate recession and troubles in the financing community, this is no longer an alternative for the small business. An alternative to this hard cash flow and/or working capital dilemma can be resolved in the business cash advance or the merchant hard cash improve region. This industry is based upon a divergent set of values which we will describe beneath..

Primarily of all, what is a retail store or shop currency merchant improve? .. An established retail store business in existence for one year or additional with visa and mastercard sales can qualfiy for a loan or a merchant cash raise on their past activity up to $150,000 from a lending organization and $750,000 or additional per location from a true merchant cash improve company. The monthly average of their visa and mastercard sales x 1.5 will be a qualifying amount that the bank will fund up to. Here is an example for you, assuming your business averages monthly $50,000 for visa and mastercard sales over the last year. The lending institution will use that $50,000 x 1.5, therefore your lending base will be $75,000 for this example. Pretty neat, bet you didnt know these programs were even out there.

For this advance retail store and shop loan program discussed in the existing day, this program allows you to acquire 1.25 x your monthly average of your master, visa, discover cards. This program is buying a piece of your future cards based upon your prior performance. The repayment amount is a fixed percentage of what you collect subsequently. Furthermore, this program will advance up to $750,000.

Here is an example of this retail store and/or shop program, lets say your average monthly average credit cards sales average $100,000 per month and the raise company oks a advance of $125,000. They will apply a percentage to this amount say 15% and after funding, every credit public sale you collect they will be paid 15%. If you have a remarkable or a bad day, the percentage is constantly the same. This process will continue until the amount is paid off. Once you pay off 80% of the advance, you can apply for another advance or merchant business loan

.

This program isnt Fico driven which is a reason many companies cant qualify at the lender these days security and personal guarantees. Usually, these cash advances are paid off in months not years. This program doesnt require personal income tax returns and additional possession documentationThere are no application fees and/or this improve doesnt effect your existing working capital line at a financial institution if that applies.. One thing you should be familiar with, this merchant hard cash upgrade company will require you to change your processor. They will in addition guarantee to beat the rates your are paying at the current moment and offer additional perks that they will assist you in any resistance you might have.

Another benefit to this currency merchant retail store and shop lend program is that you can utilization these monies for whatever purpose you had in mind. Whether it is expansion capital, pay off old bills, debt consolidation, recent equipment acquistions, buying recent inventories, etc it is your assessment..

The qualifications. to acquire this retail store and shop program ready is for the applcant to fill out the cash advance or loan application and fax the detailed pages of your last four months merchant statements and three months financial institution statements to your lend company.

The approval process takes as low as 24-48 hours and the funding within 7 business days

OTHER PERTINENT FACTS FOR THE MERCHANT BUSINESS LOAN PROGRAM .

GASOLINE AND GAS STATION LOANS UP TO $150,000

TIB

1-3 YEARS…. 1.00 X C.C VISA/MASTERCARD/DISCOVERY

3-5 YEARS…. . 1.25 X C.C

OVER 5 YEARS…. .1.5 X CC

LOANS ELIGIBILITY BASED UPON AVERAGE FOUR MONTHS CREDIT CARD

SALES X RATE ABOVE…..

RATES… 1-3 YEARS……..3-5 YEARS………OVER 5 YEARS

6 MONTHS 22% 15% 15%

9 MONTHS. Contact Contact Contact

12 MONTHS…………….. .N/A Contact Contact

CREDIT REQUIREMENT…..CREDIT SCORE NOT SO IMPORTANT …

NO MAJOR PAST DUE PAYMENTS, BOUNCED CHECKS,

LOOKING FOR FINANCIAL STABILITY CUSTOMERS ….

INDUSTRIES……ALL EXCEPT ADULT STORES AND FURNITURE STORES

UNDER TEN YEARS…..*****************************

PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS……

THREE MONTHS BANK STATEMENTS ALL DETAILS

FOUR MONTHS MERCHANT STATEMENTS….TOTAL INFO

PERSONAL GUARANTEES FOR MOST STATES…..YES

OUTSTANDING CASH MERCHANT RETAIL STORE AND SHOP ADVANCES HAVE TO PAID OFF BY THIS LENDER BASED UPON LOAN ELIGIBILITY CALCULATION

Loans Amounts Range From $5000 to $150,000

Up To Half the Interest Rates, Check out our Rates vs our Competitors

Poor Personal Credit Accepted, Not an Issue for our Offer Program

Up To One Year To Pay Furnish, Not 6-8 Months like our Competitors

To Pre-qualify for a loan you will be required to have an average of $3000 monthly credit card sales

No Large, fixed monthly costs, the lender receives a percentage of your credit card sales so the offer is repaid with the flow of business cycle

No Tax returns, Lending statements or acquisition documentation are mandatory

Your loan can be approved within two days and funded within seven business days

Take pleasure in the best merchant offer provisions with no charges and no late fees

Bank isnt FICO Score driven and focus on the crucial position credit background, Previous Bankruptcies No Dilemma

You {mustought tobe obligatory to own your business for at least one year

The maximum the lender will typicallyoffer is about 1.5 X Your Monthly Visa/MasterCard Sales Average, Competitors 1.25 X

Happy shopping for your retail store and shop merchant cash business loan and advance..

J.M Luna has over thirty years experience in the financial field. This includes business loans, financing, leasing and hard aset money loans.

U.S Corporate Capital Leasing assists the start up and seasoned businesses for all their retail store financing needs.

http://www.cclgequipmentleasing.com.cashadvances.htm

http://www.cclgequipmentleasing.com/cashadvances-150k.htm

Grab your Customer’s awareness!

By Roberto Garabell

 Merchandising worn to be musing of as a garbage of money for businesses managing on a small resources. You can obtain further details here http://brandingandmarketing.org. Attractive displays were kept for the wealthy and successful large franchise food. nowadays, there are more small businesses than ever and youve got to find a way to get upfront. You neediness to make manually sole and singular in every way doable. The way to do that is to pay interest to note. name your icon and interest interest at the same time by concentrating on merchandising as an important part of your marketing mean.

