A retail store is packed with all sorts of desirable goods that can be easily resold on the black market–electronics, jewelry, firearms, expensive apparel, alcohol—items that may be too risky to attempt to steal when a store is open but might be worth the risk when the store is closed.

An Empty Store. Robbers know that stores are employee-free when closed. If they can get in and out quickly, they can avoid being seen (and caught). By having security guards on duty after hours, storeowners take away what these robbers count on the most—being able to conduct their illegal activity when no one is there to stop them.

Under The Cover of Darkness. Unlike their daytime counterparts, after-hours robbers can’t just walk into a store to commit a crime. They must first enter by breaking a lock on a door or smashing a window– without anyone noticing. The cover of darkness makes this easier. Shine a light on nigh time retail theft by installing motion sensor lighting around the perimeter and keeping an abundance of lighting on inside the store. Robbers will most likely shy away from well-lit targets.

Break-In Alerts. A monitoring system can alert you of a crime in progress so you can notify your onsite security or the police. An alarm triggered by an attempted entry can scare robbers away.

A successful after-hours robbery not only means a loss of merchandise, it could mean costly repairs to doors or windows damaged when robbers entered the store. While these retail theft protection measures aren’t foolproof, they’ll go a long way to lower the risk of nighttime burglaries.