In California, United States, a masked man entered a 7-Eleven store, grabbed a trash can, and started taking tobacco products off the shelves in an attempted robbery. An employee tackled the man to the ground while another employee grabbed a wooden pole and repeatedly struck the suspected thief nearly two dozen times.

A video of the incident exists and has gone viral online, garnering millions of views, but it is age-restricted. Those interested in seeing the video can find it here.

The employees were initially seen as courageous for protecting their store against the robbery. However, it can be argued that the repeated beating they inflicted on the shoplifter was excessive but as the saying goes, it is better to beat the threat decisively in self-defense and deal with legal repercussions later, rather than end up dead.

Lessons for us from "Pepsi, Where Is My Jet?" Netflix Documentary. Often it's easier to learn from examples of what happens when something goes wrong. So if you have ever wondered what happens when an advertisement goes wrong, try watching this Netflix documentary "Pepsi, Where Is My Jet?" The film tells a true story of the disastrous consequences of a marketing blunder that led to a significant legal battle. It's a great example of why we must properly run our marketing campaigns.

The Story 

The documentary starts around a Pepsi ad campaign launched in 1995. The campaign allowed customers to collect points from Pepsi products and redeem them for prizes such as T-shirts, sunglasses, or CDs. The campaign featured a series of humorous commercials that showed prizes such as a leather jacket worn by Cindy Crawford, a life-sized replica of the Statue of Liberty and a military Harrier jet fighter. 

To get the jet, you needed to collect seven million points. The commercial offer of a jet was meant to be a joke. Unfortunately, Pepsi lacked a disclaimer indicating that the jet was a joke. Now there is always someone looking for a loophole.

After doing some figures, a young student saw the commercial and initially determined that with $5 million, he could win the jet worth about 30 million dollars. After discussing it with a few people, he reviewed his calculations and found that he could do it with much less. He only needed $700,000 to get the jet. He convinced an investor to help him raise the money and sent Pepsi a check for $700,000 along with 15 Pepsi points (the minimum required) and an order form for the jet.

Pepsi refused to honour his request. They argued that the commercial was not a serious offer in a dismissive letter. This was stupid and aggravated the situation. Then it escalated after Pepsi then made a low offer that was rejected. Soon, the student sued Pepsi for breach of contract, fraud, deceptive and unfair trade practices, and misleading advertising. Soon the matter went to the public, where it went viral.

I will not say more about the plot not to spoil those who want to watch. Sufficient to say the ending shocked me.

The Importance of Marketing Compliance

Someone took Pepsi at its word for what Pepsi thought was a joke. If someone can make an argument, someone may do so. So clearly, there were severe issues with Pepsi's marketing, which shows just how important it is to meet marketing compliance. You want to ensure your ads aren't making false promises or tricking people, even as here by accident. Plus, no matter who wins or loses, you do not want customers to feel deceived and let down by your actions.

My view

Watching 'Pepsi, Where's My Jet?' was fun and exciting. Both sides made mistakes during the situation. The film is worth seeing because it provides valuable insights into the issue and is entertaining. 

If you charge a surcharge on debit and credit cards, you are required yearly to do a review to justify your surcharge at the end of the financial year. The results from this evaluation will be used as a basis for setting your surcharge for the upcoming year.

What to Consider Before Surcharging

Several essential aspects must be considered when deciding whether to put surcharges in place. These include the potential benefits and drawbacks of such a policy, which must be evaluated before making any final decision. Some key points to keep in mind when assessing the feasibility of surcharging include:

Industry practices

Do your competitors or peers surcharge? If not, you may lose customers or reputation by being the only one who does.

Competition

How price-sensitive are your customers? Will they switch to another shop if you surcharge? You can test the market reaction before implementing surcharging for a short period as a test.

Customer impact

How will the surcharge affect your customer experience and satisfaction? Will it cause confusion or frustration at the point of sale? Will it discourage impulse purchases or upselling? You should communicate with your customers about why you are surcharging and how they can avoid it.

Customer loyalty

How will the surcharge affect your customer retention and loyalty? Some customers may be deterred from purchasing at businesses that charge a surcharge. It can be especially true if they feel unfairly charged or have better alternatives elsewhere. Consider how surcharging impacts your long-term relationship with your customers and bottom line.