Figure out what sole amenities and harvest you have to tender and vigor those thoughts and harvest. Be steady to free on all the promises that you make and cane to your limited party theme. desire racks and flooring procedure that tally your retail marketing mean. custody your theme in tend, you can desire chrome, black, brushed nickel or other metals for your pose racks. intend your ramparts and counters to tally every position of the shop.

Small minutiae should horseplay an important function as well. Even your clothes hangers can interest customers, attract them to waste more money, pose your substance in a assenting illumine and advance customers to restore. High-quality stilted hangers give the impression of timelessness and endurance of the invention. Live up to your customers expectations by providing condition minutiae around every bend.

Your symbols and promotions should deputize the feelings and impressions that you would like to convey regarding your custom. High-end food shouldnt use cheap-looking symbols or bad text flyers. This can show on your custom and shot the patron off. cane to high condition, steadfast, well written equipment when you have a selling or mart.

A need of lighting or even illegal lighting can shot customers elsewhere or theyll minimally not sight your shop. Youve exhausted the money on your place, celestial and merchandise, now concentrate on the minutiae. Lighting is an important part of your shopping environment. Do you want your customers excited or casually? Do you want to highlight certain new substance or interest interest to your mart racks? Lighting is important for attracting interest to certain areas, such as your pose bags, but it can also be worn to dissuade shoplifters. A faintly lit dressing scope or gloom corners secreted from the coins enter are encouraging for thieves. Dim lighting makes them feel more comfortable and like theyre not being watched.

Keep your porthole displays efficient regularly. Go using a theme that matches the spice, selling or aftermath that you are focusing on at the time. Keep the lighting interesting and have a vital central spit for people to showpiece on. shifting out your porthole displays regularly will help keep people interested in scrutiny out your shop over and over. Dont disregard the importance of all the little minutiae in your shop. You cant present not to.

Article Source : Article King Pro - Free Reprints and Distribution

Zoe Lopez contributes articles for Branding and Marketing. You can find extra details here http://www.brandingandmarketing.org.

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 Recently I spoke about competitive surveys. Theyre a great exercise that your staff can carry out out in the field to see how you stack up against those you battle with for market share.

Once youve got your competitive surveys, what do you do next? You can take the information and compare your strengths and weaknesses to the competition. Strategically, you should address your weaknesses but more important than that, develop and strengthen your competitive edge. In other words, what do you offer that your competition doesnt? Consider these situations when you develop your competitive edge:

Your competition may be in a better location than you, but you offer better shopping hours.

Their store is newer than yours but you offer better selection.

They advertise more than you do, but your store is better staffed.

They offer a lot of the same merchandise as you have, but your pricing is a better value statement.

Get the idea? If you take inventory of your store against the competitive survey, you can develop A COMPETITIVE EDGE to close more sales. Here are some other factors that may help you build your competitive edge:

1. More locations and more buying power mean better pricing.

2. More liberal refund policies enable customers to buy with confidence.

3. Faster special order systems get products to the customer in days and not weeks.

4. Wide size selection or overall store selection.

5. More knowledgeable staff.

6. Private label brands.

7. Better customer staffing and service.

8. Better store design, ambiance and signage.

9. More convenient shopping with easy to navigate merchandise plans.

10. Special events and training seminars that help educate customers.

You can likely generate a dozen or more advantages for your store(s) through a team brainstorming session.

After youve developed YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE, make a poster with all of them documented and share it with everyone in the store or chain.

If everyone on the floor understands what makes you better than your competition, they can now use these factors as closing tools. Better selection creates better customer choices and higher buyer confidence. Special events build superior relationships with customers and loyalty. Multiple locations enable you to find specific items in other stores and transfer them in to your store for your customers convenience.

All of these components of YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE helps your team close sales and build loyalty!

TAKE ACTION TODAY:

Complete your competitive surveys.

Determine what factors are superior in your store compared to the competition. What is better about your store and what do you do better?

Connect your COMPETITIVE EDGE with actions on the sales floor that will close customers.

Train and share YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE with all your staff and help staff use the COMPETITIVE EDGE to close sales.

Learn More About The Retail Competitive Edge

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 Are you into fashion and do you love clothes and current fashion trends? If so, you should consider a career in the fashion industry. Retail stores employment is for everyone. Whether you are an entry level applicant or a fashion expert, you can get a job in the fashion industry. You can be a sales clerk, researcher, textile or clothes buyer, distributor, wholesaler, and so on. There are so many different retail stores employment careers that you can choose based on your talent and interests.

Working in the fashion industry is exciting, fun, and glamorous. It is exciting because you can see how clothes undergo several processesfrom the fashion designer’s idea up to the store window display. It is also fun to look at new clothes and their interesting styles. There is also a bigger chance to rub elbows with celebrities and famous designers if you work in the fashion industry.

To be able to get into the fashion industry, you have to know some retail stores employment tips. Check out the paragraphs below.

- It would be a big advantage to study in a fashion school or get a degree related to fashion. You will have a bigger chance of getting accepted in a higher position and more glamorous job if you have a degree in fashion. The people who have a fashion degree usually end up in the creative aspect of the fashion industry. If you do not have a degree, you would end up in the manufacturing or production side of fashion, like in factories, which is not really bad.

- It is also important to establish your connections. This is one of those industries where the people you know are important if you want to get ahead. While you are still studying, you can make contacts with your professors or the people you meet in fashion gatherings like modelling events or fashion magazines functions. You can call, email, or visit them in their office if necessary. That is why it is important to always be friendly with the people you meet in one of those fashion-related parties or events.

- While you are still a student, you should try to get an internship in a retail store or any company related to fashion. Not only will you learn a lot about the things that are happening behind the scenes but you will also make contacts with people from the fashion world. If possible, choose a well-known fashion company that will look good in your resume when it is time for you to look for a job.

- Read a lot about fashion. Fashion comes and goes as fast as you can say the word “fashion.” It is important to always be updated with the current trends and what they consider fashion faux pas. You should be knowledgeable about your field.

