Shrinkage & Theft
What is the general business term used when a store loses its inventory due to things like theft, damage, or paperwork errors?
Shrinkage
What physical security items are placed exactly at store exits to help employees identify an escaping shoplifter’s height?
Height markers
What corporate professional is responsible for choosing and purchasing merchandise for a retail store to sell?
A Buyer
What is the business term for the suppliers and manufacturers that a buyer purchases inventory from?
Vendors
What viral slang word—short for charisma
Rizz
True or False: Shoplifting is the #1 largest source of inventory shrinkage for retail businesses.
False (Employee theft is the largest at 43%, shoplifting is second at 35%)
Name two of the specific security devices mentioned in the slides that help store employees monitor blind spots or lock up high-value items.
Cameras, convex mirrors, security tags, or locked display cases.
What retail term describes the remaining amount of a buyer's budget that is still available to spend on new items?
Open to buy
What are the two main types of inventory tracking systems that buyers use to keep track of store stock?
Physical and Perpetual inventory systems
What specific brand of oversized, insulated reusable water bottles and tumblers completely took over high school
Stanley
What is considered a normal, expected percentage rate of inventory shrinkage for a retail store before it becomes a major problem?
1% to 5%
To help prevent employee theft before a person is even hired, what protocol should a business always follow during the application process?
Check references
If a buyer over-purchases a massive amount of stock all at once before it is actually relevant to the season, what specific financial corporate problem does it cause?
Cash flow problems
What does the highly efficient inventory ordering acronym "JIT" stand for?
Just In Time
What massive video game features a default guy named Steve, a blocky world made of cubes, and green exploding monsters called Creepers?
Minecraft.
According to the slides, how much money do retail businesses lose combined every single year due to inventory shrinkage?
41 Billion Dollars
What physical action must a store take to find out exactly how much inventory they have lost compared to what their paperwork says they should have?
A physical inventory (physically counting all the stock)
Why must a buyer purchase seasonal inventory (like Christmas merchandise) months in advance during the summer? Give both reasons from the slides.
To factor in shipping times and processing times so items are ready when customers want them.
What metric monitors how fast products sell and need to be replaced, directly helping a buyer figure out the right amount to purchase next time?
Stock turnover
Which massive music artist completely broke the internet with her high-energy album BRAT
Charli XCX
Besides shoplifting and employee theft, what are the three other specific, non-theft causes of shrinkage listed in the slides?
Inaccurate paperwork, damaged or misplaced merchandise, and vendor error
Walk through the math: To determine the final financial value of shrinkage, what specific value do you subtract from the inventory's recorded "book value"?
The actual value found during the physical inventory count
Under a buyer's day-to-day responsibilities, what do the core duties of "Sourcing" and "Analyzing" actually require them to do?
Sourcing means attending trade fairs/visiting showrooms to find new products; Analyzing means looking at consumer data and market trends to forecast growth.
What are the four main steps of "Stock Handling" that a buyer must manage in order from the moment goods arrive to when they hit the floor?
Receive, check-in, price, and deliver the stock to the sales floor
What is the full, official movie title of the massive 2024 Marvel blockbuster film where Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman team up?
Deadpool & Wolverine