Caught up in the mad rush of last-minute Valentine's shopping on Saturday, I experienced one of those supremely mortifying blonde moments... of distractedly walking out of a big clothing chain store clutching something for which I hadn't paid. I wasn't two metres from the entrance when I realised my mistake, so I hot-footed it back inside, passed the security guard who wasn't paying much attention to me, and headed to the cashier. I was halfway up the aisle when it suddenly dawned on me that there were no alarms ringing, no sirens wailing, no gun-toting mall security rugby-tackling me to the floor. At the pay station, I sheepishly explained to the cashier what I'd done, and pointed out that the item obviously wasn't fitted with a security tag. He looked at me with an expression that said, "You're nuts, why are you telling me this?" and then eventually went on to explain that because the item was under a R100 (by R20.05 to be exact), it's not fitted with a tag. At least he thought this too was mad. It amazed me that management didn't care that such items could be so easily, and in my case so blatantly (albeit innocently), misappropriated. Every cent adds up, so just how much are they losing to sticky-fingered syndicates who've caught on to these things? Fortunately not every retailer is as lax on security, as I found out recently when buying tissue oil. One supermarket franchise only puts empty boxes on display and you have to enquire at the customer service counter to actually get the product. Another health & beauty chain tapes the boxes closed and includes two security tags in each - one stuck to the box itself and one to the bottle. These products also cost less than R100 but clearly these stores know the accumulative value of shrinkage. Now retailers, ask yourself, is there anything you leave untagged in your store, and can you really afford to lose that kind of money, no matter how small, to five-fingered discounts?

Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor
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