- It is also important to dress the part. How will you get a job in the fashion world if you look like a fashion victim or someone who does not even know how to put an outfit together? Wear smart and fashionable clothes and always take care of yourself. Be confident. Confidence is important in the fashion industry because you will be meeting a lot of beautiful, glamorous, and powerful men and women.

Henry Kelts can help you if you’re in the process of looking for retail store jobs and want to explore all your career options and learn the best ways to go about applying for jobs. Visit job interviewing tips to learn more.

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5 Tips on How to Apply Online for a Retail Job

By Garrett36 Pierson36

 The Internet has made classified print ads an obsolete thing. In fact, the World Wide Web has been very efficient and instrumental in getting together jobseekers and employers. It has opened up employment opportunities for computer junkies who would not otherwise step out of their rooms to look for jobs.

If you are looking for a retail job and had not considered logging on, you do not know what you are missing. You could be working in the best retail store in town now, instead of moping about how opportunities have become elusive these days. If you want to find and land a retail job through the Internet, consider the following tips:

First: Start searching in recruitment websites. There are niche sites designed to connect professionals that have highly specialized skills with employers who are specifically looking for these types of persons. There are also sites that have a wider coverage in terms of its database of jobseekers and employers. For those who are trying to apply for a retail job, the best move is to go to bigger websites for more options if you have little or no experience yet, and to specialized websites if you have the experience to back you up.

Second: Explore both the new and old posts. Some online jobseekers simply scan the new posts, thinking that the older ones have probably been filled already. The best thing about applying for retail jobs online is that it is so easy to send out your resumes to your target companies with only a few clicks. It would be a different story if you were to hand-deliver your resume to every prospect. So go ahead, explore the job postings to as far back as you want.

Third: Mine the recruitment websites. Sometimes, for lack of a better appreciation of how the Internet and websites work, some jobseekers only end up merely scratching the surface when they look for retail jobs online. Continue looking for possible job postings once you see that you are overqualified for a particular job posting. Like a box of chocolate, you’ll never really know what you are going to get in job websites.

Fourth: Build your online network. LinkedIn.com is a great way to market yourself in a professional manner. Sites like LinkedIn connect you to colleagues and bosses, both present and previous. This gives you a means to get the word around that you are looking for fresh opportunities. And if you are really good at what you do, you can even get poached.

Fifth: Read before clicking “Send”. Don’t send your resume to just about every retail company that you find in the internet. It pays to edit your resume to tailor-fit it to a particular company before sending it. Hiring managers are especially keen on making sure that the people they are getting have great attention to detail, are diligent, and do not mind going out of their way.

The next time you log on to find a retail job, make sure to take this tips for better chances of landing employment.

Henry Kelts can help you if you’re in the process of looking for retail store jobs and want to explore all your career options and learn the best ways to go about applying for jobs. Visit job interviewing tips to learn more.

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 Many large and impersonal retailers believe that a paycheck is all employees look forward to from their jobs.

Studies validate time and again that employees who feel a connection to the organization will

rise to the challenges we face in tougher times. Smaller retailers can create an engaged work environment where employees feel a greater sense of belonging and obligation to the company and their peers.

This sense of commitment motivates employees to go the extra mile to keep retailers prospering even

when their competitors lose market share. How can we earn top loyalty from our employees? It goes far beyond what we pay them. Consider these best methods to create an engaged environment for your team:

Make employees part of the decision process. Many decisions within the organization may be positively

influenced with meaningful feedback from your team on the sales floor. Their interaction on a day to day basis with customers offers the best source of information in regards to what customers want from your organization.

Solicit opinions and feedback on issues that directly affect employees and their job parameters. Let them feel ownership to decisions made about their schedules, benefits, work shifts etc.

Good work should be recognized and praised. All companies that have a culture of connected employees

formally reward those that excel at their jobs.

Encourage a culture of recognition amongst peers. Create a co-supportive environment where employees

can come forward to praise their own coworkers.

Make sure that decisions made within the organization are promptly shared with the employees. Engaged employees should always be the first to know what is evolving in the company. Often, employees gather from outside sources or read developments in the newspaper about their company and feel demoralized that they weren’t informed by their corporate leaders.

Develop well defined career paths for employees from entry level through to senior management. Offer

personal mentoring to all employees on training, personal growth and career timelines.

Offer frequent job rotation schedules whenever possible. This is one of the best strategies to build job enrichment and loyalty. Employees who are exposed to all duties within their level of the company see the big picture and feel a high degree of ownership and engagement.

Continually offer increased responsibility to employees who demonstrate initiative and wish to learn more

about the business.

Offer a feedback program where employees can voice their opinions and concerns and receive formal feedback of the outcomes.

Encourage employees to submit business improvement ideas and reward employees who have offered concepts that were successfully implemented.

Offer profit sharing to employees so that they see a personal link to their prosperity and the company’s

growth.

Take Action Today:

1) Review these strategies and implement as many of them that your company can support.

2) Inform employees through formal meetings of your programs and encourage their participation.

3) Make your engaged work environment and its features part of new employee orientation.

Learn more about Retail Leadership.

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 Department stores in this part of the world typically open their shops to customers at 10:00 A.M. By this time, there are already shoppers waiting by the shop doors. Some of them are raring to shop while others are bent on returning merchandise bought from a few days ago. From the perspective of department store employees, it is just as chaotic outside as it is inside the store. The phones are ringing, and the answering machines are bursting with request for return calls from frantic customers.

So what are we getting at? Department store jobs are not exactly the most relaxing ones. And the more challenging part is how to stay charming, patient and personable when the shop door opens at 10:00 A.M. despite all the stress factors hours before. As such, many department store employees would tell you that department store jobs are only for tough cookies. They are not for the faint-hearted. They are meant for those who are made of sterner stuff.

