Fighting shrinkage – loss prevention strategies – from micro markets to vending

This webinar was originally held on October 7, 2025 and is now available for on demand viewing.

Duration: 1 hour 

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Summary

What is Shrinkage? 
According to Shopify, “Shrinkage is an accounting term used to describe when a store has fewer items in stock than in its recorded book inventory. Factors contributing to shrinkage include employee theft, shoplifting, administrative errors, vendor fraud, product damage, and more. Shrinkage has a direct correlation with profit: the higher your shrinkage, the lower your profits.”  Micro market and vending operators know all about shrinkage. 

A big micro market problem?
According to the most recent Automatic Merchandiser’s Micro Market and Vending State of the Industry Report, most operators are estimating that their micro market shrink rate is in the 4% to 6% range. While that range seems to be a popular choice, many admit that the numbers can get “out of control” at times, and without exhaustive inventory efforts, the exact extent of losses is hard to determine. 

Technology comes to the rescue.
Technology provides some help for micro market and vending operators, from kiosks with anti-theft features, to sophisticated AI driven camera systems, to VMS systems that help keep a close eye on inventory levels, to advanced locking systems, operators are better positioned than ever to work with their customers to make theft a minimal issue in the their traditional workplace accounts. 

A big vending problem?
Vending machines are locked, but operators and lock companies report that they are always engaged in a “cat and mouse game” with thieves, often assisted by online videos on how to break into vending equipment.  

Key topics from the webinar include:

• The extent of the shrinkage problem. 
• Unique challenges of micro markets and how to overcome them. 
• How operators are dealing with shrinkage. 
• Is taking inventory enough when it comes to micro market shrinkage control? 
• How to communicate with clients about shrinkage issues. 
• AI driven solutions – beating shrink with anti-theft systems. 
• How operators can get clients to work with them on theft mitigation. 
• What vending operators are doing to combat theft. 
• Practical steps to prevent vending theft. 
• Best practices for hotel micro market locations.