Myth

Refrain from believing customers do not care if it is charged. We have done studies that show customers do care.

How to Surcharge in Australia

If you decide to surcharge, you must follow the rules and regulations of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). These include:

• The banks will do the calculation for you, but what is a frequent complaint is that many of the fees the banks need to take into account. So it is worth getting the bank to do it and then reviewing the figure. Keep the calculation in case you get asked to justify it.

• Based on last year's figures, this review must be done by 1 September.

• It would be best to display signage to inform your customers about the surcharge before they pay. The signage must specify each card type's surcharge amount or percentage.

BNPL

You better check with the BNPL provider you use. Often, providers enforce a "no-surcharge" clause, prohibiting you from passing on their cost to your customers.

For example, Afterpay states

Surcharges. You must not impose a surcharge on the customer or discriminate against the customer in any way for using Afterpay as a payment mechanism. A surcharge includes any charge or increase in the sale price, shipping costs or any other Customer fees and charges that are applied because the customer has elected to use Afterpay as their method of payment. For example, You must not charge the customer a fee in addition to the Sale Price (and any applicable Shipping Costs) on the basis that the customer has elected Afterpay as their chosen payment method. Similarly, You are not permitted to charge a fee (i.e. a restocking fee) to the customer where you accept a Return for a Refund on the basis that the customer's chosen payment method was Afterpay. For in-Store transactions, You may pass on to the customer a surcharge to recover the cost of accepting Mastercard transactions, or such equivalent costs of any other relevant card scheme utilised by Afterpay to facilitate in-Store transactions, if required by Your policies and in accordance with Relevant Law.

So the most expensive acceptance method is the dearest to you in fees. This may present a problem as the customer will know they pay no surcharge on BNPL and must pay it on a credit or debit card.

Conclusion

Surcharging is a viable option for businesses that want to recover their processing costs from their customers. But, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution and requires careful consideration and compliance. Before you use surcharging:

• Make sure you understand the benefits and drawbacks.

• Assess your business situation and goals.

• Follow the rules and regulations in Australia.

Don't hesitate to contact our support team if you have questions about surcharging or need help setting up your payment system. We are happy to assist you.

The check, once a staple in Australia, is becoming outdated. Although there are no current plans to phase out checks in Australia, the signs show we are abandoning cheques. 

The decline of checks in Australia

Monthly cheque usage has been steadily declining over the past 20 years, with some of the biggest decreases seen in recent years. Latest figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia show that cheque usage was down 17.8% for the year ended June 2022 and 18% down for the same period in 2021. With such a downward trend, does this mean a cheque-less society is on the horizon? Click here.

As some of my clients point out to me, cheques have already been basically phased out in New Zealand.

Let us here discuss some of the effects on retailers.

> The fact is that cheques are less convenient than electronic payment options for retailers. Cheques can take days to clear, and there is always the risk of being stolen or lost in the mail. Banks sometimes dishonour them for various reasons e.g. the signature does not match what was on file. But, electronic payments are instantaneous, verified and can be made from anywhere at any time.

> Another problem is that some financial institutions no longer accept or take them reluctantly. Some banks have stopped issuing chequebooks as part of their account packages. Others will no longer accept foreign checks. One of my clients had to get a special arrangement for banking as they get foreign cheques.

> Many customers, mainly oldies, still prefer to pay using a cheque. These people may go elsewhere if you refuse to accept their cheques. As long as someone else takes them, we have to take them.

> Government departments and some larger organisations still want to pay by cheque.

Conclusion

Although Australia has yet to make any current plans to phase out the use of checks, their use will continue to decline over the coming years. I would wait to consider getting rid of them.

Executive Summary:

• The use of cheques in Australia is declining, with figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia showing a 17.8% decrease last year.

• While there are currently no plans to phase out cheques in Australia. Although some financial institutions are no longer accepting them.

• Electronic payment options are becoming more popular due to their convenience, speed and security.

• Some customers, particularly older ones, still prefer to pay by cheque, as do some larger organizations, e.g. government departments.

We have been asked to notify our users,  many of who were affected by the outage to Tyro’s EFTPOS facility in January 2021 

A proposed Tyro Class Action has now achieved a proposed settlement which, if passed, will see Tyro compensate many of those that suffered loss or damage due to this Outage.