If you are planning to get a job at a department store, there are many things that you should know, so you can make your choice in a more informed manner. The first challenge that you should expect are demanding customers. While there are customers who would rather be left alone as they go through rack after rack to pick their item of choice, there are others who want an attendant to be beside them during the entire process.

A common type of this kind of customers is those who insist that they know their size, even when it is so glaring that they are two or three sizes bigger. To illustrate, a woman walks to a sales attendant with an item in hand. She asks for a size 4 but the sales attendant recommends a size 10. The woman, however, insists that she’s no bigger than 4. How to handle this kind of customer? Expert salespeople suggest allowing her to try the size 4, but getting sizes 6 to 10 anyway in case you are right and the customer is wrongwhich is almost always the case. Chances are, the customer will ask for bigger sizes until she gets to 10. Having the other sizes handy will save you several trips to the stockroom, and the crushed ego of the customer.

There is also the problem with customers who abuse the return and exchange policies of stores that you have to deal with. Some customers pay for an item, use it once, and return it to the store after it has served its purpose. There are also some who purchase a pricey item, buys a cheap imitation somewhere else, and returns the knock-off with the original tag attached to get their money back. Dealing with these types of customers requires patience, firmness and diplomacy.

Working in a department store can be naturally enjoyable for people who love being around other people and who have mastered the art of customer service. But for those who have not, it may be good to brush up on your people skills first before taking the retail plunge.

Henry Kelts can help you if you’re in the process of looking for retail store jobs and want to explore all your career options and learn the best ways to go about applying for jobs. Visit job interviewing tips to learn more.

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Retailers Must Exploit Their Most Productive Sales Zones

By Ron Pawlowski

 In my last article I presented the concepts of benchmarking sales per square foot and then implementing an array of sales enhancing tactics

to see what result they have on sales per square foot. You should monitor sales per square foot on an annual as well as month to month basis.

You can fine tune your companys sales per square foot performance by examining explicit strengths and weaknesses on a store by store basis.

Although a chain wide merchandise plan delivers a consistent message to the consumer across your chain, no two stores are alike. Your stores in lower income communities may have difficulty selling higher priced goods. Your stores in urban neighborhoods may have low sales performance in goods related to rural and cottage settings.

Without deviating from your corporate merchandising plan, consider creating two or three manager zones in every store. These are zones that give the manager the independence to experiment on a weekly basis with specific products deemed as high performers for that particular location. Good spots for manager zones are wall section at the very back of the store, one on the side and a floor section midway down the center of the main aisle.

Store managers and area supervisors should have a dialogue on a weekly basis in regards to what can be put into the manager zones for the week. Once agreed upon, the store manager has the empowerment to transform these manager zones into store specific product presentations. Sales are then monitored and evaluated. Depending on the size of the store and the assigned manager zones, 5% of the stores space or more, may be devoted to ongoing local experimentation developing merchandise presentations that work well for that particular store based on location, demographics, levels of affluence or other factors.

Here are some examples of how to fine tune manager zones:

A hardware chain dedicates manager zones in the Spring to water well pumps and related equipment. Cottagers and farmers often replace and upgrade well systems in the Spring. A good selection of water well pumps makes upselling to better units easy. These products as expected do poorly in the chains urban locations.

A clothing store in a less affluent community uses bargain prices and value as their focal point in their manager zones. Conversely, another store in the chain uses their manager zones to present entire wardrobe packages and generates high average sales. Both stores generate high sales per square foot in their respective manager zones based on different strategies. Each uses their manager zones to cater to their differing clientele.

A sporting goods niche retailer has had difficulty breaking into the high end of their market. The manager zones in their flagship store were set up to cater to this high end niche and they learned what did well with their existing clientele. The manager zones have enabled them to break into the high end of their market, understand what sells best and duplicate it in other manager zones in a number of hand picked mainstream stores.

Part of the weekly discussion between store manager and area supervisor should be an analysis of the entire stores performance and setup of the manager zones for the upcoming week. Keep them fresh, exciting and in tune with your local clientele. Youll find that these can become one of the highest performing areas of your stores, and dramatically increase the sales per square foot for the location.

TAKE ACTION TODAY:

Designate two or three manager zones per store in harmony with your corporate merchandising plan.

Ask managers to develop a store specific plan on a weekly basis for the manager zones and have them discuss their proposed strategy with the area supervisor.

Empower the store manager to experiment with the zones to address location based requirements and buying habits of the clientele.

Be aggressive with the manager zones and measure their effect on the overall sales per square foot of the store.

Learn More About Retail Excellence and Efficiency

Selling; What Can We Learn From The Greatest Salesman In The World?

By Andrew Seese

 My wife, Cheryl and I were going to the furniture store to buy an end table because we cracked one that we had. We walked into Levin’s Furniture store in Canton Ohio. It was completely devoid of customers except for one middle aged gentlemen talking to a young couple. We saw eight or ten other salespeople talking to each other in groups.

I walked up to the service desk and said. I need an end table. I want to talk to your best salesperson. Who would that be? She gave his name. I asked if he was the best salesman there. She said “Honey, He’s the best in the world”. I asked if we could speak to him. She told us that he was busy with another customer, but we could talk to one of the other ten salespeople. I told her we would wait. His name was Dan.

Over the next twenty minutes or so, we heard him paged three or four times because customers were calling for him, by name, and nobody else.

He walked over to us, a little disheveled. Limping slightly. He introduced himself, and I said we wanted to look at this one end table I picked out. He said “How long do you want it to last?”

I smiled, because I thought I recognized a selling sequence, a good one, was about to begin.

I wanted it to last forever, I said. He said “Then you will want to follow me.” And after showing me what I really wanted, of course it didn’t go with the furniture we already had. So he asked about our furniture. “Leather” I said. “Premium quality leather throughout”.

He smiled and showed me a new definition of the word “Premium”. I told him we just purchased a new home. Of course, that reason was enough, in his mind, for us to repopulate our home with new furniture. We passed a bedroom suite. I asked about it. He said “You have excellent taste. It’s make from 100% real hickory and the bed alone weighs a thousand pounds. Can you smell the hickory?”. I started salivating, and drooling all over the furniture, I’m sure. I asked if we could get a special deal. He said “We’ll total it up when we are done”.

