The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warns that 75% of employees steal from their employer, and the majority of that group does so, repeatedly. Specialty retailers, as a result, have to take precautions to safeguard their cash. Tidel has made its business about solving this problem for the specialty retail segment. Its broad portfolio of cash management systems count, deposit, and secure a store’s cash deposits, throughout the business day. Tidel systems take cash tracking and accountability to a whole new level. The convenience, usability, and adaptability that Tidel provides the retail sector is rapidly improving business processes, making Tidel cash management systems a cornerstone in a multitude of cash-centric environments.

When evaluating a cash management system, there are no shortages of suggestions for what services it should provide. Specialty Retail Report stresses the need to “use a POS system that tracks inventory automatically or, at a minimum, use paper-based inventory-tracking sheets to send a signal to employees that inventory is indeed being monitored.” Many managers express discomfort in addressing the handling and safe-deposit of cash with front-line POS employees. As a result, it is safe to conclude that lax managerial standards at the retail level can lead to exploitation, and the research supports this viewpoint. The U.S. Retail Fraud Survey ranked cash theft as the number two cause of retail store loss ahead of bookkeeping or administration error.

Many retail establishments assume that CIT (cash-in-transit) providers are only needed for high-volume cash businesses. Because specialty retailers typically sit lower on the overall cash volume spectrum, they often forsake the services of a CIT provider and instead rely on trusted store employees or store management to transport cash deposits to the bank. While this decision may appear less costly, it leaves retailers vulnerable to loss, and requires store management to spend time counting cash and preparing deposits – time that can be better spent elsewhere in the store. All of these activities translate to real costs which, over time, can easily surpass the cost of a proven smart safe program, a program that is inclusive of a smart safe, CIT provider, and the retailer’s bank.

Tidel systems offer an effective approach to ensure accountability at all levels of cash handling, from preventing employee theft to simplifying manual reconciliations against POS sales, from facilitating discrepancy investigations, to preparing deposits. When a Tidel system is combined with a CIT service and the retailer’s bank, a retailer, in many cases, can take advantage of daily credit – which provides credit for cash deposits in the retailer’s smart safe, before the deposits are physically transported to the bank. The availability of daily credit has a substantial impact on how a store manages its cash flow. This is why a significant number of banks have started to offer daily credit across the U.S. in recent years. Besides the financial impact a smart safe program provides a retailer, there is also an employee impact that cannot be ignored. A smart safe program can redeploy employees previously assigned to handling cash deposits towards more productive activities, such as training, merchandising, and customer service. Eliminating the need for a store manager to transport deposits to the bank greatly improves their productivity and overall safety.

Tidel systems address the costly and risky processes associated with the traditional methods of managing cash. Even for retailers that sit lower on the cash management spectrum, effective management of cash can dramatically improve their operational efficiencies, increase profits, and enable their employees to be better utilized.   Tidel remains committed to leading the advancement of cash management technologies to innovate, to automate, and to streamline cash management processes for the specialty retail segment.

If you are a retailer seeking guidance or assistance in how to better manage your cash, please visit www.tidel.com or call us at 1-800-678-7577.