Sweethearting is a term used in the retail loss prevention industry to mean intentional margin loss through employee theft at the cash register. Sweethearting is the most common type of employee theft.
Sweethearting is unauthorized giving-away of merchandise without charge to a "sweetheart" customer (friend, family, fellow employee) by the fake scan or ring-up of merchandise by the cashier. Employees operating cash registers can create numerous ways to sweetheart:
Most methods of stopping Sweethearting include physical supervision of the cashier or installation of software that detects sweethearting, which can be difficult to do. Common countermeasures include use of CCTV surveillance cameras and security guards checking customer receipts at exits. A modern, well implemented and tightly managed retail management system enables store management to track which cashiers may ring up unusually high amounts of merchandise known to be attractive to thieves.