The full text of the proposed settlement is here.

The key points, I think, are

> Tyro does not admit any fault.

> Tyro will pay $5 million.

> If I read it right, the lawyers of CHC are asking for about $3 million from the $5 million, and the rest will be distributed to people affected.

> It is impossible to estimate how much those affected will be paid accurately. 

If you feel you were involved and are unsure if you are in this settlement, contact CHC immediately.

Bannister Law Class Actions

ADDRESS: 74b New Beach Road, Darling Point Sydney NSW 2027

Email: [email protected]

Tel:  02 8231 6529

Note: Our understanding is that you cannot claim here if you took our advice and accepted the tyro terms earlier as you have "validly opted out of the Tyro Class Action (that is, by filing an Opt Out Notice before 30 October 2022, unless the Court orders otherwise)"  but there is nothing to stop you contacting CHC to confirm this fact. If so please let me know what happened.

When valuing a business for resale, particularly at the time of sale, one problem that sometimes appears is the Breakage Revenue.

What is Breakage Revenue?

When you issue points or give discount vouchers to your customer through your loyalty program, strictly in accounting, you should deduct the value of these items from your sales. Say you issued today 1,000 discount vouchers at an average price of $2; then you should remove $2,000 of sales revenue from your books. This is the Breakage. Now as the vouchers are claimed, the value comes off this Breakage. So say of the 1,000 discount vouchers issued, 50 are claimed, well now $100 comes off the $2,000, so the amount outstanding is $2,000-$100= $1,900.

As only a few discount vouchers are claimed, and most expire, this is often ignored except when the business is for sale.

The Breakage must be resolved to ensure a fair deal for all involved in a business transfer.

Valuation of Breakage Revenue

Taking the example above, it is quick to see that the figure is not trivial. If we assume these discount vouchers are claimable for 30 days, then we have outstanding about 30 x 1,000 x $2 = $60,000. What do we do with this figure? Remember, only part will be claimed in reality, but who can say what a fair figure is at the time of sale?

Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements

After the business is sold, all valid discount vouchers are likely an obligation on the new owners, but often the old owner finds that they have to reimburse that amount. So the new owner said 5,000 were claimed, so he wants $10,000 from you.

Also, if the old owner has claimed the Breakage in their tax return, I don't know what the ATO would do if they made an audit of the business. You need to check this too.

The best treatment for Breakage Revenue

Some people avoid the problem by stopping 30 days before the transfer and issuing these discount vouchers or points. A better solution is to give discount vouchers that can only be redeemed before a specific date, the transfer date or 30 days, whatever is earlier.

Customer Perception

The issue of customer perception is the final one. Adverse publicity and company reputation damage can result if customers believe their discount vouchers are devalued. There are good marketing reasons why these discount vouchers were issued.

We provide you with a scientific approach to collect data on how your customers use your loyalty VIP program to comprehend its impact better. By analysing the sales data on your customers' purchase histories, you can determine the effects of your loyalty VIP program. Doing this lets you decide what kinds of goods or services are being bought, how often they are bought, and other important metrics that will help you make better decisions about your program.

The "loyalty vs. non-loyalty sales" report, highlighted in green on your cash register reports, is one helpful report to examine.

It is best to keep things straightforward and select the most recent year's data to analyse. When you run the report, a list of items purchased by regular and devoted VIP customers can be compared.

Pay close attention to the profit section because VIP customers account for over a third of a modern retailer's profit. They also typically generate more revenue per visit than regular customers.

The percentage of gross profit is another important row to consider. This row highlights VIP customers' high-margin purchases, which may help locate new products to offer only to VIP members.

Last, examining the cost row to determine the exact costs associated with your VIP clients is essential.

Summing up

Consideration must be given to the valuation of Breakage, its treatment in the sale agreement, compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and customer perception.

As always, when selling a business, I recommend that you seek professional advice to ensure that all issues are appropriately addressed.

So far, Australia has experienced several notable cyberattacks, e.g. Optus and the more significant Medicare hack. These incidents have raised concerns about the vulnerability of Australians to cyberattacks. Not surprisingly, the government intends to act. It seems these incidents as showing a need for enhanced customer data security and cyber security measures.