“When we are done?” I thought.

After I said we would take the bedroom suite, he leaned over and said to both of us in a low voice “Now you got something for yourself. What about your wife?”

I laughed out loud. I knew what he was doing, and was loving every minute of it.

We got the end table that day, with $25,000 in more furniture. The whole time we were talking, every few minutes there was a call for him, and nobody else.

I told him that I trained salespeople, and asked him how he sold so much furniture.

He said “I can make my customers so comfortable with the furniture we sell. I truly love the furniture. I love the feel of it. The smell. And I want my customers to share that feeling”.

I asked him how long he would have kept going. He said “Until you said Stop. I could tell money wasn’t stopping you, and you were having a good time. It was a pleasure serving you”.

I’m a fan of Dan. Two weeks later, I walked into our sunroom. It had all new furniture. I asked my wife where she go it. “From Dan, he called and asked what other rooms needed new furniture,. I went to see him. This was a surprise for you”.

Did the furniture store call? Another salesperson? No. Dan called.

These sales were made in the middle of a deep recession. The other salespeople there were probably spending the day complaining about how little business there was, how the company should advertise more, and how cheap the buyers are. But not Dan.

And hopefully not you.

Maybe soon, someone will tell a story like this about you.

Small Business Marketing and Local Advertising expert Claude Whitacre is author of the book The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual. You can purchase the book for $19.95 at http://www.claudewhitacre.com You can also download your Free copy of the complete book at http://www.local-small-business-advertising-marketing-book.com

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 OK, I admit it, that was my challenge to be cute.

Do you want to fashion ads that genuinely market?

The one bright misjudge that I see over and over again is that the headlines dont make the bookworm want to read the becalm of the ad.

Here is the foremost incentive your ad fails. You can obtain further details here http://advertisingcosts.net. nonentity saw it. The headline didnt draw awareness. As a bookworm skims over the paper, they are looking at headlines. This is regularly done on auto-pilot. Your headline has to trigger a laser like showpiece of attention or the bookworm genuinely wont see the ad.

Here is another incentive that your ad failsNobody is rendition it. And the incentive nonentity is rendition the ad is that the headline doesnt make you want to read it.

The headlines tenacity is to Grab the bookworm by the face and make them pay attention.

But the headline must do more it must object the qualities you want to read the ad. Heres an example; some days ago there was an advertiser that had, as the headline, the word SEX in big mail. It did get the readers awareness.

Right after the headline, the ad said Now that I have your attention and went on to market sedan parts or anything related. The ad didnt work because it enraged the bookworm.

The qualities who was attracted by the headline wasnt interested in sedan parts, and the sedan parts buyer wasnt pulled-in by the headline. A conclude leftover of advertising money.

It attracted the wound bookworm. If it would have just said AUTO PARTS it would have worked better.

You want the headline to draw the correct qualities that would be a buyer of your productand nonentity moreover.

For example: Lets say you are advertising a new air cleanser. You are free to run an ad in the newspaper.

Who would be brief prospects for your outcome?

Maybe reaction sufferers? People using pets using allergies? (dont laugh. Many people are more fretful regarding the pets allergies than their own..or their childrens)

How regarding For Families With reaction Sufferers; And nonentity Else.?

Doesnt the headline set the reaction sufferer distant? No who would read such a headline? reaction sufferers.

By the way, the word For pulls the bookworm into the ad. It implies that the bookworm gets anything.

Have you ever read a Personals ad? Go to any online dating situate and you can see all kinds of ads. After you get over the novelty of a dating situate, inquiries what they say.

If you read Wanted; Non-smoking, non-drinking, checkup professional using no children. Between the ages of 46 and 49, must passion boating and have a German Shepard. Must live fewer than 20 miles from downtown Chicago, Must be slim and between 6 ft. and 6 ft. 2 inches tall.

Now, the huge adulthood of people would glide preceding that ad and not give it a instant musing. But what if the ad described you wholly? arrogant you were record, you would find it hard to resist verdict out more. This is called a message to market match

Almost every headline I saw at the Workshop tried to be cute. drama on language, language that rhymed, attempts to be ingenious these were the norm.

All ingenious headlines market is how ingenious you are.

How about;

Allergy sufferers; lastly! somebody Is Listening To You. interior Air So utter, It Will Make Your Nose prickle!

If you have allergies, how could you not read that ad?

Remember; Get awareness, object a market, be dramatic, and then they will read your ad.

Arthur Miller contributes articles for Advertising Costs. You can obtain extra details here http://www.advertisingcosts.net.

Retailers Can Encourage Employees To Recognize Good Work

By Ron Pawlowski

 Heres a great strategy for any organization that wants to

improve morale and give recognition to the employees who

have demonstrated exemplary customer service or done

great work in some other aspect of their jobs.

The great part of this program is that praise is not given

by the management or senior players of the company.

Praise is given to peers from peers. Coworkers are

encouraged to recognize great work within their team

and share it with the rest of the company.

Those that receive praise get points and those that

give praise also earn points for their unselfish support

of their peers.

The benefits of this program include:

A positive culture for the company where staff

support and praise each other

A reward system that doesn’t need to be costly

to be motivational and effective

Sharing great work with the rest of the employees.

Stories of great work inspire others to try harder.

Take Action Today

Devise a point system for your Employee Commendation

Program. Recipients of praise by peers can get 5 points

for example and those that give praise can get 1 point

as well.

Create a simple form where employees can document and

submit stories of great work to the Home Office.

Share these great stories with all the other employees

across the chain.

Offer rewards when a certain level of points are earned.

These can include gift certificates, prizes or time off for

the recipient.

Learn More About retail Leadership

How Retailers Can Protect Against Counterfeit Cash

By Ron Pawlowski

 Technology has helped address some of the issues associated with Cash Desk Fraud. Debit cards have eliminated the exposure to losses associated with personal check payments. Most retailers just dont accept checks anymore. Also, on-line links to bank centers has reduced some of the liabilities associated with credit card transactions although not all of them.

