Comment: Retailers must pay right and punish right

Box breaking has returned to the pages of Mobile News after a long summer holiday away.

According to Orange retail boss Sian Doyle, footfall typically increases up to 40 per cent between October and the end of December. Word from her retail estate is she’s right.

But not all of those customers are welcome.

Many customers will enter stores near Christmas looking for handsets, which unfortunately for them are being sold unlocked up the road in a tiny booth inside an independent fruit shop – or already enjoying the Dubai sunshine, having been swiftly shipped abroad at a healthy profit on a weak pound.

If the current economic climate is anything to go by – both in terms of pound sterling, and also in terms of public spending and employees’ own personal finances in tough times – store staff will be more tempted than ever to make easy cash from selling to box breakers.

Staff in all network stores claim commission is down as a result of lower footfall, and with recession upon us, temptation will only increase.

Network and multiple retailers must ensure stock is plentiful, targets are attainable, rewards are sufficient and penalties for box breaking are severe.