Firstly let us put my qualifications on this up. I have an ISO 27001 Certification,

which now allows me to be a Lead Auditor for computer systems security.

The Probability of Being Affected by a Cyber Attack 

Quit high. Most computer systems today have experienced cyber-attacks. These attacks will continue. Want to see some, look in the spam filter of your email address for samples. 

Also, most of us have had our personal information compromised due to hacks. I was involved in the Optus data breach recently, a co-worker was hit by the medicare hack.

Overall it is almost certain you will be affected.

Proposed Changes to Australia's Cyber Security Laws 

We know that the security of customer information will be one of the main focuses of the proposed changes. Count on more significant penalties and enforcement. 

Although the implications of the changes for small and medium-sized businesses have yet to be released, security experts I asked feel that they will likely be based on the Australian Cyber Security Centre's Small Business Cyber Security Guide here.

> Supported windows system. Currently, you need the latest version of Windows 10 or Windows 11.

> That you run updated software applications. This may be a real problem, as many of us run old software versions. 

> Update security software. Windows defender is free and quite good.

> Regular backup of your business information. We have a free online backup procedure. Also, it would be best if you were using USB sticks. 

> Password security needs to be set up and used. In a breach, you must justify why the person had access to that information. They want access restricted where possible. This is so that employees and others do not accidentally or maliciously get hold of personal customer information. 

Now your computer and its POS System can be set to allow security settings based on an employee's role in the business. This approach gives you control over who has access to your information. We suggest you put this in place if it is not.

> Training in cyber security 

Cyber security training for your staff is needed. Fortunately, this training takes little time because most people now practice cyber-security practices. Simple procedures, like not clicking on suspicious emails, can be helpful, not divulging passwords and preventing unauthorised individuals from accessing your computers. Once you do it, write it in your diary, so you have a record of what you have done.

I am checking into this now to see if I can find a suitable course for our clients to look into.

Ransomware 

This deserves its own section. One proposed change that is raising concern is the government is thinking of prohibiting businesses from paying for ransomware. The idea here is to discourage ransomware attacks by stopping funding criminal activities. It has no chance of working as most ransomware comes from overseas, although it may reduce it somewhat.

If ransomware attacks your business, please advise us ASAP. This is to see what can be done. It must be done immediately as ransomware people will give you only a little time to act. 

Be aware that, often, even after paying the ransom, people cannot retrieve their information. That hurts because they have lost their data and now the ransom money too. 

Summing up

Everyone will need to pay more attention to computer security now, the proposed changes to cyber security laws make it more urgent. In Australia today, a slap of the wrist by the courts now is a few 100,000 dollars if they like you.

Phantom pricing is a deceptive practice in which a company advertises a product at a significantly higher original price with a discounted sale price. The purpose is to make the product seem like a better bargain than it is by implying that it is being sold at a discount from its regular price. 

This practice is illegal, as it can mislead and deceive consumers. 

If you claim it is a discounted price, remember that you may need to defend it if challenged, e.g. 
- Have you sold it at that original price before
- Have you had it at that original price for a while
- What is the supplier's recommended retail price

Or is the quoted original price fictional?

The deadline for existing directors of Australian companies to get a Director Identification Number is 30 November 2022.This affects most of us here, so we need to get ready.

Details on how to do it are here.

It does not take long, and I did it myself a few days ago by ringing up.

What happens if you don’t get an ID?

If you are required to get a director ID but don’t, a criminal penalty of up to $13,200 might apply or a civil penalty of up to $1,100,000.

Note: I am not a lawyer or accountant; if you have queries, get a professional to advise.

Almost everyone now accepts that if new data protection laws come, they will be based on GDPR. It is used by much of the world today. Not just in Europe, e.g. South Korea, the state of California in the USA, Israel and Argentina have it too.

As there is a significant push to get GDPR laws into Australia, this is both federal and state; it almost certainly will come. It only needs one state, and the cost is there for Australia. It will affect more than *big business* as many stated. Data protection is more than *big business*. Everybody is affected. Click here for a list of any convictions, fines and penalties for violations of GDPR. You will see private individuals, small businesses, and doctors fined for breaches there.

