Best Buy stores sport large boards with mysterious numbers on them; it turns out that they refer to how much shoplifting is going on in the store, how it has fared at selling Sports Illustrated subscriptions, extended warranties and credit-cards. These are apparently in place to motivate employees to do better.
The author of Cabel's Blog LOL prised the information out of various Best Buy cashiers, and has posted a codex so that we can intelligently discuss each store's success at peddling easy credit with its employees.
Shrink Percent: Ahh, shrink. You probably call it "stealing". And this store is doing pretty good with handling it. The shrink percentage is, presumably, the percentage of Best Buy merchandise that is simply prancing right out the door. A shrink percentage of .50% is, apparently, bad news – so this store is doing pretty well.
Shrink Payout: Keep shrink low, and the shrink payout increases! Well, I have no idea how this shrink payout ($469) is distributed to employees (anyone know?), but I'd wager it winds up being a few extra dollars in your paycheck every now and then.
(via Consumerist)
Update: Nathan sez, "When I was working at Best buy the payout was done as a year-end bonus. After PI (that is, 'Physical Inventory') you would get a bonus check for what ever the Shrink payout was. $300 – $400 was the average for my store."
Update: Andrew sez, "Not sure exactly how different Best Buy is, however I can give
you the rundown of how Futureshop (owned by Best Buy here in Canada)
does it. Shrink is more than just loss to theft, it's also money
lost to old products have prices dropped before they get sold
(clearence, etc) and things being returned and marked down for sale as
open box."
