Retailers running pre-Christmas sales ought to have marketing and security talk to each other, to avoid the ‘major vulnerability’ identified last year, says a senior policewoman.
In a letter to heads of loss prevention, Nottinghamshire Deputy Chief Constable Sue Fish recalls that ‘marketing and security teams didn’t communicate as well as they could resulting in fights breaking out in store’, when price cuts drew unexpectedly large numbers of shoppers. Sue Fish, who is the National Police Chief’s Council lead for Business Crime Reduction and Private Security Industry liaison, adds: “This exposed the public, your staff, security and in some cases the police to avoidable risk.
“I am the first to appreciate the commercial benefits of the marketing around this post Thanksgiving event and we all know that the public love a bargain, but collectively we have obligations to ensure their safety. Based on previous performance, last years’ sales doubled the previous years’ sales, and it is noticeable already that many of you have begun to promote the event [so-called ‘Black Friday’] for 2015.
“To that end, could I ask that you work closely with your in-store staff, security teams and policing to make them aware of changes to opening times, to anticipate increased footfall and also queues outside stores prior to opening. This may sound obvious, but events last year were unacceptable and simply could have been avoided with a better focus on customer safety rather than just high volume sales. It is encouraging that many of you this year have decided to spread the sales period from 23 November across the week, rather than relying on just one day.”
