After fighting against high shrink for more than a year, Five Below has transitioned to 75% associate-led transactions at all stores and 100% associate-led transactions at high shrink stores, company executives said during an earnings call last week.
Five Below said in March it would scale back self-checkout to fight shrink. It also said it tested additional shrink reduction strategies in about 70 stores during Q1. They include receipt checks by associates, more video cameras, and adding guards. Stores with associate-led checkout and other mitigation measures saw lower shrink rates, CEO Joel Anderson said.
The news comes as Five Below reported that while its net sales rose 11.8% year over year to $811.9 million in Q1, comp sales fell by 2.3% from a year ago. Net income also declined in the quarter, dropping 16% to $31.5 million from $37.5 million a year ago.
Source: Retail Dive