In the olden days, making counterfeit cash good enough to pass for the real thing was only within the realm of printing experts with special talents and equipment. Today, our color photocopiers are so sophisticated and at such a high level of resolution, that anyone that can push a button can produce somewhat passable currency. When you combine this with a lack of training and experience at the cash desk, we experience epidemic levels of counterfeit currency potentially on a daily basis.

Traditionally, since counterfeit currency took so much skill and time to make, the counterfeiter would balance maximum return with minimal risk of scrutiny and hence the $20 bill was the favorite denomination. Push button technology makes production of bills so easy that in Canada $5 and $10 bills are also popular denominations now. Moreover, most cashiers wont even look twice at a $5 bill any more. In the USA, even $1 bills are produced en masse and flooded onto the market. Recently in Canada, the $20 bill has regained its popularity as the denomination of choice. This year, as well as in 2006, the $20 was the bill most seized as counterfeit by banks and police once again.

Although photocopy technology is indeed impressive, its not perfect. A little vigilance by your cashiers will catch the majority of bad bills being passed. Before discussing what to look for and how to handle bank notes to reduce counterfeit losses, cashiers should be trained to look at the behavior of people at cash. Often how they act is a message that an attempt to pass bad bills is in the works. Here are several behaviors that cashiers should look for:

Customers who appear to be in a real rush to get through the transaction even when it is a high ticket item

Abnormally low interest in the actual product, perhaps even indifferent to its size in the case of clothing

Fails to make eye contact with the cashier, frequently glances at the exit

Passes an abnormally large number of low denomination banknotes, i.e. twenty $5 bills for a $100 purchase

The behavior of a customer may or may not arouse the suspicion of a cashier but it often will, if you train them to look out for these signs.

Cashiers should regularly follow these practices to minimize the risk of counterfeit fraud:

Examine bills under counterfeit test lights. Fake bills are usually made of cellulose based paper and will glow under the light. Real money is made with rag based paper and will not fluoresce.

Examine the bills for repeating serial numbers. Some counterfeiters are too lazy to copy multiple bills and therefore create unique bills. Most cashiers fail to look at the serial numbers and they know it.

Look at the detailing of the bills and the hologram if it has one. These will be of poor quality on fake bills and the resolution will be lower.

The government collects and destroys bills that are usually older than a year, and reissues fresh ones. Abnormally worn out bills may be an indication that a bill has been artificially worn out in order to make detection of its inferior quality difficult. This is usually done with a clothes dryer.

If a cashier does find a counterfeit bill, do not accuse the customer of passing the bill. However, ask them to keep the suspect bills and call the police. If the customer is an innocent victim, they should have no hesitation to stay in the store until the police arrive. If they are seasoned counterfeiters, theyll likely bolt for the door. In a case where a customer sincerely needs to go, such as to pick up a child from daycare, get the customers name and identification and pass it on to the police. They can question the person later on as their investigation evolves.

Your best approach to reducing the counterfeit epidemic in your stores is to train your cashiers to look for customer behavior and aspects of the cash they present to them that may infer counterfeit fraud.

TAKE ACTION TODAY:

Make all store staff aware how rampant cash fraud has become due to new technology. Train staff on recognizing abnormal behavior and features of real versus counterfeit bills. Broadcast occurrences of attempted and actual cash fraud to the entire chain and keep improving their awareness and skills with cash desk fraud. Consider rewards for those that successfully thwart a potential cash desk transaction involving counterfeit bills, even when the customer is also an honest victim.

Learn More About Retail Loss Prevention

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 In many Retail Action Articles, I speak relentlessly about

the critical importance of Customer Service. Exemplary

Customer service can overcome shortcomings in merchandise

selection, store size, location and other factors.

There’s no doubt that when the store manager is around or

visitors from the support office appear, customer service is

great. Staff maybe even deliver stellar service in short bursts

as they put on what I call “the dog and pony show”.

What’s customer service like when no one of authority is in the

store? I know of one retailer with a chain of small gift shops who

experienced a substantial drop in sales whenever the manager

was off for the evening. He went to great expense to install a hidden

camera to study the situation via a computer and dial up modem

in real time. Much to his amazement, when the sole part time

employee was in the little shop, she invited her boyfriend for fun

times and a little socializing. In fact even through traffic in the

evenings in the store was brisk, this salesperson rarely left the

comfort of the cash desk to help a customer. The store had become

a somewhat messy self serve outlet when this employee was

entrusted with running the store. Not surprisingly this employee was

dismissed and replaced with someone more committed and responsible.

The clandestine installation cost about $2,000 to install in this story.

There are better ways to determine if customer service meets your

requirements without blowing $2,000 per store. You can get very

good information by hiring a third party Mystery Shopping Service.

At less than $100 a visit, these organizations will go in and “shop” your

store or stores and deliver the results of the visit to you so that you can

take action and make improvements to thge customer experience.

Here are some tips that I have found very beneficial when using a Mystery

Shopping Service:

Develop the structure of a visit through a custom checklist with your

selected shopping service.

Start with a selective list of stores if you are a large chain. Focus on

suspected problem stores that have a history of poor sales.

Tell stores that you are commencing a Mystery Shopping Program.

Make it clear that the program is not designed to punish or center

out poor performers. It is an training and evaluation tool designed

to continually improve customer service.

Ask the Mystery Shopping Service if they can email or post their

reports on line so that you can review them the day they are compiled.

You can take action quickly and make corrections if you get the

reports in a timely manner.

Take Action Today

Research several Mystery Shopping Services in your area. Talk

collegues and peers to see which services they were pleased with.

There are good and bad companies in the Mystery Shopping Business.

If you are located across a region or country, you’ll want a company that

can service you across the span of your stores over the long term.

Tell stores in advance that you are commencing the program with the

Mystery Shopping Program. Ideally get your Store Managers to help

devise the visit checklist that the company will be using.

