SHRINKING MOVEMENT

Sell-through shrinkage is a big concern of many retailers. Video is an attractive product, but some retailers think it is too attractive to display on the main sales floor. Instead it is kept behind service counters or the security system of the video rental department. This results in lost impulse sales. "I don't know how much of a factor it is, but there is a fear that there is going to be a high pilferage rate on video," said Teri Severinsen, manager of video services at Roundy's, Milwaukee. "A fear can be dealt with, once you study it," said John Fincher, a national account sales executive at Baker & Taylor, Morton Grove, Ill. "But as a result, some walls have been put up that I don't think are necessary." Here is the SN video roundtable's discussion of shrinkage:

y with. SN: But is pilferage any greater for video than any other product in the store?

SEVERINSEN: Our stores are not in high crime areas, but they are taking the cigarettes, as well.

STAGNER: Cigarettes are one of the two top categories in grocery stores for pilferage. So whenever I hear one of my stores complain that people are stealing the videos and they want to lock them up in a room, I ask them, "Are you also going to put the meat and other products in there?"

FINCHER: What Teri said, about it not being a factor but it is a fear, really sums it up. A fear can be dealt with, once you study it. But as a result, some walls have been put up that I don't think are necessary.

SN: A Florida chain has tested a dummy-box approach to sell-through, where they put out empty boxes of hit sell-through titles and customers take them to the front and exchange it for the real thing after they pay for it. What do you think of this?

INGRAM: That particular chain was having problems in certain areas with people coming in, picking up entire floor displays and walking out the door. The empty box approach seems to work for this particular chain, but overall it's like putting video behind glass. People like to pick it up, put it in their cart, and not have to get the real thing at the counter.