Home Depot locks more products: "It's very annoying", says the worker
The domiciliary renovation retailer makes more movements to combat the flight at retail.
In recent years, retailers at all levels have learned the alarm on a major growing problem: retail flight. Companies have made various attempts to try to fight against this, as Walmart threatening store closings Or The new Walgreens' hands store design . Home Depot has now started to lock more products in its stores, but many customers are less than launched. Read the rest to find out why a worker says it is "very annoying".
Read this then: Buyers turn away from Home Depot, data show - here's why .
Home Depot experienced a significant increase in retail flight.
The display flight has increased considerably in recent years. According to a 2022 report From the National Retail Federation (NRF), more than 72% of retailers say they have found an increase in the risk of retail for the pandemic. The NRF also found that organized retail crime costs stores more than $ 700,000 per billion dollars in 2020, which represents an increase of more than 50% compared to five years earlier.
"" Organized retail crime Do I call the flight for greed, not the flight for the need, " Scott Glenn , the vice-president of asset protection at Home Depot, told ABC News in June. "[But] they don't just come to a home depot and then decide to go home ... They go to Target, they go to Lowe, they go to CVS, they go anywhere."
Home Depot investigated around 400 cases of organized retail flight suspected in the past year, which represents more than one display scenario in its stores every day, Glenn told the media. Consequently, the domiciliary renovation retailer loses "billions of dollars per year", according to Home Depot official.
The retailer locks more products to prevent this.
Like many other retailers, Home Depot has decided to lock certain articles to fight against attempts at theft of detail. But some of the company's employees recently declared to San Francisco Standard that More and more products are obtained from buyers. According to the media, while Home Depot began to lock more expensive items such as electrical tools behind the cages in January, workers say that now daily things are locked. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
"It was articles with big tickets, but now even the detergent is locked up," said a Home Deposy store worker in Emeryville, California, San Francisco Standard. Locked products now include cheaper things such as phone chargers, work gloves and shower drainage covers, according to the media.
When Better life Contacted Home Depot about these reports, the retailer confirmed that he had obtained more items due to the display problems. "While the organized retail crime continues to be increasing, we have gradually increased the amount of locked products", " Evelyn Fornes , Said the main director of public affairs of Home Depot, in a statement.
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Some workers say that this tactic is "embarrassing".
Buyers have long been express their frustrations With products locked at different retailers, including Home Depot. But now, even the employees themselves seem to become more irritated by this protective measure. "It has become a nuisance," said a Home Depot worker who asked to remain anonymous at San Francisco Standard.
Others have explained that they could see the problems he creates for customers, who become irritated that only partners of specific stores can give access to certain products. "I cannot unlock equipment because I do not have the code, and they cannot unlock plumbing because only I have the code," said another Home Depot worker at the new point of sale . "It's very disturbing."
But Home Depot seems to stick to this protective measure.
However, complaints from customers and workers are not likely to change anything. According to Fornes, product locking is a "common solution to prevent theft" and Home Depot also uses it to ensure that it ensures buyers and workers in safety in the midst of aggressive flight to display flight attempts . "Electric tools and other high-risk products of high value will always have several safety layers, as they are among the most desirable for bad players," she said Better life .
Fornes also said that Home Depot had not experienced real decline in the vast majority of its consumers. "Most of the buyers have expressed that it does not bother to wait for an associate to unlock the boxes, as it means that the product is still available in store," she said. "That said, we constantly explore new innovative solutions to balance security and convenience for the vast majority of our customers."