Ask the company for some client references to assure that you are

getting quality service for what you pay. You can often negotiate

lower rates per visit if you commit to a long term program. Use them

on a trial basis and then commit to a long term program to reduce the

costs per visit.

Share reports quickly with store managers and make it a collaborative

effort. Make it a tool to help managers, not a tool of discipline and punishment.

Learn More About Customer Service

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Retailers Can Prosper Through Challenging Times With This Strategy

By Ron Pawlowski

 Many large and impersonal retailers believe that a paycheck is all employees look forward to from their jobs.

Studies validate time and again that employees who feel a connection to the organization will

rise to the challenges we face in tougher times. Smaller retailers can create an engaged work environment where employees feel a greater sense of belonging and obligation to the company and their peers.

This sense of commitment motivates employees to go the extra mile to keep retailers prospering even

when their competitors lose market share. How can we earn top loyalty from our employees? It goes far beyond what we pay them. Consider these best methods to create an engaged environment for your team:

Make employees part of the decision process. Many decisions within the organization may be positively

influenced with meaningful feedback from your team on the sales floor. Their interaction on a day to day basis with customers offers the best source of information in regards to what customers want from your organization.

Solicit opinions and feedback on issues that directly affect employees and their job parameters. Let them feel ownership to decisions made about their schedules, benefits, work shifts etc.

Good work should be recognized and praised. All companies that have a culture of connected employees

formally reward those that excel at their jobs.

Encourage a culture of recognition amongst peers. Create a co-supportive environment where employees

can come forward to praise their own coworkers.

Make sure that decisions made within the organization are promptly shared with the employees. Engaged employees should always be the first to know what is evolving in the company. Often, employees gather from outside sources or read developments in the newspaper about their company and feel demoralized that they weren’t informed by their corporate leaders.

Develop well defined career paths for employees from entry level through to senior management. Offer

personal mentoring to all employees on training, personal growth and career timelines.

Offer frequent job rotation schedules whenever possible. This is one of the best strategies to build job enrichment and loyalty. Employees who are exposed to all duties within their level of the company see the big picture and feel a high degree of ownership and engagement.

Continually offer increased responsibility to employees who demonstrate initiative and wish to learn more

about the business.

Offer a feedback program where employees can voice their opinions and concerns and receive formal feedback of the outcomes.

Encourage employees to submit business improvement ideas and reward employees who have offered concepts that were successfully implemented.

Offer profit sharing to employees so that they see a personal link to their prosperity and the company’s

growth.

Take Action Today:

1) Review these strategies and implement as many of them that your company can support.

2) Inform employees through formal meetings of your programs and encourage their participation.

3) Make your engaged work environment and its features part of new employee orientation.

Learn more about Retail Leadership.

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 In the past, compared to other investment options like stocks and options, forex trading had been rather unregulated. Recently, there have been lots of talks, rumors and opinions about the proposed changes to forex trading in US by Commodities Futures Trading Commissions (in other words CFTC). What does it all mean? How can this affect you? Is it a good time to change your broker?

Let us first look at what exactly is included in those panic-creating adjustments:

1. Forex Brokers would be required to register with CFTC as retail foreign exchange dealers.

2. Brokers would have to possess a certain capital to minimize the chance of broker bankruptcy.

3. Introducing brokers would be required to agree to exclusive contracts with the dealers.

4. Last, but not least, the worst case scenario the minimization of the leverage option to 10:1.

Despite the fact that the potential regulation is likely to benefit the traders, since CFTCs watchful eye over brokers will surely minimize fraud, based on the reaction from industry insiders and traders themselves, the majority are opposed to the new proposal. Most traders are planning to, if not already done so, switch to overseas brokers.

Why do US traders turn to off-shore brokers?

Lets recall The NFA regulatory hammer in 2008, which lead to a serious drop in the number of forex brokers operating in US. The lack of choice and forceful unnecessary leverage minimization will force all US traders to move the account offshore. To make things worse, just like with online casinos, the government will most likely to figure out the way to stop US-based traders from trading offshore either.

What does the limit of margin actually mean?

The current leverage standard is 1:100, meaning that a trader borrows 100 times as much money as he/she actually invests in trading. Those who arent closely familiar with forex trading, link it directly gambling, however, US retail forex is not what it used to be few years ago.

If forex is a casino, what is next? Maybe we should add commodities and stock exchanges to gambling category as well! Forex is not gambling it is trading one currency for another. There are economic, political and governmental factors that influence the market movements. Currencies are the basis that holds together the whole trading system this is much more sophisticated than putting down chips on the random number and waiting for the roulette wheel to give you a random answer.

What can you possibly do with 10:1 leverage? Nothing! Seems like the attempt to drastically raise margin is a transparent effort to wipe off retail forex. After all, this is the only way an regular trader like you and I can stay in the game.

We all need 100:1 leverage accounts. This is the only way not only to trade and earn, but also to risk less, since the beginners can learn and practice with smaller accounts.

If government is so desperately hunting down gambling, how come they do not regulate Las Vegas instead? I mean, people lose much larger sums of money in one game of blackjack, for example.

As you can see, it has nothing to do with the gambling. It is all about who is getting the money. In case of Las Vegas, the money stays in States. In case of forex brokers (similar to online casinos), the money is floating out, which is, of course, uncomfortable for the country leaders.

The point is that irresponsible, impulsive traders will blow up their account no matter what margin they choose 400:1, 100:1, 10:1 or even less. Leverage doesnt matter when a trader doesnt know how to minimize the risks and manage the money. The only way to become a professional trader is to learn the market, follow the plan, stay disciplined or otherwise invest in something else!

