Retail customers are becoming impatient with waiting in retail stores to access locked-up products, according to several recent surveys that show that the practice of locking up products, put in place to combat theft, may actually be driving customers to other stores or online.
Locking up items behind glass or cages, sometimes called “defensive merchandising,” is increasingly being used to deter crime in some areas of the country. The Numerator study shows that customers in areas with the highest prevalence have different levels of patience when buying the products.
“The willingness to wait does vary regionally, but tolerance doesn’t appear to be tied to prevalence,” Numerator analyst Amanda Schoenbauer told The Epoch Times in a written statement.
“Product locking is most common in the Western U.S., and shoppers in this region are the least willing to wait (59 [percent]). It’s next most prevalent in the Northeast, and shoppers in that region are the most likely to wait (66 [percent]). 60 [percent] of shoppers in the Midwest are willing to wait and 63 [percent] in the South.”
Numerator’s report, released in November, was based on a custom survey given to more than 5,000 U.S. shoppers in September. It identified locked items as “items one may encounter when shopping in-store that are locked up for security measures and require employee assistance to get off the shelf/rack.”
The study also found that shoppers move their purchases online out of frustration and spend less if they stick around and wait.
“We see evidence of this in their purchase habits—shoppers who are unwilling to wait for assistance unlocking products spend more online than those who are willing to wait (21.4 percent of their overall annual spend vs. 18 percent),“ Schoenbauer said. ”Although we can’t say that higher online spending is a direct result of in-store product locks, it’s likely a contributing factor.”
Numerator also reported that there were differences in generational behavior: Gen Z shoppers were the least likely to wait for an item to be unlocked (42.8 percent), and baby boomers (69 percent) were the most likely to stay. There were also ethnic differences revealed. For example, black shoppers were the most likely to be patient (70.7 percent), while Asian and Latino shoppers were least likely, at about 42 percent. Not surprisingly, shoppers with children in tow (41.6 percent) were less likely to hang around for locked-up items than shoppers without children (36.1 percent).
Police and government engagement has also increased to address retail theft issues, according to David Johnston, NRF’s vice president of asset protection and retail operations.
“Law enforcement and community leaders across the nation continue to partner with the retail industry while reviewing current laws and resources to aid in curtailing high levels of retail theft, violence and organized retail crime,” he said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“The NRF continues to advocate for the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act in Congress to support retailers and to streamline coordination across local, state and federal agencies and jurisdictions to detect and disrupt organized retail crime groups.”
However, many retail stores, already battling online giants such as Amazon for in-store sales, increasingly find that locked-in products are not helping their cause.
“Most shoppers don’t want to be bothered flagging down a store clerk when a product they want to buy is locked up,” Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky said in a statement from the company.
“And at stores like Target, where many health and beauty aids are under lock and key, how do you read product labels and compare items often in different cases with a clerk hovering over you?”