One point that does worry me is that some newspaper companies continue to send data unencrypted to many of my client's private information. I am not too fond of that and have told the newspaper companies about my concerns. It should be addressed ASAP. If someone should pay for it, I do not want it to be my client. The other issue is that many of my clients have private information on clients that is years old. In the same example above, what commercial reason is there for a newsagent to have delivery information on a customer in their computer system after they have given back to the publisher their deliveries? 

Just to clean 1,000 accounts out of the system, assuming it takes 20 to 30 seconds, each is 5 to 8 hours of work. It's a full day probably; I bet it's much more.

My immediate concern is how much costs will SMBs will have to pay, as compliance with GDPR is not cheap. I know in the UK, when introduced, businesses complained of the high expense. When I did a net search in the UK. There I found that some small businesses are paying about $A87/month to cover themselves after having a GDPR audit check initially, then an hourly rate to fix the problems. I am not sure how much a GDPR audit costs there. We charge $500 for a GDPR audit to our clients requiring this, but I am confident there are much more costs in the UK. They would have to include training for staff, customer signing and more.

Much of the cost of monitoring GDPR in Australia is currently passed onto the customer, but I am not sure how this cost of compliance can be passed to Australian customers if GDPR comes here.

We are keeping a close watch on the situation.

Please let me know if you know the situation in a country for any of this under GDPR or similar laws. I like to hear from you.

Big updates coming on your software over the Optus data breach

Australia has had the most significant data breach ever, affecting over nine million people in its history. What is clear is that the government intends to act on it, and the public wants them to. So our cybersecurity rules will go up, including enforcement and fines in the wake of a breach. We are talking here of a monumental shift in privacy legislation. We will probably get General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) next year. So as the information comes forward, we also intend to change our POS software.

Let me clarify the problem now your customers' data legally doesn't belong to you. If you abuse it, you could be in trouble. 

If your customer list goes missing, you could be in trouble. So do not believe this is only for big business; it will affect anyone who stores people's data. 

The immediate problem is that many of our clients do not even have a clear picture of what data they actually have. There is so much there, and so many people have worked on it, so who knows what is there?

Although we cannot say yet what will be implemented. Based on overseas privacy issues, the questions that our clients need to investigate to protect themselves now:

-Why do we need the data that we have?
-What are we doing to make it secure?
-Where is it stored?
-How long will we hold the data? This is tough as different organisations have different demands. Some, like courts, want you to keep the information forever

An immediate action you need to take now is that every user of your POS System must use a password to get into your system. If you have not yet implemented passwords, do so now! If these passwords are a year old, change them.

Anyone who does anything on the net knows the problems with profanity. There is an added problem besides your personal beliefs that the Australian Courts do not like it. It considers the owner of the Facebook page responsible for its content. Anyone in business who said to you on the web that their page is *NOT* moderated and open is lying or has a business death wish. Commenting on your page that you accept "no legal responsibility about using, or reliance upon, any content material" does not help much.

Facebook has now introduced a profanity filter. This software automatically hides text from your readers containing swear phrases. You can manually publish this text if you wish after reviewing it. It is long overdue.

Profanity filters don't clear up the problem in their totality, so it does not end the need for moderation. There is no way a filter can know that your use of a word for gender, age, grouping, area etc., is being used as a description or an insult. Words like "lawsuit", "slander", or "defective" are examples of the kind of points you will manually need to address.

How good is it? I am not sure. Many people will disguise swear words by intentionally misspelling them. This doesn't make them any less offensive.

It is a good start!

If you run a Facebook page for your organisation, I recommend implementing it ASAP. You will find it in the image above, marked with a green arrow.

As in most of the world, Australia is switching over to allow people to register the shorter .au domain for their website. This will replace the existing websites from .com.au or .net.au to .au.

In most people's view, people are looking for speed of use, so the AU will become the dominant domain as it has overseas. If you have an Australian website for your business, you must reserve your website with the shorter domain AU. If not, it soon becomes available to the general public. The consequences of not registering your existing business name by the deadline could be catastrophic for your online business. A rival could take your online site name. From personal experience, I can tell you that unscrupulous people with little morals will steal your business name if they can. What we are doing for our clients is telling them to register the shortened AU name. Then set up an automatic redirect so people going to the short website .au will direct to the current longer one. This is no long-term solution. It will hurt your SEO doing this. Your site needs to be converted to AU.

