Execs among those who shoplift at IT fairs

[MarrickG]

AT FIRST glance, they looked like any other young executive grabbing a good buy at the four-day Sitex electronics fair at the Singapore Expo over the weekend.

But the two men, in their 30s, tried to make away with two game titles from exhibitor Playcraft. An alert staff member stopped them and made them pay.

Mr Collin Ho, managing director of BloomPac that manages Playcraft game stores, said that shoplifting at the four major information-technology fairs here is getting “quite common”.

“We can get 30 to 40 cases a day, at large fairs. So, this time round, we hired security officers,” he said.

This led to the shoplifting cases dropping to a record low of nearly 20 at Sitex, with about five cases reported to police.

Most thieves are teens, but Mr Ho is baffled that some are executives with spending power.

“It’s not like the $30 to $60 games are thousand-dollar items,” he said.

However, he does not want to lock up his goods behind the counter. “I want a good shopping experience for customers.”

Another Sitex exhibitor, who did not want to be named, also hired more staff to help him mind his booth, after he lost 30 to 40 MP3 players at an earlier IT fair. None of his products were stolen at Sitex, as a result.

For exhibitors like Worldwide Computer Services, displaying goods openly is worth the risk, even if the huge turnout means shoplifters are hard to spot. It nabbed over 20 thieves, mostly young people, at Sitex.

Mr Anagappan Muthiah, managing director of the store, said shoplifting results in lost sales of 5 to 10 per cent at IT fairs. But locking up his goods, such as phone cases that cost under $35, can cause sales to fall by 70 per cent.

Mr Chandran Nair, deputy general manager of SingExhibitions, manager of Sitex, said that while it has not received any official reports of theft, the firm “is not taking this for granted, and will definitely continue to constantly refine our security operations”.

Mr Nair added that SingExhibitions briefs all exhibitors and event staff on issues such as safety and security before a show.

 

[bodycells]

Canon is smart. They put their camera in the transparent glass booths with young sales staffs using the display sets to show their customers.

If you agree to buy it, you pay for it first and then go behind the cashier to redeem your purchase. No theft is possible in this way.

 

[saratogas]

No theft is possible in this way.

Its still possible if its an inside job. Part-timers may give extra goodies to their friends etc... Any way lost of goods is very common in large scale retail, as long as the sum is not too huge, just write them off. Sales is more important!

 

[cheowyonglee]

i was in the last day expo IT fair.was around 5 plus and saw alot of policemen.
then i knew some got caught.

afew youngest and one big guy.damn malu leh!!!

i mean, you can escape uncaught if you steal, but your mind is recording every action you done.so, even if no one is seeing what you do, you yourself , your own mind, your own recording will be knowing what you done.
bad seed will lead to bad karma leading to bad rebirth with bad date and time and then create your so called ' fate '!!!

 

[†††††]

i use to have teenagers working under me, I always told them, the stupidest thing to do in life is to shoplift, or rape or molest or whatever . . .. .
i told them, lan chio itch so Geylang pay and forget
shoplifting is stupid, for $30, u lost your career

 

[cheowyonglee]

i use to have teenagers working under me, I always told them, the stupidest thing to do in life is to shoplift, or rape or molest or whatever . . .. .
i told them, lan chio itch so Geylang pay and forget
shoplifting is stupid, for $30, u lost your career

well, i have to be fair and frank too.i steal before during my secondary school time.i dun want to say what i stole but i just be frank to everyone here.it's the past.no one caught me.it's not big amount.but then, the guilt is there.like i say, you yourself is recording every action you have done.i remorse now.and i know what i done in the past is wrong.last time i dont have any religion.
until i study buddhism, i began to know more about life and death.more about human mind.then... i start to know what is mean by karma and what we do, what we rip.

i hope our MOE will start to focus more on social study and moral behaviour instead on the so called elite program to get good result.
i rather see our teens .. hardworking and upright rather then become gangster, streetfighting, geylang addictor and a selffish society!!!

 

[limpeh2]

until i study buddhism, i began to know more about life and death.more about human mind.then... i start to know what is mean by karma and what we do, what we rip.

And here you're always cheering for a military conflict between die-wan & china? Preaching karma but not-too-subtly praying for war. Sure you not die-wanese? With fork-tongue like that, you sure talk like one.