Nordstrom made a change that encourages theft and that Wall Street hates — but it's great for business

pulse

February 14, 2018 6:36 PM

Nordstom stopped locking its fitting room doors, and theft rates have increased as a result.

Nordstom stopped locking its fitting room doors in November.
The move makes shopping easier for customers, but it has led to increased rates of theft,
Prior to the policy change, shoppers had to seek out a Nordstrom employee to unlock a fitting room if they wanted to try on clothing.

Nordstrom has stopped locking its fitting room doors.

The move has led to increased rates of theft and miffed some Wall Street analysts, but the retailer is standing by its decision, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Prior to the policy change, shoppers had to seek out a Nordstrom employee to unlock a fitting room if they wanted to try on clothing.

Also, since the fitting room doors automatically locked when closed, if customers briefly left the room for any reason — such as to grab another size of an item — they would be locked out.

This could be seen as a burden to both customers and Nordstrom employees.

The department store chain axed the locking policy in November, according to the Journal. Now, customers can enter and leave fitting rooms as they please, without the help of an employee.

The new policy is one of many changes that Nordstrom has been making in its stores to boost sales and shopper traffic. The company has also been remodeling its stores to feature a more open layout and plans to open men's-only and women's only stores in the next year.

pulse