I know it's a short deadline, but what can we do? I have asked, and NO extension would be available to give us time.

Act now. It is happening in September.

This came up with one of my clients recently when we discussed the recent class action, but it's a problem many of us have faced.

In Australia, by world standards, we have many legal cases. I read that the state in the world with the highest number of court cases per person is California, USA; the next highest is NSW, Australia. Plus, Australian Legal fees are high by world standards. One incredible screen in the SCI-FI show, Star Trek, was where they had a lawyer who did not care about money. Lawyers care about money.

Okay, so can we claim their costs?

The answer is that it depends on what they are. My client has discovered that his fees are not claimable even though they were for his business. Claimable expenses are those required to produce income and carry on a business.

The ATO guidelines are here.

Note: As a guy who got dragged into court, I can tell you it's rarely worth it. Despite what people tell you, rarely does anyone care.  Also, courts are like hospitals; once you are in, it is tough to get out. My case took about ten years before we settled. Even if you win as I consider I did, it was a waste of a lot of money. Wonder how they felt. They lost and had to pay their legal fees and a settlement to me too.

Anyone who wants to tell me their experience?

If you were affected by the Tyro outage last year in January 2021, you should by now have received an invite to join a class action. If you have not got it and think you should have it, please get in touch with me, and I will send you the details and information in the *welcome pack*.

If you have accepted the Tyro compensation offer, it does not mean that you cannot join this action. Yet, your odds of getting something are less.

You will almost certainly need to prove a legal loss to get something. That loss should be bigger than the Tyro offer of compensation to justify your entering this action. A legal loss is not the same as a business loss. I had a client whose three days of work were not considered a legal cost as he did not have to pay anything. He got transportation costs for petrol, so he got mileage and legal fees, which did cover most of his legal fees.

If you are interested in joining, you should contact the lawyers organising this case here and, if possible, your own lawyer. Also, you may want to contact Tyro directly to discuss before joining, as I am sure they are willing to discuss your specific case.

For the record, we accepted the Tyro offer, as did 90% of the people affected; we think they did their best, So we have no intention of joining this action.

PS I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. I have been with them for years. We were Tyro's very first customer. 

Having two prices on one item is asking for trouble. Even if it is clear your intent, people will have problems.

This happens a lot. A typical example might be a sale item. After the sale, the retailer puts a new price on top of the sale price, but the sale price is still visible.

One client of mine got into an argument over this when a customer demanded a lower price claiming that she must sell the item at the lower price by law. She replied coldly, " I do not have to sell you the item at all." The customer stopped arguing but did not buy, so who won that argument? To me, it was an unnecessary argument.

This started a discussion and some research. As far as we understand the law, it depends on your terms and conditions; if they are not displayed, then there might be problems. It should state that you can cancel orders and withdraw products because of pricing errors. Also, you need to consider if it goes further is whether it was not an error rather than an attempt to deceive. In this case, this practice can lead you into a lot of trouble unnecessary.

Take the old price label off.

Recently on our company blog, I published an expanded guide on properly handling software license transfers when a business changes ownership. 

This initial article provided a high-level overview of why licenses don't automatically transfer to new owners - and how oversights can lead to issues. But many readers requested more details on smoothly navigating this process.

So in the new comprehensive version, I dig deeper into topics and added a FAQ with commonly asked questions: 

Whether you are selling your current business or acquiring a new one, I encourage you to read this updated guide. 

You can find the full article with all the details here:

Let me know if you have any other questions as doing this right from the start saves immense time and trouble later on.

Retail Security: How To Prevent Shoplifting

For stocklifting, we usually expect about 1.33% on turnover. A rule of thumb is that a higher cost of living, will drive this up but how much we do not know yet. Also the increased idle time many in our community have, the reduced staff in shops and the wearing of masks have created a boom in shoplifting.

The reason it is now in the minds of retailers is that after a stocktake; they know they can determine their shoplifting figures.

Once done, our POS System will give them three figures: quantity, cost and totals. All tell a story.

Tips for what can be done?