Forex Brokers

Forex Alerts and Signals

Forex Links

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How to Fill Up a Retail Job Online Application

By Garrett36 Pierson36

 If you are eyeing to work in the retail industry, the best and most successful way to explore possible employment opportunities is by going online. Fact is, a lot of retail shopsfrom Wal-Mart to Searshave gone online to look for and find quality people. Aside from the low cost of keeping a recruitment page in their own corporate website, or placing a recruitment ad in an online recruitment site, doing all the recruitment activities online also gives them access to a wider talent pool. In return, job applicants for retail positions also get to enjoy flexibility because they can easily file their applications online. In addition, they also get access to a whole range of job postings, which gives them the freedom to select and shortlist the best job opportunities.

When applying for a retail job online, applicants are usually asked to fill up an online form. To some extent, this makes the job easier, especially for those who are having trouble building their resumes. However, not a few applicants fall into the trap of oversimplifying the act of filling up online application forms, causing them to get disqualified for the position that they are applying for.

Remember that these online application forms are structured to make applicant evaluation easier for hiring managers. Imagine if they have to go through tons of application forms and resumes in different formats. If that were the case, it would be very difficult to compare the candidates and decide based on a certain set of standards.

This is why it is important that applicants for retail jobs take these application forms seriously. Most of the time, applicants are required to fill up these forms despite having previously submitted a resume. This means that the formand how it is answeredcould be the single most important document on which the decision could be based on.

The main thing to remember when answering an online retail job application form is to answer completely and accurately. Most of the questions call for detailed answers. It is thus important that you have all the correct information at hand when you answer the application form.

Normally, these forms begin with a portion on your personal information. This includes your name, address, your city and zip code. It also includes your contact details such as your phone number and email. You will also be required to answer whether or not you are eligible to work in the US or if you have been convicted for any felony.

The next section will usually ask about your education, including the school you attended and the courses that you have graduated from. This is followed by your professional experience. To some degree, retail jobs require professional expertise, so make sure to highlight any previous work experience related to the position that you are applying for. In addition, you also need to specify the position you are applying for, you preferred work hours, and how soon you can start if hired.

Finally, don’t make the mistake of clicking the “Send” button without reviewing your entries. Grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors are a total turn-off, so make sure that your application form is clean and readable.

Henry Kelts can help you if you’re in the process of looking for retail store jobs and want to explore all your career options and learn the best ways to go about applying for jobs. Visit job interviewing tips to learn more.

How Retailers Can Protect Against Counterfeit Cash

By Ron Pawlowski

 Technology has helped address some of the issues associated with Cash Desk Fraud. Debit cards have eliminated the exposure to losses associated with personal check payments. Most retailers just dont accept checks anymore. Also, on-line links to bank centers has reduced some of the liabilities associated with credit card transactions although not all of them.

In the olden days, making counterfeit cash good enough to pass for the real thing was only within the realm of printing experts with special talents and equipment. Today, our color photocopiers are so sophisticated and at such a high level of resolution, that anyone that can push a button can produce somewhat passable currency. When you combine this with a lack of training and experience at the cash desk, we experience epidemic levels of counterfeit currency potentially on a daily basis.

Traditionally, since counterfeit currency took so much skill and time to make, the counterfeiter would balance maximum return with minimal risk of scrutiny and hence the $20 bill was the favorite denomination. Push button technology makes production of bills so easy that in Canada $5 and $10 bills are also popular denominations now. Moreover, most cashiers wont even look twice at a $5 bill any more. In the USA, even $1 bills are produced en masse and flooded onto the market. Recently in Canada, the $20 bill has regained its popularity as the denomination of choice. This year, as well as in 2006, the $20 was the bill most seized as counterfeit by banks and police once again.

Although photocopy technology is indeed impressive, its not perfect. A little vigilance by your cashiers will catch the majority of bad bills being passed. Before discussing what to look for and how to handle bank notes to reduce counterfeit losses, cashiers should be trained to look at the behavior of people at cash. Often how they act is a message that an attempt to pass bad bills is in the works. Here are several behaviors that cashiers should look for:

Customers who appear to be in a real rush to get through the transaction even when it is a high ticket item

Abnormally low interest in the actual product, perhaps even indifferent to its size in the case of clothing

Fails to make eye contact with the cashier, frequently glances at the exit

Passes an abnormally large number of low denomination banknotes, i.e. twenty $5 bills for a $100 purchase

The behavior of a customer may or may not arouse the suspicion of a cashier but it often will, if you train them to look out for these signs.

Cashiers should regularly follow these practices to minimize the risk of counterfeit fraud:

Examine bills under counterfeit test lights. Fake bills are usually made of cellulose based paper and will glow under the light. Real money is made with rag based paper and will not fluoresce.

Examine the bills for repeating serial numbers. Some counterfeiters are too lazy to copy multiple bills and therefore create unique bills. Most cashiers fail to look at the serial numbers and they know it.

Look at the detailing of the bills and the hologram if it has one. These will be of poor quality on fake bills and the resolution will be lower.

The government collects and destroys bills that are usually older than a year, and reissues fresh ones. Abnormally worn out bills may be an indication that a bill has been artificially worn out in order to make detection of its inferior quality difficult. This is usually done with a clothes dryer.

If a cashier does find a counterfeit bill, do not accuse the customer of passing the bill. However, ask them to keep the suspect bills and call the police. If the customer is an innocent victim, they should have no hesitation to stay in the store until the police arrive. If they are seasoned counterfeiters, theyll likely bolt for the door. In a case where a customer sincerely needs to go, such as to pick up a child from daycare, get the customers name and identification and pass it on to the police. They can question the person later on as their investigation evolves.

Your best approach to reducing the counterfeit epidemic in your stores is to train your cashiers to look for customer behavior and aspects of the cash they present to them that may infer counterfeit fraud.

TAKE ACTION TODAY:

Make all store staff aware how rampant cash fraud has become due to new technology. Train staff on recognizing abnormal behavior and features of real versus counterfeit bills. Broadcast occurrences of attempted and actual cash fraud to the entire chain and keep improving their awareness and skills with cash desk fraud. Consider rewards for those that successfully thwart a potential cash desk transaction involving counterfeit bills, even when the customer is also an honest victim.

Learn More About Retail Loss Prevention

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