Here are some thoughts for a webinar that I attended on this subject recently:

1) Quantity will give you a hint of how many such incidents occurred.

Cost is how much it costs you.

Totals will tell you how valuable this is to the thief.

So reviewing these figures will highlight departments and goods that are most at risk.

It will also give you an idea of what is being taken.

2) What I do suggest you do is map your shoplifting figures see here. It does not take long and will graphically show the current danger points in the shop.

3) Consider mirrors and cameras. An old mirror placed in a blind spot was shown to reduce theft dramatically there. That cost the retailer nothing. Shoplifters are looking for these details.

4) Greet people that come to the shop. As well as being good customer service, it shows that you are watching.

It is hard to identify people in advance. In a survey, 75% of shoplifters said they had no intention of committing it before entering the shop. Very few fit any profile.

Yet here this is an interesting idea from the webinar. Have grandmother greet everyone that comes into the shop. Besides showing that you care, it has been known to do wonders. Grandmother has been proven to be very effective in identifying dubious people, such as people who often come without buying. She is also excellent for shaming people thinking of stealing. She is also a great witness if things go legal.

5) Have enough staff. Much of the current problem with shoplifting is that many retailers have reduced staff. No one is monitoring the stock yet there is a lot of money there. Having a staff member go to a suspicious customer and ask, “How can I help you?” can do wonders. 

6) Show a security monitor in the front of the shop where customers can see it before entering. This shows that you are monitoring.

7) Good signage. This issue I will discuss in a future post after I go to the next webinar.

8) Review the shoplifting figures this will give you an idea of the size of the problem and allow you to make a shoplifting budget. in the future.

9) Do not display highly desirable and/or expensive items close to the shop's exit.  

It is too big a temptation for someone to grab and run and it is very hard to stop such actions particularly if you pile high-value items together.

Shoplifting prevention and detection security prevention retail loss shoplifting are all important in order to keep your business safe and protected from losses.

We need to be ready to hit the ground running as preparing a business for the End Of the Financial Year (EOFY) can be daunting.

As a minimum, you need to do the tax stuff, but while doing this, you can do the management reporting too. This can be time-consuming, but luckily much of the information required is built into your POS Software. Before you go to the accountant, it is worthwhile to go to this webinar to review what reports our Point of Sale Software can produce. This will give you a feel of what you can supply to the accountant.

Here's a checklist of reports that you will need.

Sales reports
Stock Valuation (you will need to do this after your stocktake)
Customers Outstanding
Creditors Outstanding (if you are running creditors)
Subagents Outstanding (use only if applicable)

Click here for a webinar on the End of the Financial year reporting. It discusses in detail what reports our system can produce. 

Although not required from our software, I do recommend that you do make a special End of Year Backup to store in case you need to refer to it. The 30/of June this year is Thursday.

Expiry dates gift vouchers/credit notes

Today, gift cards are commonly used by all forms of enterprise, from small businesses to large corporate entities.

The expiry dates caused some confusion yesterday with one of our clients. After talking to several of his customers, he decided to scrap card expiry dates. I have my doubts about whether this is wise. Removing expiry dates implies that this liability will remain till when? It raises questions of whose responsible for that debt if the business is closed or sold? It will increase the administrative costs indefinitely.
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You sold $20,000 worth of gift cards over the past year. About 10% to 19% of gift cards are unredeemed at any given time. So somewhere $2,000 to $3,000 is outstanding. If you sell the business, you must pay the new owner the liability owing on those cards. What hurts is that much of that liability will never be redeemed by your customers. If you close the business down, the situation is unclear. 

If you do this for many years, the problem gets worse as about 3% to 6% of gift cards are never redeemed. So every year, this debt grows by $600 to $1,200, do this for ten years, and you have a $6,000 to $12,000 obligation. 

Our understanding of the law and we are not lawyers and not qualified to give legal advice is that you must provide at least an expiry period of three years from the date you sold it. The expiry details must be displayed on the gift card (see red arrow above)

There are some exceptions, and this rule does not apply to some types of gift cards, click here for more details. What caused the initial problem here is that our client issued it out of his customer loyalty program, in which case we believe this does not apply at all. 

However, check first before doing anything about this. If you get a legal opinion please let me know.